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Facing the flag with the Utah Symphony horns blasting the national anthem, the best home-run hitters in the world (not in the majors) lined up along the foul lines.
Four mashers lined up on each side of the field.
What was peculiar about the site was how natural the lineups appeared, standing before a packed Spring Mobile Ballpark ready to commence the 2011 Triple-A All-Star Home Run Derby.
Peculiar because two of the eight home run derby participants were Utah high school baseball players.
On one side of the field stood Spanish Fork's Mr. Baseball Kayden Porter, on the other Bonneville's Sam Hall.
"Everybody was going crazy, I'm still shaking. The best feeling I've ever felt." Kayden Porter
Porter stands 6'5" and 250 pounds, with huge forearms and broad shoulders that has terrorized Utah pitching for years.
Hall is a sweet swinging lefty that had the unfortunate luck of hitting directly into the wind, blowing in from right, failing to advance out of the first round.
Both players qualified for a spot by winning a recent home run contest.
Porter was the first player to bat.
"I was really nervous." said Porter, "My step-dad was throwing to me and he was way nervous too. We were both out there shaking."
Porter had to do some coaching from the batter's box, "He was throwing them kind of high towards my chest... so I was trying to calm him down, saying, bring them down in the zone."
Once he got a few pitches he could hit, Porter unleashed. He got a standing ovation for a shot to left that cleared the concessions stand in left. The stand has a marker on the front of the building that says 474 feet.
"That was surprising. That was real impressive. He smashed that." said Tappan Draper, who caught Porter's first homer.
The ball cleared the concessions stand, tables and chairs, grass and ultimately the stadium. The ball rolled into the empty street where Brandon Allen was walking.
"I was running late, looked across the street, everybody was excited and the ball rolled past everybody." Allen said. He picked it up and finished his way into the ballpark, "I hope I get it signed. That would be awesome."
Porter hit just four home runs in the first round, but it was enough to advance to round two.
"Just getting to the second round beat my own expectations." said Porter.
Porter was taken aback by the great fan support, "That was by far the loudest baseball experience I've ever had in my life. Everybody was going crazy, I'm still shaking. The best feeling I've ever felt."
Fellow Utah county dweller Jason Streiff agreed, "He was rocking some."
Streiff caught one of Porter's homers in impressive fashion. Holding his young son Madden with one hand, Jason gloved the ball cleanly while getting trampled and tackled by the hoard of souvenir seekers. Nevertheless, he held on to the ball. "Daddy caught it." said Madden.
The second round was good for Porter, he hit 9 homers to advance the championship round.
The best was yet to come. Porter unloaded the shot of the night. A home run over the 420 foot sign in center field. An impressive smack made spectacular by the fact that he hit it over the 40 foot batter's eye.
"Probably the farthest ball I've ever hit in my life, so I had to step out and say 'Okay, what just happened.' It was great", Porter's best hit on the biggest stage, "I looked at it for a second and just said, 'Wow'. It was awesome."
Porter couldn't quite finish of the miraculous run. He lost to Stefan Gartrell, who is more than a decade older, but it will be hard to forget the incredible performance from the soon to be high school senior.
With a little prompting, Madden Streiff summed it up perfectly, "Kayden Porter, you're the best."
