On a beautiful 80° Sunday afternoon, there were reports of rockets, missiles, and bombs near the Menomonee Falls Little League Complex. Instead of organized war games, it turned out to be the Falls Aces slugging screamers, liners, and moon shoots during our 1st Annual Falls Aces Slugfest!
Before all the hitting began, families enjoyed great ballpark food, entered into the 50/50 and gift bag raffles, and got to know each other better while the Aces played kickball. Then the fun started…
The SlugFest is designed to reward the most consistent hitters who can routinely crank line drives to the outfield. Home runs are great, but unless athletes can consistently hit the ball far, there are no guarantees. Each athlete had 10 chances to slug, with the results of each swing producing a point value based on how far the ball flew in the air in fair territory. Fouls and swing & misses resulted in no points earned, while balls flying over the fence earned a maximum of three points.
While many had assumptions on who would win on each team, there were a couple of surprises. Let’s review the results (winners in italics).
U10
| Hitter | Team | Total |
| Stehli | U10 | 15 |
| Kloss | U10 | 7 |
| Zimmerman | U10 | 7 |
| Villars | U10 | 8 |
| Wieckowicz | U10 | 9 |
| Weyker | U10 | 10 |
| Belott | U10 | 11 |
| Gozdowiak | U10 | 7 |
U12 – Navy
| Hitter | Team | Total |
| Lilach | U12N | 8 |
| Koenings | U12N | 11 |
| Ratay | U12N | 9 |
| Gruber | U12N | 8 |
| Stehli | U12N | 16 |
| Irwin | U12N | 12 |
| Lynch | U12N | 17 |
| Holloway | U12N | 8 |
| Dahl | U12N | 8 |
| Wozniak | U12N | 12 |
U12 – Red
| Hitter | Team | Total |
| Jahn | U12R | 13 |
| Griese | U12R | 11 |
| Belott | U12R | 11 |
| Bacon | U12R | 10 |
| Coppersmith | U12R | 9 |
| Booher | U12R | 13 |
| Zinda | U12R | 14 |
U13
| Hitter | Team | Total |
| Kriese | U13 | 11 |
| Thompson | U13 | 14 |
| Youngs | U13 | 28 |
| Radder | U13 | 12 |
| Schnickel | U13 | 20 |
| Dell’Agnese | U13 | 9 |
| Mallow | U13 | 17 |
| Lilach | U13 | 13 |
| Cordoves | U13 | 22 |
Both Lynch and Zinda proved that you don’t have to the biggest dude on the team to win the SlugFest as both athletes made the most of their 10 chances by cranking balls to the outfield. On teams with big boppers, both these young dudes showed what consistent line dive approaches can do. Well done boys!
In a battle of brothers, the eldest Stehli narrowed surpassed his younger brother by earning 16 points compared to the latter’s 15 – which was good enough to lead the U10 squad.
Then the big dudes came on the field, and much like the actual MLB Home Run Derby, the action was fast and furious as balls flew over the 200′ fence early and often. Youngs put on a show, cranking 8 ding dongs out of his 10 swings – including pelting the tree in deep center field and going over the road in right field. As impressive as his day was, no shot during the SlugFest matched the double he cranked during the tournament game earlier in the day! The dude is a B-E-A-S-T!
For their amazing performances, the winner on each team will receive special gifts from Coach Jacob – including a $25 gift card to spend at Burghardts. Great job boys!
Proceeds from the event will go towards equipment needed for the indoor training facility opening this Fall. The Launch Pad is yet another tool in our toolbox to continue providing high-level development to Falls baseball players.
Special thanks to all the parents and families who supported the kids during the event while donating food, money and time. The cheers and claps made these dudes feel very special!
Coach Jacob did the heavy lifting with this event, and without him and his family pitching in so much time it wouldn’t have been a success. Thank you Coach!
Thanks to Coach Sky for manning the grill, and the Schnickels for their awesome canopies. And thanks to Coach Larry and Coach Jake for pitching – ice up those arms gentlemen!
We’d also like to give a BIG shout out to those organizations and families who donated items for our SlugFest, including:
Dominos Pizza
Dick’s Sporting Goods
Shelly’s Hallmark
Big Lots
Pfieiffer’s Piggly Wiggly
Metro Pick & Save
Ulta Beauty
Marshall’s
Fall’s McDonald’s
Home Goods
Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club
T-J Maxx
Game Stop
Bath & Body Works
Waukesha Sports Cards
Jeff Sports
Bill Jahn
The Reddy Family
The Strong Family
The Windom Family
The Lynch Family
The Ratay Family
Burghardts Sporting Goods