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Son hits first homer on same day father did 20 years later
BY JUSTIN THOMAS, Staff writer
If you’ve ever played baseball you probably remember the first time you sent a ball over the fence for a home run. That is if you’ve had the pleasure of hitting a homer.
That feeling came true May 24 for 12-year-old Lewisville resident Cameron Champagne of Huffines Middle School.
Champagne, who plays for the North Texas Angels, a local select team, blasted his first out of the park homer in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Cubs. He followed with another homer in Game 2 of the doubleheader, this time against the Lubbock Drillers. The Angels would split the two games.
“I just swung at the first good pitch I saw,” Cameron said. “It felt good. I didn’t think I would hit a homer at least until I was in high school.”
But, that’s where it gets interesting.
“I got to thinking,” Champagne said. “Everyone remembers their first home run clearly and I knew I hit mine when I was 12. I started thinking it was close to the same time because I thought I hit mine near the end of the season as well.”
Cameron was very intrigued, and asked his father to go up to the attic and check the ball for the date.
“I thought he was joking when he said it,” Cameron said.
“I went up there and looked around near my graduation hat and such and found the ball. I came down and held up the ball to Cameron, who had his ball, and sure enough it was the exact same date 20 years later,” Champagne said.
Odds are tough enough to hit a homer and on the same day as your father, but other circumstances were in play as well.
Cameron’s team typically plays on larger fields, with 300-foot fences, often used for adult softball, quite a poke for someone of Cameron’s age. On the larger fields Cameron had hit inside the park homers, but never one over the fence. May 24, however, the Angels played a rare game at Trinity View Park in Irving, where the fence was a more reachable 250 feet.
“It was a rare case where the fence was at a distance that matched the body size of the players,” Champagne said. “I think it was only the third game we had played there.”
Stephen Champagne went on to play college baseball at Hill College. If the career path continues, Cameron, who was recently named outstanding sixth-grade athlete at Huffines Middle School by coach Mark Yanda, could someday play college ball as well.
“It was just a magical weekend,” Champagne said.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
christy wrote on Jun 1, 2008 8:37 AM:
" hello "
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