PARIS – The weather cooperated long enough Saturday morning for the inaugural Paris Baseball Fun & Skills Competition. There were nearly 40 competitors ages 12 and under from Bethel, Paris, Norway, Oxford, Otisfield, Waterford, West Paris and Hebron who competed in batting, throwing accuracy, pitching and base running competitions in addition to fly ball fun. The participants were asked to gather sponsors for the event, and they competed in one of three age groups: 11-12 year olds, 9-10 year olds and 8-under. The event was hosted by Paris Recreation at the Dennis Rugg Complex on Kilgore Road.

Prizes were awarded to the top overall money raisers and to the top three places in each group for each competition. Prizes included Sea Dogs tickets, trophies, t-shirts, free registrations for next year, and a variety of baseball related items. Consolation for those who didn’t place was a free ice cream provided by Norway Soft Serve.

In the throwing accuracy competition players were asked to throw six times at a target area. Points were determined by how close each throw was to the bulls-eye with the highest total score declared the winner. Throwing from 60 feet in the 8-under group were: 1. Johnny Pruett, Waterford; 2. Charlie Morton, South Paris; 3. Jackson Fitts, South Paris. Throwing from 80 feet in the 9-10 year old group were: 1. Emery Chickering, Otisfield; 2. Jordan Ohayon, South Paris; 3. Josh Elliott, Bethel. Throwing from 100 feet in the 11-12 year old group were: 1. Kendall Hill, South Paris; 2. Aiden Heikkinen, South Paris; 3. Alex Bergmann, South Paris.

The pitching competition was a combination of accuracy and speed. Players threw six pitches from 46 feet with their speeds recorded. The highest speed recorded and in the strike zone was declared the winner. Results: 8-and-under, 1. Johnny Pruett, 41 mph; 2. Charlie Morton; 3. Jackson Fitts. 9-10, 1. Emery Chickering, 52 mph; 2. Jordan Ohayon; 3. Stephen McNalley, Bethel. 11-12, 1. Caleb Clarke, Bethel, 63 mph; 2. Jacob Bennett, Bethel; 3. Aiden Heikkinen.

In the base running activity, players were timed to see how fast they could run from home plate to first base, from first to third, and around the bases. The fastest times from home plate to first base were: 8-under, Johnny Pruett and Charlie Morton in 3.53 seconds; 9-10, Jordan Ohayon in 3.37 seconds; and 11-12, Jacob Bennett in 3.20 seconds. The fastest times from first to third were: 8-under, Johnny Pruett in 7.41 seconds; 9-10, Jordan Ohayon in 6.84 seconds; and 11-12, Aiden Heikkinen in 6.21 seconds. The fastest times around the bases were: 8-under, Johnny Pruett in 15.03 seconds; 9-10, Jordan Ohayon in 13.34 seconds; and 11-12, Aiden Heikkinen in 13.34 seconds.

The premier competition of the day was batting, where players were given 10 swings each. Points were awarded for every fair ball depending where it hit the ground first. Winners: 8-under, 1. Charlie Morton, South Paris; 2. Johnny Pruett, Waterford; 3. Molly Bourget, Hebron; 9-10, 1. Jackman Graiver, West Paris; 2. Emery Chickering; 3. Stephen McNalley; 11-12, 1. Tanner Wheeler, Bethel; 2. Jacob Bennett, Bethel; 3. Matt Smith, Oxford.

There were two team competitions. In tag team base running, two players took turns running around the bases with the best total time declared the winner. Ty Wyman and Aiden Heikkinen of South Paris won this event with a time of 24.51 seconds. In the team around the horn competition ,players must throw the ball from base to base while in possession of the ball and in contact with the base then back around again. The best time in this event was 15.41 seconds for the team of Jacob Bennett, Alex McNalley, Aiden Heikkinen and Chad Martin.

This planned to be annual event is a fund raiser for Paris Baseball/Softball and the top two money raisers received four tickets to a Sea Dogs game and a t-shirt. Second-highest money raiser was Josh Elliott, and the highest money raiser with nearly $140 in sponsors was Kendall Hill. Event director Joe Trybus would like to thank everyone who participated and volunteered, including all of those parents and coaches who pitched. A special thanks to Skip Bennett for the use of his radar gun.