A total of 435 home runs graced the baseball diamond as kids and adults whacked away at Wiffle balls into the night on July 23, when the township hosted its inaugural home run derby at the Atlantic Little League field.
Around 100 kids and parents showed up to watch or compete in the contest, where kids ages 6 to 14 tried to knock as many balls out of the park as possible. Kids were split up into groups, with those ages 6 to 8 in one group, followed by kids from 9 to 11 and 12 to 14 in the others.
The 9-to-11 group had the most participants at 54, followed by the six-to-eight group at 27 and the 12-to-14 group at 20.
The winner of the oldest group was Spencer Greenberg, with 16 home runs; followed by Connor Hayden, who won in the next youngest group with 12 home runs; and Jack Thomas who won in the youngest group with eight.
Zach Goldstein, whose 9-year-old son participated, said that he watches and plays baseball with the boy, so when he found out about the derby, he thought it would be a good fit.
“I thought wow, this is such a fun, local activity, and you’d have a blast, and I asked (my son) and he absolutely wanted to do it …” Goldstein enthused. “I haven’t done a lot of community activities. I think this was a very cool one, so hopefully I’ll be on the lookout for more stuff like this.”
There was also a showdown where Mayor David Fleisher and – as the announcer put it – several of his friends participated in a similar home run competition, with a crowd of children running to catch each ball hit over the pitcher.
Mayor David Fleisher’s son, Robby, hits a home run at the township contest, held at Atlantic Little League field on July 23.
As part of the event, the township collected non-perishable items for the Cherry Hill and Jewish Family & Children’s Service pantries. Megan Brown, deputy chief of staff for the mayor, said more than 100 items were collected.
Fleisher said the event brought people together. The derby is part of his wellness campaign, a township-wide initiative that seeks to improve the health of the community through a variety of outdoor community events.
Brown said the derby’s inaugural success means the township will hold it again next year.
A child in the 9-to-11-year-old group hits a home run during the derby.
