BIRMINGHAM BASEBALL TOURNAMENT : Cabrera Homers Hit When They Count : Gold division: Slugger is better in Franklin’s 7-4 victory over El Camino Real than in a long-ball derby afterward.

The directors of the Birmingham baseball tournament held a fan-pleasing, home-run-hitting contest at the end of the day Wednesday that featured, among others, Franklin’s Oscar Cabrera.

Cabrera, a 6-foot-4, 290-pound first baseman, took his 10 swings and hit only one over the fence.

No matter. The hulking junior had already played home-run derby against El Camino Real in the Gold division championship game that preceded the homer contest. Cabrera hit two mammoth home runs, driving in five runs in Franklin’s 7-4 victory.

In the two at-bats that he didn’t hit home runs, Cabrera walked--intentionally, for all intents and purposes.

Give credit to El Camino Real (10-6-1) for trying to get him out the two times Cabrera hit the ball.

“They were really good pitches,” Conquistadore catcher Ray Leduc said. “The first pitch was low and outside, and the second was low and in. The guy did a good job hitting the ball.”

The low-and-outside pitch ruined El Camino Real’s day. The right-handed-hitting Cabrera sent the ball on a line over the 360-foot sign in left field, and as it hit the scoreboard it produced a booming sound. The three-run blast in the top of the first inning off losing pitcher P.J. Reyes (3-2) gave the Panthers (12-3-2) a lead they didn’t relinquish.

Cabrera hit a low-and-in pitch in the sixth inning with a man on to give Franklin a 7-0 lead. The ball sailed over the 330 sign in left, then continued through a group of trees, bounced through a parking lot and rolled up against a set of classrooms.

So, as it turned out, the estimated 200 fans who showed up later for the home-run derby missed the real one.

“You should go to one of our home games and see how he hits the ball,” said Franklin pitcher Alec Adame, who worked 6 1/3 innings for the victory while allowing two runs. “He almost broke a window in the Lincoln game.”

Cabrera has hit eight home runs this season, 22 in 2 1/2 varsity seasons. Adame said his favorite is a shot against Lincoln that traveled an estimated 400 feet.

“That one hit a house on the fly,” Cabrera said.

The two that Cabrera hit Wednesday made life easier for Adame (4-0), who had a two-hit shutout with eight strikeouts through six innings.

El Camino Real opened the seventh with consecutive hits off Adame, including a leadoff triple by Matt Cowie, the only Conquistadore with two hits.

Adame was then replaced by Manuel Rodriguez. Rodriguez lasted three batters, walking one and allowing singles to Byron Carnes and Gavin Bible that produced three runs. Rodriguez was replaced by Julio Sanchez, who allowed a run-scoring single by Steve Nelson that made the score 7-4.

Sanchez then struck out Shawn Fishman and Marvin Jones with the tying run on base to seal the victory.

Reyes had a rough outing for El Camino Real, allowing seven runs--all earned--and nine of Franklin’s 11 hits, three each in the fifth and sixth innings, while walking six.

But Leduc insists Reyes made the right pitches to Cabrera.

“(Cabrera) is not going to hit a home run every time he’s up, but he did a good job,” Leduc said. “He’s a big kid.”