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On deck: Nats prospect gets thrill out of aircraft Derby

LOS ANGELES -- Drew Ward grew up in Leedey, Okla., and had never been on an aircraft carrier. So it would have been hard for Ward to imagine himself hitting baseballs off a carrier into San Diego Bay.

Ward, the Nationals' No. 14 prospect, was one of the participants in the Midway Classic Home Run Derby on Monday, held on the deck of the USS Midway, a former World War II Naval aircraft now anchored in San Diego. Home plate was stationed about 245 feet from the edge of the ship, with pink buoys marking the fence 350 feet from the cage.