September 24, 2022

By Reanna Julien

Carleton University

Ottawa – Myles Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) is the king of moonshots after putting on a clinic to win the Home Run Derby at the Canadian Futures Showcase at Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Park on Saturday.

Despite going against several of the showcase’s strongest hitters, the 2023 Texas Tech commit finished with a total of 19 homers to claim the Home Run Derby championship belt.

In the event, each athlete had two minutes to hit as many home runs as possible. At the end of the round, the four hitters with the most homers would move on to the final round.

Naylor came out hot in the first round, hitting four home runs before signaling for a break. With less than a minute on the clock, Naylor came back to hit six more dingers for a total of 10. Placing him in at the top of the leader board going into the finals.

Alex Kean (Woodstock, Ont.) hit two home runs before taking his break with 44 seconds left on the clock. He would go on to belt three more afterwards, totaling five – putting him in second place.

Esteban Dessureault (Trois-Rivieres, Que.), Evan Gunn (Oshawa, Ont.) and Sam Shaw (Victoria, B.C.) all finished with four home runs apiece. The result, a tiebreak for the last two spots in the finals.

With one minute in the tiebreak to hit as many homers as possible, both Dessureault and Shaw each belted four to secure their spots in the finals.

In the championship round, Dessureault and Kean hit six home runs apiece to tie for third.

However, it was Shaw who stepped up to the plate and challenged Naylor for the title.

Shaw had two homers before taking his break with 46 seconds left on the clock. To the excitement of his teammates, he went on to hit six more in the final seconds. Finishing with a total of eight home runs.

“Let’s go boy!” they shouted. “There you go, atta’ boy!”

With at least nine homers needed to take the title, one would think Naylor had his work cut out for him.

However, only one word could describe his final performance: spectacular.

Naylor hit his nine homers faster than it takes to sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

“There’s no way,” one player was heard saying. “This guy is insane.”

After hitting his ninth, Naylor called for a break, did a bat flip and walked away from home plate celebration. Signaling the end of competition.

“Okay champ! There you go champ!” players shouted as they gave Naylor his congratulatory high fives.

Matt Stairs, who belted 265 major league home runs, presented Naylor with the Home Run Derby belt for his 19 total dingers.

After the event, Naylor shared his simple but effective strategy that he used throughout the competition.

“I felt amazing,” he said. “I was just trying to lift the ball and get it up in the air. The rest just worked out in my favour, so it definitely felt great.”

After a morning of home runs, Naylor will play in the Prospects Game this afternoon. In preparation, the plan is to lower his adrenaline, and refocus.

“I’m probably going to try and level out my swing, not a home run swing anymore, but go back to my usual approach,” he explained. “Just get back to where I am and have fun with my teammates.”

With the showcase wrapping up today, Naylor expressed his gratitude and credits his family for the opportunity to play in the event.

“The experience was amazing,” he said. “I would always come to watch my brothers [Josh and Bo Naylor] play when they were here, and it’s definitely a blessing to be a part of it now. I really am grateful for the opportunity.”