Cotuit Kettleers Cape League All Star Game, July 23, 2022 in Wareham, Ma. (Photo/Alysa Rubin)

by James Middleton | West Chester University 

Wareham, MA – For the first time in three years, the All Star game returned to the Cape League, and fans from across the Cape packed the bleachers at Spillane Field. Cotuit sent seven players to the game, with two participants in the Home Run Hitting Competition. Tommy Troy (Stanford) and Tyler Johnson (Coastal Carolina) were both selected to represent Cotuit in the competition that preceded the All Star matchup itself. Each hitter had two minutes to send as many balls over the fence as they could; if a tie occurred, there would be an overtime round that would last one minute. 

Johnson stepped up to the plate first. The left-hander, hitting against Coach Roberts, barreled up 9 baseballs that would clear the right and center field walls at Spillane. This was good enough for a tie to force overtime in the first round of the competition. In the overtime round, Johnson put 6 more balls over the fence to advance to the final round. In his time at the plate, Troy also put 9 balls over the left field wall in his first round, the right-hander ended up smashing a dinger into the parking lot where it rattled off a moving truck. In his overtime round, the infielder only had to hit 3 home runs to advance to the final round. Troy hit three balls right to the snack shack in left field to advance to the finals. 

The finals for the Home Run Hitting Competition featured both of our Ketts representatives and Lyle Miller-Green (Austin Peay) from Chatham. The right-hander from Chatham started off the final round by blasting 15 baseballs into the crowd. Johnson stepped up next and peppered balls over the right field wall once again. The first-baseman put 10 baseballs over the wall, coming just short of the first baseman from Chatham. Troy was the last hope to bring a trophy back to Cotuit. The Stanford product put 10 balls into the bleachers in left field for his final round. While Troy and Johnson were able to put together monster final round in the competition, it was no match for their lower cape competitor. Miller-Green had a total of 31 home runs hit in a span of 4 minutes between his first and final rounds. The 6-foot-6 righty from Chatham would walk away with the Home Run Hitting Competition’s trophy for the first time since 2019.