Delaware Valley's top young sluggers compete at Phillies Home Run Derby
The winners will get to come back to the ballpark Wednesday where they will be featured on the field at the Phillies game.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Kids as young as seven years old got the opportunity of a lifetime Sunday: the chance to play ball at Citizen's Bank Park.
The 52nd annual Phillies Home Run Derby featured boys and girls aged seven to 12 who competed all summer to make it to the championship round.
"We come here, we watch the Phillies, every year we're here and to see her on the field is just incredible," said Amy Ricker, whose daughter competed in the derby.
The event is a family affair for Paul Bradley, the derby's president.
"My dad started it in 1971. So he came to the Phillies, started the home run derby, and I took over about 10 years later," said Bradley. "I've pitched to a lot of mom and dads whose kids are here today."
That's the case for Adam Rosenberg and his kids.
"Really awesome mental images of my grandparents being in old photos at the Vet, so now my kids and other grandparents are here and it's pretty awesome," said Rosenberg, whose eight-year-old daughter, Paige, won her age group.
The young sluggers competing are some of the 10,000 kids who have had the chance to play in the derby. Some notable alumni include baseball superstar and South Jersey native Mike Trout, Phillies broadcaster Ben Davis, and Phillies alumni Erik Kratz and Jamie Moyer.
"I mean, it's a dream. He's been coming since he was a little guy and that's a dream to be out there where Bryce Harper and all those guys are and dream, maybe one day," said Actoin News anchor Tamala Edwards, whose son Rocco also competed in the derby.
The winners will get to come back to the ballpark Wednesday where they will be featured on the field at the Phillies game.
