By Faran Fagen
Special to The Palm Beach Post
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
BOCA RATON — Beyond the left field wall at Olympic Heights' baseball field stands a chain-link fence that marks the western boundary of the high school.
On Monday, a coach had to jump the fence in search of David DiNatale's home run. It was found lodged in the mud — approximately 505 feet from home plate.
"It's hard to believe somebody hit one over 500 feet in this wind," said Florida Marlins pitching coach Mark Wiley, the guest speaker at the second annual Florida Power Showcase Home Run Derby. "You don't see a 500-foot home run that often, even in the major leagues."
Around 70 hitters from Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties gathered at Olympic Heights on Sunday and Monday to see who could hit the most, the longest and the most consecutive home runs.
Only 17 remained for Monday's cold and windy final two rounds. Each hitter got 20 swings — 10 with a wooden bat and 10 with an aluminum bat — in the second round and the top five made it into the finals.
DiNatale hit two home runs in the round with an aluminum bat but did not advance to the finals.
Max Gonzalez of Miami-American won the competition with five homers in the finals, besting Davie-Nova teammates Donnie Amos and William Block, Matt Kozak of Olympic Heights and Matt Greener of Jupiter Christian.
"I'm excited, but my goal was to win this thing," DiNatale said of his performance.
DiNatale, The Palm Beach Post Class 2A-A Player of the Year at King's Academy last season as a junior, said he once hit a 550-foot home run that landed in the football field during practice at King's.
"It landed on top of the gas tank past the far end zone and made a loud clang," said David's father, David Sr. "David has tremendous bat speed. Scouts have told me that his bat speed is above major-league level."
DiNatale, who has transferred to Parkland-Douglas for his senior year, already has accepted a scholarship from University of Central Florida, but he hopes to be drafted this spring by the major leagues.
But first, he must adjust to different competition (Douglas is a Class 6A school) and county.
"Last year I got all the Palm Beach recognition," he said. "Now I have to prove myself in Broward."
Last year, the longest home run at the derby was by Jupiter's Vinnie Scarduzio at 475 feet.
Stakes mark the yardage every 10 yards past the outfield walls, making it easier for the coaches to measure the length of each homer — even the really long ones.
"Last year, Vinnie's hit the base of a house. This year, David's landed even farther in the mud," Olympic Heights coach Brian Domenico said.