SPARKS, NV – At typical home run contests, the fans know they’re going to see a softball crushed farther than most people can hit it. But also, there are the shots that are popped up leaving everyone wondering if they’re going to get out. At Golden Eagle Regional Park on April 4, the pop up shots didn’t have much of a chance.

With winds blowing in from left field at more than 30 miles per hour, Bryson Baker representing Worth, came out the winner in the Saturday-afternoon home run contest by blasting 29 long shots. With the northern Nevada weather known for its unpredictability, Baker was just happy to get the win.

“It was freezing out here,” he said. “It was cold, the wind was really blowing bad.”

Baker said he really focused on putting a good charge into the ball hoping to hit more sharp line drives than towering hits. “You can’t lift it in these conditions,” said Bryson, a 2009 USA Battle of the Border infielder. “Normally you can lift it and still get it over the fence. Today, you couldn’t do it because the wind was blowing so hard.”

The 50 or so fans in attendance braved the conditions to watch the showcase of power.

Chris Larsen, of DeMarini, set the bar high with 21 home runs early in the final round. Larsen, who was named to the 15-member 2010 USA Softball Men’s Slow Pitch National Team, showed serious power crushing balls over the left field fence. Also in the mix was Denny Crine from Henderson Nevada, who was using his signature bat, the 2011 Miken Denny Crine Psycho.

Crine hit a few of the longest home runs, but couldn’t find a groove to keep up with the leaders. Crine had used the bat for about two weeks prior to the contest and he noted that the white-barrel, burnt-orange-lettered bat is now available for purchase.

Armando Acosta, the National Softball Association Director in Southern Califonia, put on the event. The bats were provided for both the contest and the softball tournament by the manufacturers.