Home Run Derby Recap By: Lauren Fulton
The 2023 Valley Baseball League home-run derby consisted of 12 participants both
from the north and south divisions of the league. Each participant was hand selected
by the official VBL committee based on the top leaders of home runs hit throughout the
summer season thus far. This year’s participants were:
1. Bear Horowicz, (Purcellville Cannons)
2. Jo Eichelberger, (Purcellville Cannons)
3. Jaden Anderson, (Front Royal Cardinals)
4. Tomas Sanchez, (Woodstock River Bandits)
5. Joe Delossantos, (Strasburg Express)
6. Jacob Friend, (Strasburg Express)
7. Reese Beheler, (Culpeper Cavaliers)
8. Joshua Houge, (Winchester Royals)
9. David Coppedge, (Culpeper Cavaliers)
10. Derek Williams, (Charlottesville TomSox)
11. Kainen Jorge, (Purcellville Cannons – alternate)
12. Nate Early, (Staunton Braves – alternate)
The home run derby consisted of 3 rounds, and at the end, had a first and second-
place winner. In the first round, each player had 2:00 minutes to successfully hit as many home runs as he possibly could, with one timeout allowed. The winner of the first
round was Kainen Jorge, who hit 9 home runs. The second round consisted of the top
4 finalists from the first round, who each had 1:00 minute with no time-outs allowed to
hit as many home runs as he could, for a combined total with his first round’s numbers.
The contestants who advanced to the second round were Kainen Jorge, Jo
Eichelberger, Jacob Friend, and Derek Williams. The third and final round was another
2:00 minutes long and was a battle between the top 2 contestants based on the
second round, where each player had a clean slate. In the final round, the goal was to
hit as many home runs as possible from a clean slate perspective. The final winners of
the evening were Jo Eichelberger of the Purcellville Cannons, who hit 2 home runs in
the last round and took second place, and in first place was Derek Williams of the
Charlottesville TomSox who hit 4 home runs.
When asked about their given mentalities at the plate during this year’s home run
derby, both Williams and Eichelberger shared their words of wisdom for success. “I just
tried to catch the ball out front and put some backspin on the ball, when I saw it was a
pitch I could drive,” Williams said, “I think it’s important to just calm myself down
before getting into the box and try to not do too much and stay fluid when I’m up
there.”
Complimenting his words of advice, Eichelberger said the main thing he likes to do
before getting into a high-pressure situation such as a home run derby, is to meditate and pray before going into game mode. “One thing I always try and tell myself when I
get up to the plate is just, ‘dominate’, no matter what kind of situation I’m in. I like
always keeping a consistent mindset while I’m up there” Eichelberger said.
Both the home run derby and the All-Star game were held at Bing Crosby Stadium in
Front Royal, VA, with fans who traveled all over the state to watch their favorite players
compete at a very high level with the best competition in the Valley Baseball League.
The atmosphere was nothing short of electric, as fans and families were both
thoroughly engaged throughout the entire evening.