Video: Ashton Bardzell falls 10 feet short of breaking Mike Trout's home run record

Video: Ashton Bardzell high school baseball highlights
Ramsey (N.J.) senior tied Mike Trout's single-season home run record.

Ramsey (N.J.) senior Ashton Bardzell fell about 10 feet short of owning the New Jersey state home run record outright, but he'll finish the season in pretty good company.

Bardzell went 0-for-3 in Ramsey's North 1 Group 2 final against Lakeland Regional (N.J.) in a 2-0 loss, leaving him tied with Mike Trout, formerly of Millville (N.J.), for the state's single-season home run record at 18.

Trout, the reigning American League MVP as a member of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, hit 18 home runs during his senior year in 2009. However Bardzell nearly treated fans at the sectional final to a record-breaking performance. In the third inning, Bardzell got underneath a pitch from Kyle Labouseur and sent it deep to right field. But the record was not to be as the fly ball fell short of the wall and into the glove of right fielder Bo Gilligan.

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"He’s a great player and he’s done amazing things this year," Labouseur told James Kratch of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "I know he was coming in trying to get a record, but we were just trying to get a win.”

Bardzell, who struck out in his first at-bat in the first inning, grounded out in the sixth.

"He pitched well," Bardzell told Kratch. "It just didn’t go our way."

The loss to Lakeland ended a spectacular year for Bardzell, who began the season with five home runs in his first 14 at-bats. He had at least two home runs in a game six times, including against Dover in the first round of the sectional playoffs. Bardzell also hit a home run against Dumont in the quarterfinals and tied Trout with a home run against Pequannock in the semifinals.

For the season, Bardzell batted .609 with 53 RBIs and 56 runs scored. He also had 12 doubles and four triples. He currently leads the nation in home runs (four more than the next player on the list) and slugging percentage (1.511).

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