28 July2010

Hoilman repeats feat with another home run derby win

By SAM MONROE
CCBL INTERN

BOSTON ----- One college home run derby victory wasn’t enough for Cotuit’s Paul Hoilman (East Tennessee State). The TD Ameritrade College Home Run Derby champion also won the Cape League’s contest at Fenway Park during the Cape League All-Star Game festivities. 


     Hoilman beat out Bourne’s Daniel Bowman (Coastal Carolina) and Chatham’s Ricky Oropesa (USC) in the second round.

     He hit two home runs in the first round and three in the second to claim the title. The tie-breaking homer in the second round just made it over Fenway’s historic Green Monster, emulating Carlton Fisk’s epic game-winning blast in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. 

     “I was pretty nervous, and luckily that one had just enough,” he said. “I really thought that one was not going to make it out.”

     His second home run in the second round went over the Sports Authority sign. 
“That one felt good,” he said. 

     Bowman belted six homers in the first round and then put up a goose egg in the second. He hit the most homers in the contest, simulating the 1999 MLB All-Star Game Derby when the player with the most homers was not the winner. 

     “I was just glad to hit one over (the Green Monster),” Hoilman said. “I remember the derby here back in the day with (Mark) McGwire and (Sammy) Sosa, I mean every ball they hit was going over the lights. I was just hoping to scrape something near there.” 

2010 All Star Home Run Hitters

 
Paul Hoilman, Cotuit (East Tennessee State) is the
 Home Run Hitting contest winner
at the 2010 CCBL All Star Game at Fenway Park
SportsPix / 2010
 
     Hoilman admitted that he had an advantage as a righty over the left-handed Oropesa and (Jordan) Ribera (Y-D, Fresno State). 

     “I’m not going to say that was a fair match with Oropesa and Ribera,” he said. 


Paul Hoilman congratulated by Sol Yas, Deputy Commissioner and Umpire in Chief, who supervised the Home Run Hitting Contest.
Photo by SportsPix 201

     Ribera led the NCAA in home runs this season and stands atop the Cape League with six. But he couldn’t manage to push one around Pesky’s pole. He wasn’t the only one to be shut out. Wareham’s Jake Davies (Georgia Tech), and Brewster’s Taylor Ard (Mt. Hood Community College) also failed to send a ball out of the park. 

     Hoilman beat Ribera and Oropesa in a home run derby for the second time this season. In the contest held in Omaha, Neb., he crushed five in the first round and 12 in the second with a metal bat. 

     “This is a little different than Omaha,” he said. “It’s definitely more rewarding with the wood.”

     The longest shot of the night belonged to Oropesa, who cleared the 420-mark in straight-away center-field. Bowman put on a show in the first round, hitting all six of his home runs over the Green Monster. 
 

 

 

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