Westminster Invitational Kicks Off With Barbecue, Home-Run Derby

Players and coaches competing in this week’s Westminster Academy Spring Break Invitational came together Monday evening for a barbecue dinner and home-run derby before the games get going.

The eight-team tournament opens with pool-play games today through Thursday and concludes with consolation games and a 4 p.m. championship on Friday.

Pool A teams consist of Westminster Academy, Hazard County (Kentucky), Dade Christian and Coral Glades. Pool B teams are Coral Springs Charter, Berkshire (Massachusetts), McArthur and Canterbury School (St. Petersburg).

Monday’s festivities began with dinner, featuring homemade barbecued beef brisket sandwiches, and then players, coaches and their guests were treated to a home-run derby consisting of two players from each team. Each player got eight outs in an opening round, and the top four advanced to the second round. Players weren’t restricted to the BBCOR bats they are required to use in games.

Coral Springs Charter’s Trevor Kane won the contest by homering in the second round. He hit one in the first round, as did Austin Johnson of Hazard County (Kentucky). Juan Carlos Martinez of Dade Christian belted two round-one homers. Canterbury’s DeSean Thomas also competed in the second round as he hit the longest non-home run ball in the first round.

“This feels good,” Kane said after receiving his award for winning the derby. He said his approach at the plate was to “just swing out of your shoes and hope you hit the ball hard.”

Kane said events like Monday night’s “get the team pumped and gets you excited for the games.”

Kane’s coach, Mike Higgins, said he was happy with the way the tournament has been handled so far.

“The kids have an opportunity to play baseball in a first-class facility,” he said. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”

McArthur coach Brian Clark called the dinner and home-run derby “a good night. At the end of the day, off the field, we’re all friends, and it was good to see people you haven’t seen in a while. It was good to reconnect and get ready to play a lot of baseball in a short amount of time.”

Togetherness is the main theme of the tournament as Westminster coach Nick James has strived to bring together quality teams, such as Canterbury, which won the tournament last year and returns to defend its title.

“We’ve got a fantastic facility, and Fort Lauderdale is a fantastic location to showcase high school baseball,” James said.

James said he thought the barbecue and home-run derby “would be a good way to kick off the event. It’s just great to get them in an atmosphere where they can be competitive and hit in front of their friends.”

James is in his second year at the school and is trying to continue the tournament’s tradition of drawing some of the best high school teams in the nation.

“We wanted to showcase teams from out of state and of various levels of enrollment,” he said. “It’s good for the teams to see baseball from a different area.”

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