Josh Scheffert, a senior infielder and pitcher at Lincoln Southeast, will escape Nebraska's cold winter weather for a few days with an all-expenses-paid New Year's Day trip to sunny St. Petersburg, Florida.   Scheffert, a recent Husker signee, will represent Nebraska in the 2008 International High School Power Showcase Home Run Derby on January 3rd.  The 6'2" 205 right-handed slugger was selected by showcase director Brian Domenico to be one of sixty representatives from the United States who, along with ten international standouts, will compete in the long ball event to be held at Tropicana Field, home of the 2008 National League Champion Tampa Bay Rays.  The event has been held since 2003 when it was first organized by Domenico, head baseball coach at Olympic Heights High School in Boca Raton, Florida, as a fundraiser for his baseball program.  Recent Bellevue East graduate Ryan Keele represented Nebraska at the event in 2008.

 

Scheffert, who participated in the prestigious Area Code Games in August, is Nebraska's top returning home run hitter, having stroked four during the 2008 spring season for Southeast and 13 more during the summer for the JC Brager American Legion team.  His season home run total (17) was second only to 2008 graduate Brandon Winkelmann of Gross Catholic High School who hit four during the spring and sixteen during the summer. 

 

Josh and his father, Skip, will fly to Tampa on New Year's Day.  On Friday, January 2nd, Josh will participate in a "Scout Day" showcase event held at the Yankee's spring training facility in Tampa.  Scheffert has been assigned to a group of six first and third basemen who will run through a two-hour workout attended by major league scouts beginning at 11:00am.  On Friday evening the contestants will be treated to a Welcome Dinner and Uniform Presentation Ceremony at the Hilton Hotel in St. Petersburg.

 

The Home Run Derby competition will be held on Saturday, running from 8:00 am until 8:00 pm.  Each hitter will participate in two preliminary rounds.  The first round will be with wood bats in which each hitter will get ten outs, followed by a round with metal bats in which the hitters will each get 15 outs.  The top five hitters from the prelims will advance to the Championship Round later in the day where they will each get fifteen outs.  The finalists can use either wood or metal bats in the Championship Round.  The 2009 International High School Power Showcase Home Run Derby Champion will be crowned in an awards ceremony immediately following the competition.  Also presented at the awards ceremony will be the Babe Ruth Award, presented by the Babe's granddaughter, Linda Ruth Tosetti, to the hitter with the longest home run, as well as awards for Most Home Runs in a Single Round and Consecutive Home Runs in a Single Round. 

 

The Home Run Derby contest will be streamed live worldwide on the internet and may be viewed by clicking a link on the home page of the event's website:   http://www.power-showcase.com. 

 

Josh commented that he is healthy and feeling "real good" heading into the competition.  He added that he has been working hard on his hitting fundamentals and hopes that he can represent Nebraska well in the competition.  Best wishes, Josh!

 

Tropicana Field dimensions (domed stadium):

 

		Left field	315 ft.
		Left-center	370 ft.
		Left-center	410 ft.
		Center field	404 ft.
		Right-center	404 ft.
		Right-center	370 ft.
		Right-field line	322 ft