June 25, 2015
OMAHA, Neb. – Georgia Tech freshman slugger Kel Johnson will participate in the sixth annual TD Ameritrade College Home Run Derby on July 2 in Omaha. The event airs live from TD Ameritrade Park on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. ET.
A Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American and a Freshman All-ACC pick, Johnson capped an impressive rookie season by hitting .298 (.314 in ACC play) and leading all ACC freshmen with 10 home runs. Johnson’s 2015 season was interrupted by an ankle injury in March that hampered him the remainder of the season. He finished the year with nine doubles, scored 27 runs, was second on the team in slugging (.570) and homers, and was third with 34 RBI.
No stranger to long-ball contests, Johnson was the runner-up at Major League Baseball’s Junior Select Home Run Derby in front of 50,000 fans at the NY Mets’ Citi Field during the All-Star Game festivities in 2013. Before attending Georgia Tech, the Palmetto, Ga., native was a member of Team USA’s U-17 squad that captured a Gold Medal in 2013 in Taiwan.
The 2015 Home Run Derby field also includes last year’s runner-up, Eric Guiterrez of Texas Tech, along with Wake Forest’s Will Craig, Miami’s Zack Collins, BYU’s Colton Shaver and Jeff Campbell of North Dakota.
Johnson is the fourth Yellow Jacket to compete in the TD Ameritrade College Home Run Derby since it began in 2010, joining Matt Gonzalez, who was the runner-up in 2013, Daniel Palka in 2012 and Matt Skole in 2010.
