Local digs the dinger
CENTER TWP — At age 3, Liam McElroy was playing T-Ball. By age 4, he was playing coach-pitch baseball.
By age 8, he was hitting home runs.
“That's when we really started to notice his power,” his father, Bill McElroy, said.
This year, at age 12, Liam entered the Junior Home Run Derby sponsored by Major League Baseball. He won the local competition held in Trafford, belting seven home runs.
Liam is a pitcher/first baseman for the Butler Junior BlueSox, who play their home games in Meridian. He also plays for the Center Township A's.
“Between the two teams, he hit 27 home runs last season and has about 25 so far this year,” McElroy said.
By winning in Trafford, Liam advanced to the regional Home Run Derby in New Jersey, where he was one of 100 kids competing. The winner earned the right to go to the MLB All-Star Game in Washington, D.C., next week for the national home run derby.
Liam reached the final four hitters of the New Jersey regional, but finished fourth.
He plans on playing high school and college baseball down the road as well.
“I'll be playing baseball for as long as I can,” Liam said.
Read the full story in Tuesday's Butler Eagle.
