Glen Cove's Kleinwaks wins home run derby

Just call him Zach the Ripper.

Zach Kleinwaks, 13, of Glen Cove says he doesn't consider himself to be a home run hitter but that didn't stop him from hitting twice as many as his nearest competitor to win the home run derby title at the recent Cal Ripken U12 All-Star tournament in Aberdeen, Md.

Kleinwaks hit 12 balls over the fence, beating out 17 other Ripken Baseball opponents from all over the country. Hitters are given seven outs and the park is 265-feet to straightaway centerfield. Kleinwaks, who plays with the Long Island Yankees travel team, was the second batter to go -- meaning he sat by and watched as bigger and stronger players took their strokes.

"Some of these guys had more facial hair than I did," joked his father, Robert. "It's the Southern guys you have to worry about . . . they play ball all year round."

As it turned out, Zach had little to be concerned about. The next-closest hitter had six home runs, meaning the first baseman and pitcher, who will be attending Portledge High School as a freshman in September, was home run king.

"I never really considered myself a home run hitter," said Zach, who came in second last year at a tournament in Cooperstown last year with six. "I just try to hit the ball hard and sometimes it flies."

Zach, who had one of his coaches, Tom Lucchese pitching to him, said he preferred letter-high fastballs and merely got into a groove and let his swing take care of the rest.

"At first it was nerve-racking" [to see some hitters, who were well over 6-feet], Zach said. "But then I hit the first one over, and I was like, 'this is going to be good.' "

Zach ended up swinging through the next pitch, but got a hold of a few more -- including his sixth home run, which cleared the park and sailed far across a nearby playground -- more than 300 feet away.

"After nine or 10, you could tell he was getting tired," Robert said. "But after six? I knew he had a chance."