Just qualifying the the national T-Mobile Little League Home Run Derby was an impressive achievement for Max Michaels.

The 12-year-old La Grange Park resident was one of only eight Little League Baseball players nationwide to reach the finals in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. And he made it past the first round to the semifinals before being eliminated by the eventual runner-up finisher.

The home run competition was held Thursday and shown Friday on ESPN.

The opening round of competition allowed all eight batters 2 minutes each to hit as many home runs as they could manage. The top four in that round advanced to the head-to-head competition in the semifinals, which pitted Michaels, who had 14 homers in the first round, against the top opening-round performer, Cameron Malone of Huntersville

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