Fieflies’ Paez, Winningham picked for SAL Home Run Derby

Columbia Fireflies all-stars Dash Winningham and Michael Paez will take part in the South Atlantic League Home Run Derby.

The contest will take place Monday at Spirit Communications Park as part of the SAL All-Star festivities and begin after the Celebrities vs. Soldiers Softball Game, which begins at 6:15 p.m. Paez and Winningham will play in the game the following night.

Winningham is tied for third in the league with 10 home runs and first with 43 RBI. The Florida native has two multi-home run games this season.

Paez, the former Coastal Carolina standout, has six homers and 38 RBI this year. He hit 15 homers as a senior on CCU’s national title team last year.

Winningham and Paez will be joined by Rome’s Brett Cumberland and Asheville’s Vince Fernandez from the Southern Division. The Northern Division sluggers are Seby Zavala (Kannapolis), Daniel Johnson (Hagerstown), Sheldon Neuse (Hagerstown) and Trae Arbet (West Virginia). Johnson leads the league with 13 homers.

In addition to the minor leaguers, there will be six high schoolers who won qualifiers to make it to the event. Midlands players in the HR Derby are Dutch Fork’s Ward Hacklen, Sumter’s Jordan Holladay and Pelion’s Dalton Smith There also will be one player from Greenville, Myrtle Beach and Charleston in the event.

The SAL All-Stars will have two rounds high school players one round. The top two SAL All-Stars and top two high schoolers will advance to the final round.

This story was originally published June 14, 2017 at 12:40 PM with the headline "Fieflies’ Paez, Winningham picked for SAL Home Run Derby."