Shamin Hotels Slugger Ethan Hamill Wins Inaugural BizSense Home Run Derby!
From Richmond Bizsense: It took a walk-off to decide the first-ever BizSense Home Run Derby.
Ethan Hamill from the Shamin Hotels team won Wednesday’s contest at The Diamond with a blast to left-center field, besting Ryan Norwood of TSW and JT Poff of James River Nurseries in the event’s final round.
It capped an enjoyable, socially distanced afternoon at the ballpark featuring teams from 12 local companies, which each fielded two batters and had their own spaced-out section in the stadium for employees, family and friends.
Batters got the full treatment — entrance music when stepping to the plate, live video of themselves on the big outfield screen and color commentary from the Squirrels PA man Anthony Oppermann.
There were home runs aplenty (the wall was moved in a bit), snacks and cold beverages. It was the closest thing to taking in a day of baseball at the stadium since the pandemic began. Thanks to everyone who helped show that some well-planned fun can still be responsibly had even in these crazy times.
Enjoy the slideshow above with pics from Tom Veazey.
And a special thanks to Parney, Hannah DeFrank and all the crew from the Flying Squirrels for letting us invade The Diamond for a day.
Here’s to bringing the derby back bigger and better next year. And who knows, maybe then we won’t have to wear masks.
Original story and more images are here: https://bit.ly/391MCH1