Bowie resident headed to home run derby

They are the first two Maryland residents to compete in the event, which has grown from a regional competition at a high school field in South Florida three years ago to an international showcase at Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. This year it will have 60-plus players, at least one from every state and several from around the world.

Flannery, a Gazette-Star first-team all-county selection after hitting eight home runs and 45 RBI last season, will represent Maryland. Barker, who had three home runs and 24 RBI, will represent the District, as the Stags play in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.

Barker said he has some experience with home run hitting contests. He came in second at a national AAU event when he was 14. A home run derby is a far different challenge than a typical baseball game. Forget the strategy of moving runners around the bases — the idea of the contest is to hit the ball hard. Not that there’s ever a bad time to hit one out of the park.

‘‘I just love the feeling that when you hit a home run, you know you just did your job right there,” Barker said

It will be the first derby for Flannery, who compared the contest to trying to hit for power in a late-game situation.

‘‘If you’re down by a run or two, you focus on that,” he said.

Flannery has committed to Indian River Community College in Fort Pierce Fla., and most of the players at the contest have signed with colleges, said Brian Domenico, the Boca Raton, Fla. high school coach who organized the event.

When the derby first went national last year, it included 20 players from 13 states, the Domican Republic and Puerto Rico. This year it grew to include players from every state, selected through nominations and statistics and talking with local coaches, Domenico said. He introduced the nationwide field to raise the profile of the event, which he said he hopes will be supported by individual state contests in the future.

Domenico said he expects at least a dozen professional scouts and a few college coaches to be among the anticipated crowd of 3,000. Nine players who participated in last year’s event were selected in the 2007 Major League Baseball draft.

That exposure appeals to the undecided Barker. He may not have a chance to show his fielding skills in Tampa, but for a player who takes pride in his talents with a bat, that’s not a problem.

‘‘It’s doing only one thing, but it will show well,” Barker said.

Nalley makes college plans

Bowie High senior softball player Katie Nalley planned to sign a letter of intent this week to attend Mount Olive College in North Carolina. Nalley, a Gazette-Star all-county first-team selection as a shortstop for the 20-1 Bulldogs last spring, received a partial scholarship for both academics and athletics.

‘‘It’s a big relief,” said Nalley, who had a 3.94 GPA during the first quarter and a 3.65 cumulative GPA. ‘‘It’s exciting. Now I can just focus on playing. We have a lot of high goals for this year. We’ve had a lot of success the other three years, so we want to continue that success. I always wanted to go down south where it’s warmer. It’s a small, liberal arts school.”

Nalley, who led the Bulldogs in nearly every offensive category last spring while playing superb defense, spent much of the summer playing in various showcase tournaments in Colorado, South Carolina and Pennsylvania. She could bat leadoff, third or cleanup for the Bulldogs this spring and will combine with senior second baseman Terri Kellaher as one of the county’s best double-play tandems.

Staff writer Ted Blackcontributed to this report

E-mail Kevin Hilgers at khilgers@gazette.net.