ZIEGLER EXCELS IN HOMERUN DERBY

7/14/2010 - Beach Bums first baseman C. J. Ziegler treated the fans at Rent One Park in Marion, IL to a powerful display on Tuesday night before falling to the local hero in the Frontier League All-Star Game Homerun Derby. C. J. Ziegler in a John Russell photo

It was a historic night overall as for the first time in FL history, all eight participants homered in the first round. After Southern Illinois’ Jereme Milons got things started with five homers, the next two participants, Charlie Lisk of Gateway and Matt Maloney of Kalamazoo each knocked out one. Todd Martin of Southern Illinois cranked two and league homerun leader Steven Shults of Florence hit three. The next two batters, Brad Miller of Southern Illinois and Tim Grogan of Florence each hit four.

That brought up Ziegler, who was named as a replacement in the derby for Gateway’s Brandon Peters just two days before. The Beach Bums all-star came to the plate, knowing he needed four homers to advance to the second round. He did that and more, as C. J. drove nine first round homers out of the ballpark to take a commanding lead into the second round.

In that second round, Ziegler hit two more homeruns to easily put him in the finals with a two round total of 11. In the finals, the totals reset, so both Ziegler and Brad Miller would start fresh. Both players would homer three times in the finals setting up a dramatic, one-out swing-off. Miller connected three times before recording his out. Ziegler hit one deep, but wasn’t able to leave the yard.

Six Beach Bums will participate in the 18th annual Frontier League All-Star Game tonight as Ziegler will start at first base for the East while Chase Burch will be the starting DH and Michael Diaz will start at second. J. T. Hall will enter the game as a reserve outfielder and Scott Mueller and Kevin Reese will each toe the rubber for the squad.

The Beach Bums will return home on Friday when the take on the Kalamazoo Kings at Wuerfel Park. It is a FANtastic Fireworks Friday at Wuerfel Park. The Kings series continues with a Silent Auction Saturday as the Beach Bums will auction off autographed baseball gloves on Star Wars Night with the proceeds benefitting Child and Family Services. The series wraps up on Sunday with a Family FUNday Sunday. For tickets or information, call 231-943-0100 or log on to tcbeachbums.com.