Ole Miss’ Colby Bortles to compete in College Home Run Derby
Ole Miss may not be in the College World Series, but the Rebels will be a part of the seventh annual TD Ameritrade College Home Run Derby as Colby Bortles will join some of the college baseball’s best hitters at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska Sunday, July 3 at 7:30 p.m. CT. The event will be shown on ESPN2.
Bortles will be joined by Dylan Busby (Florida State), Greg Deichmann (LSU), Hagen Owenby (East Tennessee State), Brent Rooker (Mississippi State), Reid Russell (Lamar), Gary Russo (Miami OH) and one player to be announced.
As a junior, Bortles had one of the best seasons of his collegiate career. He led the Rebels with 21 doubles, ranking second among Southeastern Conference hitters and tying for the fifth most in program history. The 6-foot-5, 235-pound infielder finished second on the team in home runs (eight) and recorded 50 RBI to go with his .475 hitting percentage. At the end of Ole Miss’ season, which ended with a loss to Tulane in the NCAA Oxford Regional, Bortles earned a spot on the NCAA Oxford Regional All-Tournament and SEC All-Tournament team.
Bortles is the second Rebel to participate in the College Home Run Derby over the past three seasons. Sikes Orvis was the last competitor to represent Ole Miss when the team made its run in the College World Series in 2014.
The Rebels finished the season with an overall record of 43-19 (18-12 SEC).
Bortles was one of three Ole Miss players to start all 62 games this season, making 61 starts at third base and one at first base. In three seasons with the Rebels, Bortles has 17 home runs. The Oviedo, Florida native has three career grand slams.
Ole Miss batting coach Mike Clement will join Bortles in Omaha, serving as his pitcher.
Courtney Smith
Courtney is from Memphis and received his Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Memphis in May of 2014. He began his journalism career covering the Memphis Tigers Men's basketball team, which landed him an intern position on 730 Yahoo Sports Radio and a position with Rivals.com. A freelance writer for the Associated Press, Courtney is also a member of The Rebel Walk team and reports regularly on Ole Miss football and basketball. Courtney, the father of a six-year old girl named Soniyah, prefers to cover NCAA basketball and football, but is happy to report on any other sport that comes his way.
