July 31, 2005

In what hopefully will be a sign of good things to come for NC State baseball next spring, the Wolfpack's Aaron Bates on Saturday won the Home Run Derby at the Cape Cod League All-Star Game, played at Hyannis's McKeon Field.

Brewster, having a tremendous season for the Brewster Whitecaps, defeated Hyannis catcher Justin Tellam in a first-round tiebreaker, then faced Wareham pitcher Josh Copeland in the finals. Copeland hit first homers in the final round, but Bates got hot and hit six in a row to win.

"I got hot after my third out in the tiebreaker," Bates told The Cape Cod Times. "I found something in my swing."

Bates went into the all-star break fifth in the Cape League with a .319 average, and had three doubles, three home runs and 14 RBIs. His slugging percentage was .451 and his on-base percentage was .443, which ranked second in the league. The Cape Cod League, like most collegiate summer leagues, uses wood bats and has historically favored pitchers. The Brewster team average was .241 at the break, and nine of the 10 teams in the league were hitting .243 or less.