SPRINGDALE - When it comes to hitting home runs, Northwest Arkansas’ Matt Fields is a Natural.
The burly right-handed hitter got on a roll early and earned the moniker of home run king at the Texas League All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Arvest Ballpark.
Fields ranks second in the league in homers, but out-dueled Tulsa’s Kiel Roling 11-6 in the finals of the Home Run Derby at his own park.
The contestants got 10 outs, but Fields surpassed Roling’s total with four outs remaining. However, he wasn’t finished. The Seattle, Wash., resident then hit four more home runs in five swings.
Fields finally got going late in the first round. With just one out left, the 6-foot-5, 256-pounder hit five consecutive homers before lining out to ring up a derby-high 13 home runs to advance to the championship round.
Fields said he took some time to get comfortable, but definitely enjoyed the All-Star experience.
“This is my first All-Star game, Home Run Derby, so I definitely took everything in and had fun with it,” Fields said. “Truthfully, I was kind of nervous going into the whole situation. I knew I would try to do way too much. I had half my teammates telling me ‘take your time, get your swing and get your pitch.’”
Naturals and North Division All-Star manager Brian Poldberg was the pitcher for both Fields and Roling in the Derby. But Poldberg is very familiar with Fields since he throws some batting practice.
“I throw two groups every day, so I kinda know where he likes it,” Poldberg said. “He’s got tremendous power. He hit a ball on the road trip in Little Rock over the scoreboard, which I’ve never seen done. I know where Roling wanted it, too, and I got it there. He just got a little tired in the second round.”
Roling was the only other competitor to reach double digits, totaling 10 in the first round.
Fields, who went 0-for-2 in the All-Star Game, was pleased with his win in the Home Run Derby since it came at Arvest Ballpark.
“After I took a few pitches and started to getting more confidence and more comfortable, from there it just kind of took care of itself,” Fields said. “It’s an amazing feeling especially doing it in front of our home crowd. They support us all year. I wanted to give something back to them to show my appreciation.”
Other first-round totals were four for Randal Grichuk of Arkansas and two by Midland’s Jake Goebbert and Spiro, Okla., prepster Colby Demato. Demato earned his way into the Derby winning a contest filled with high school players held earlier in the spring. Frisco’s Brett Nicholas was the only competitor who did not hit a home run.
Corpus Christi’s George Springer, who is tied for the Texas League lead with 19 homers, hit only one.
Sports, Pages 9 on 06/26/2013