Brown Wins West Coast League Home Run Derby
7/18/2018 11:00:00 AM | Baseball
Rising sophomore named summer league All-Star
PORT ANGELES, Wash. -- University of Houston Baseball rising sophomore Ron Brown won the West Coast League's Saltwater Splashdown on Monday at Hollywood Beach and participated in the WCL All-Star Game on Tuesday at Civic Field.
Hitting from a raised platform into Port Angeles Harbor, Brown hit 21 home runs to advance to the Championship Round. In the Championship, he and Cody Hawken (Corvallis Knights/Portland) each finished with 10 home runs to force a tiebreaker. In a five-swing extra round, Hawken hit four home runs, but Brown bested the mark going a perfect 5-for-5 to capture the home run derby title.
In total, Brown hit 36 home runs in the competition.
SALTWATER SPLASHDOWN REPLAY
(Ron Brown at bats at :44-51; 1:32:00-1:36:00; 1:38:00-1:41:00)
On Tuesday night, the Houston native represented the Port Angeles Lefties on the North Division team in the WCL All-Star Game, defeating the South, 10-6.
In the summer league, Brown has 10 hits with two doubles, four home runs, 12 RBI, 11 runs scored, 11 walks and three stolen bases.
With the Cougars in 2018, Brown made 22 appearances with eight starts at between designated hitter and first base. He recorded five hits with one RBI and helped Houston to a conference regular-season title and an at-large bid to NCAA Regionals.
ON WEST COAST LEAGUE
The West Coast League is a summer wood bat league for college-eligible student-athletes, based in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. The 14-year-old, 11-team league showcases pro prospects from major national conferences from June through the middle of August.
The WCL features an unparalleled history of memorable fan and player experiences, and the best summer weather in North America. In 2018, 72 players with WCL experience were selected in Major League Baseball's June amateur draft. A total of 271 WCL alums appeared or were active in affiliated professional baseball in 2017, including 31 in the major leagues, such as 2015 home-run leader Chris Davis (Baltimore), record-breaking rookie slugger Rhys Hoskins (Philadelphia), rising star pitchers James Paxton (Seattle) and Matt Boyd (Detroit), and 2018 AL All-Star outfielder Mitch Haniger (Seattle).
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