Marlins prospect keeps title in The Bahamas; Team World wins team competition
- Simba French
- 13 hrs ago
- 0
Bahamian professional baseball player Breyias Dean kept the ‘Home Run King’ title in The Bahamas in his debut at the Don’t Blink Home Run Derby, out-shining American Will Benson of the Cincinnati Reds in the individual competition final at Montagu Beach on Saturday.
Benson and Team World won the team title over Team Bahamas.
“It was great to have the people on my side. It is a great reminder of why and what I am playing for,” Dean said.
It was a slow start for the 18-year-old as he appeared to have a little pressure on him. His pitcher, Geron Sands, had some words with him and Dean responded. He got into rhythm and hit the winning home run to break the tie on the last ball.
“I just wanted to put on a show, perform and do my best. Once they told me how much I had and how much I hit, it was done from there. The cheers played a huge part because as soon as I heard them, they lifted my spirits,” Dean said.
He loved the atmosphere and cannot wait until next year.
Last year, Bahamian BJ Murray, a prospect of the Chicago Cubs, walked away as the champion in the individual competition.
Organizers of the event, Lucius Fox Jr. and Todd Isaacs Jr., switched it up a little from the usual Team Fox against Team Isaacs format to Team Bahamas going up against Team World. In the team competition, Team World won 68-63. Benson said he was happy with his team’s performance.
“We knew we had that, and we knew we were the best. It was fun and we had a good time. We had a lot of great hitters on our squad, but I am sad that we did not win the individual too,” Benson said.
Team Bahamas went with a young lineup. Fox said he wanted those players to get some experience.
“It is the second straight year we had a Bahamian winning. We told them that we are number one and we showed that,” Fox said. “We will look to take both titles next year. We are very competitive here in The Bahamas – we want to take the team and individual portion. Our team was full of young players who are 16-, 17-, and 18-year-olds. They went up against players who are 28 and older and in the big leagues. We fell short but I am proud of what they did.”
The top three home run hitters in this round of competition for Team World were Benson (11), the Yomiuri Giants’ Lewis Brinson (11) and the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Josh Palacios (10). The top three home run hitters on Team Bahamas were Dean (9), the Texas Rangers’ Sebastian Walcott (9) and the San Francisco Giants’ Ryan Reckley (8).
Benson, Brinson, Palacios, Dean and Walcott advanced in the individual round. In that round, Walcott went first and hit six home runs. Dean followed him and hit 10 home runs. Palacios slammed eight home runs and Benson stepped up and hit nine home runs to sit in second behind Dean. Brinson hit eight home runs. Dean and Benson advanced to the final.
A week of activities began with the event’s annual kids’ camp. It turned out to be an eventful one.
“We want to continue to push the baseball narrative, bring the world here to The Bahamas. We want to keep exposing these events to the world. It was a beautiful week of events that touched the community in different forms and fashion. It was great to have the Players Alliance and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) on board with us. It is a sign that we are headed in the right direction about the future of baseball here in The Bahamas,” Isaacs said.
Fox said they got great reviews on this year’s event and both he and Isaacs will brainstorm ways to build on this year’s event for next year.