Del Mar Little Leaguer advances to home run derby finals in Williamsport

Rising seventh grader Camden Nishnick, who lives in Del Mar, competed in the T-Mobile Western Regional Little League Home Run Derby.

Now, he said, he’s preparing for the T-Mobile Little League Home Run Derby finals to be held in Williamsport, Penn., when Little League World Series events take place from Aug. 19 to 29. It is the second time he’s participated in the annual event.

“My family is very athletic,” said Camden, who has been playing baseball for about eight years, when he was 4 years old, and wants to make it to the Major Leagues one day. “My mom played softball at San Diego State, my dad played baseball in college and my sister plays softball.”

He said his favorite team is the New York Yankees and his favorite player is former Kansas City Royals first baseman Mike Sweeney, a Royals Hall of Fame inductee and coach of Camden’s travel baseball team.

En route to Williamsport, Camden first finished in the top 10 Little Leaguers in the western United States. At the Western Regionals at T-Mobile Park, home of the Seattle Mariners, he hit nine home runs in 90 seconds. He said he hit 36 home runs total during the competition.

Since 2019, the Little League Home Run Derby has drawn more than 3,000 Little Leaguers from all over the country, according to the event’s website. Local ball fields and Major League Baseball parks have hosted home run derbies for baseball and softball players.

“I practice every day,” said Camden, who will be entering Pacific Trails Middle School this fall. “We went up to a park with a field by our house. We set up temporary fences, set up a 90-second timer and my dad just threw batting practice and we timed it and saw how many home runs I can hit.”