Northwoods League Home Run Derby comes down to final swings

WAUSAU – Stevie Mangrum found himself in the spotlight in a late-game situation at Athletic Park once again Tuesday night.

The outfielder has been one of the Wisconsin Woodchucks'top players this season and he received the loudest greeting from the hometown fans as he walked to the plate as the 18th and final competitor in the Northwoods League’s Home Run Derby. 

Mangrum has come through in a number of clutch situations for the Chucks this summer and had the chance to give the South Division a potential tie or win over the North in the overall team competition. But one of the top power hitters in the league at the All-Star break fell just short in the latest opportunity.

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Mangrum has hit 11 home runs in league play so far this year but could not clear the fences in the Derby. His final swing of the night came the closest as the long drive was caught at the base of the fence in left centerfield for his sixth and final allotted out in his at-bat.  

“Yeah, I just choked,” Mangrum said after the North held on for a 13-11 win in the competition in which nine players from each division got a chance to swing for the fences at Athletic Park.“I just couldn’t come up big. Hopefully there will be another time when the ball travels a little better, but it was still a lot of fun.”

Mangrum's disappointment on the night was short-lived, however. He singled home the first run of the All-Star Game with two outs in the first inning and added an RBI in the eighth to earn the 'Star of Stars' honor.  

Rochester’s Zach Zubia was the first player to bat in the Derby and no one else could match the five home runs he hit the rest of way.

Mangrum  had his father, Mike, pitch to him for the contest, and he was the lone Woodchucks player in the Derby. The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters had three players in the contest — Dustin Woodcock, Christian Jones and Jake Guenther.

Jones led the Rafters trio with three home runs. Guenther and Woodcock hit two and one, respectively.

“It was definitely a lot of fun with (the crowd),” Jones said. “it definitely gets your nerves up and going and you just have to get yourself to relax and try and get your pitch.”

Zubia found his pitch more than anyone Tuesday and it wasn’t any surprise that the Honkers' 6-foot-4 first baseman won the completion. Zubia entered the NWL’s  All-Star break as the league leader in home runs (16) and runs batted in (49) and has a .323 batting average.

The Derby title was the latest in what has been a stellar summer of baseball for Zubia.

“I just come to the ballpark and try and get better at something every day,” Zubia said during the NWL banquet on Monday night. “I’ve obviously had a good individual first half, but it all starts with my teammates. It’s a pretty close-knit group and they have been nothing but supportive of not just me but the team in general.”

Tim Johnson: 715-845-0731, or twjohnson@gannett.com; on Twitter @timmyjo11