PORTLAND — Jantzen Witte considers himself to be more of a “gap-to-gap hitter” rather than a raw-power guy, but that didn’t stop him from participating in the Home Run Derby on Wednesday in front of his hometown fans at Hadlock Field. 

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound entered the contest with just four home runs on the season, his last coming more than a month ago on June 12 against Bowie.

Having never participated in a Home Run Derby at any level, Witte said he was nervous. The hometown fans helped relax him a bit. 

“Having the home town cheer you on, it kind of picked me up a bit,” Witte said. “I was a little nervous about this. I don’t hit a lot of home runs in batting practice. Just being here in front of the hometown fans is pretty cool.”

Witte gave a few pitches a drive, but the 25-year-old went without a home run in his first derby appearance. Had it not been for the 70-foot wall in left field, Witte’s final swing would have left the park. It hit off the top of the Double-A version of the “Green Monster” and bounced harmlessly to the outfield grass in left field. 

Witte thought it was gone. 

“I did,” Witte said. “I don’t hit a ton in batting practice here, but it was my last out and I thought I really got that one. You got that big darn wall out there that’s 70-foot tall. Just didn’t have the distance.” 

Altoona’s Dan Gamache took the title, smacking four home runs in the finals. He defeated Richmond’s Ricky Oropesa, who hit two home runs in the final round. 

Gamache hit three home runs in the first round and two more in the second round. His nine home runs in the Home Run Derby surpassed his season total of five. 

He kept most of his swings away from the “Green Monster”, but it wasn’t intentional. 

“I wasn’t even thinking about that,” Gamache said. “I  was thinking about bullpen (left-field foul pole) to (right field) foul pole.” 

 Bowie’s Rossmel Perez and Trenton’s Gary Sanchez joined Gamache and Oropesa in the second round with three and two home runs, respectively. 

With the victory, Gamache takes home a $1,000 paycheck. 

“It’s pretty exciting,” Gamache said. “I don’t really know what to feel like. It’s pretty cool. My family and my hitting coach growing up is here.” 

The last time the All-Star Classic was in Portland, Shelley Duncan took home the Home Run Derby title. The former MLBer now manages short-season Single-A baseball with the Hillsboro Hops. 

Hernandez shines for Sea Dogs 

He’s leading the league in hitting and Marco Hernandez doesn’t appear to be slowing down if Wednesday’s All-Star Classic was any indication. 

Hernandez went 2-for-2 with a two-run home run to right field to lead the Eastern All-Stars to a 5-4 victory over the Western All-Stars. The Dominican Republic native singled and scored in his first at-bat in the first inning and homered off Altoona’s Jason Creasy in his final at-bat with two outs in the second. 

“I hit a fastball up and I was ahead in the count,” Hernandez said. “That’s pretty good to be here and enjoy the other guys on the other team. That’s pretty good.” 

Hernandez was named the All-Star Classic MVP. 

“Marco had a tremendous game,” Eastern Division and Portland manager Billy McMillon said. “He’s well-deserving of the player of the game. It’s really good he could do that in front of the home crowd.” 

Hernandez entered the All-Star break with a league-leading .326 average, thanks in part to his active 14-game hitting streak that dates back to June 29. He also had 28 multi-hit games in the first half of the regular season. 

The 6-foot, 170-pound shortstop was the lone member of the Eastern Division to record multiple hits. Akron’s Anthony Gallas went 2-for-4 for the Western Division. 

Sea Dogs’ pitching staff shuts down Western Division 

The Western Division All-Stars put runs on the board, but it wasn’t off Portland’s three All-Stars. 

William Cuevas received the starting nod from McMillon and pitched a perfect first inning. Cuevas got Max Moroff to line to first to open the game. Rando Moreno flied out to right and Yandy Diaz flied to center in Cuevas’ only inning of work. 

Robby Scott saw the most action on the hill, pitching 1 1/3 innings in relief. He came in with two outs in the seventh after New Britain’s Austin House was touched up for three runs on three hits. He also walked three as the Western Division rallied to tie the game 4-4. 

With two outs and the bases loaded, Scott got Oropesa to ground out to third to keep the game tied. He pitched a perfect eighth as well. 

Sandwiched in between Cuevas’ and Scott’s outings was one inning of work by Madison Younginer. The late addition to the All-Star festivities allowed a double to Altoona’s Josh Bell, but pitched a scoreless sixth inning. 

Combined, the three Sea Dogs pitchers tossed three innings of one-hit ball, striking out one. They threw 37 pitches — 23 for strikes. 

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