Visalia feel prevails at skills contest, Derby

VISALIA, California -- It was all Visalia on Monday night at Recreation Park. 
Marty Herum, the Rawhide's first baseman, capped the California League's Fan Fest by winning the circuit's Home Run Derby, crushing a total of 39 long balls over the course of three two-minute rounds and the finals. He edged 66ers third baseman Jose Rojas, 10-9, in the last round.

"I looked up with seven seconds left," Herum said. "I was like, 'The bat may only stay in my hands for one more swing,' so I got lucky. [Rawhide hitting coach Vince Harrison] threw it perfectly, and I put the barrel on it."
The 25-year-old Arizona prospect, who hit eight dingers over 96 games for Visalia last year and has four through 65 games this season, felt exhausted after leading the eight-man field with 14 in the first round. He didn't think he had it in him to beat San Jose's Aramis Garcia when the backstop belted 13 in Round 2.

"No. No, I didn't. Garcia's got a ton of power. So does Rojas -- he's got tons of power," Herum said. "Their balls were going 100 feet out and mine were barely making it over the fence, but a home run's a home run, I guess."
He found a source of energy in the hometown crowd.
"It's great. It's awesome having all that behind you," the River Falls, Wisconsin native said. "It gives you something to build off of. I kind of found a little extra energy too. ... I don't hit very many home runs in games or anything, so it's fun to come out here and do that." 
In Round 1, Lake Elsinore's Josh Naylor bested Rancho Cucamonga's Ibandel Isabel, 7-6, and Rojas and Lancaster's Sam Hilliard tied at 9-9. Rojas advanced in a 30-second tiebreaker, winning 5-4. Herum's eye-popping display knocked off Logan Taylor, 14-3. Garcia and Stockton's Seth Brown deadlocked at 5-5, and Garcia won the tiebreaker, 4-1. 
In Round 2, Rojas topped Naylor, 10-9, before Herum outdid Garcia's baker's dozen with 15.
But by the time the Derby began, the home crowd from the agriculture-rich area had already witness several spectacles.
"We're throwing lemons and milking cows and lassoing bulls and chasing around chickens," Dodgers No. 18 prospectDJ Peters said. "To see that kind of stuff go down is a lot of fun, for sure, especially seeing my teammates do it."
Peters, competing in a field that also included Stockton's Sean Murphy and Modesto's Chris Mariscal, lost the lemon-tossing contest to a fourth participant -- Visalia resident and Rawhide fan Luis Mota.
But his Quakes teammate, Luke Raley, did get a taste of victory -- literally. The outfielder joined with Lake Elsinore's Colby Blueberg and Inland Empire's Jose Rodriguez to win a cow-milking contest for the South against the North team of Visalia's Mason McCullough, Modesto's Nick Neidert and San Jose's Mike Connolly. Raley took a brave gulp from the boot-shaped vase the team milked into.
"Luke, he's from Ohio," Peters said. "He's used to that kind of stuff."
"What?" Raley said. "I've never once drank milk straight out of a cow."
The pair admitted that these sorts of skills contests weren't what they envisioned upon receiving an invitation to the All-Star Game.
"Not at all. But it's a good experience. I'm not complaining," Raley said. "We're having a blast."
The showcase also featured a lasso toss, in which the Storm's Cal Quantrill prevailed against the Rawhide's Bo Takahashi. The Nuts' Reggie McClain was the first to pick up one of six chickens released among a crowd of competitors along the third-base line.