“They realize who can actually hit it, and specifically Trey (Hendrickson) and Joe are getting really competitive,” Wilson said Thursday. “I know Cal Adomitis is coming back. There’s a lot of people coming for Joe’s head in the home run derby for sure.”
What surprised Wilson most at last year‘s inaugural event was that players like Bachie, Hendrickson and Adomitis hit homers far beyond the temporary softball fence in the outfield and over the baseball fence.
To see such feats of strength again, fans can purchase tickets ranging from $15 to $50 at loganwilsonsoftball.com. Before the game, a pre-event party begins outside the stadium at 10 a.m. Gates open at noon. The home run derby begins at 2 p.m. and the game’s first pitch is scheduled for 3.
“It was honestly way more fun than I anticipated it being,” Wilson said. “And then seeing the turnout from the fans on a Wednesday last year, I know a ton of guys on the team had a blast.”
Last year’s crowd of black-and-orange clad fans exceeded 5,000. The event raises money through ticket sales and auction items for the The Brooks Joshua Anderson Foundation, a research and scholarship program for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The foundation was started by a family Wilson knows from his college days of playing at Wyoming. He said the event means even more to him now because his daughter was born after last year’s game.
“It affects more kids than probably the vast majority of the public would know, and so they’re trying to find ways to eliminate that,” Wilson said.
Fans can also visit the event website and sign up for a meet and greet with Wilson and other special opportunities at the game. Wilson likes the fact that the game is played in Dayton.
“It’s a unique way to interact with our fans besides just being in Cincinnati because most of these type of events are typically in Cincinnati,” he said. “So to be able to go somewhere else and interact with a different city of fans, I think is important.”
Former Bengals running back Giovanni Bernard, who played last year and was a crowd favorite, will captain a team this year. Wilson will also serve as a team captain again.
Other Bengals committed to play include head coach Zac Taylor, Sam Hubbard, Germaine Pratt, Evan McPherson, Jake Browning, Vonn Bell, Cam Taylor-Britt, Ted Karras, Chase Brown and Cordell Volson.
About the Author