Brevard County’s Zelous Wheeler tightened his batting gloves, switched bats and turned his cap around, all in an attempt to change his fortune during the home-run derby prior to the Florida State League All-Star Game Saturday at Hammond Stadium.

Perhaps, the biggest obstacle Wheeler faced was being a right-hander hitter. The lefties had a clear edge with the wind blowing towards right field.

Chris Parmelee of the host Fort Myers Miracle took advantage. He found his groove after a slow first round and won the home-run derby, defeating fellow lefty Kirk Nieuwenhuis of the St. Lucie Mets in the third and final round.

Parmelee smacked 10 overall in the first two rounds and then, going second in the final round, sent three more over the right-field wall, giving him one more than Nieuwenhuis.

“There are some parts of this park where the ball carries,” Parmelee, 21, said. “Center field is a dead zone. It carries more to right field.”

The home-run derby, which was held prior to the All-Star Game, consisted of eight players from around the FSL. The top four advanced to the second round and then the final two reached the finals.

Tim Kennelly of Clearwater hit three in the first round and Wheeler had two. Both advanced to the second round, along with Parmelee and Nieuwenhuis.

Nieuwenhuis, 21, hit only one home run in the opening round but after winning a tiebreaker, picked up the pace in the second round with eight home runs.

“I tried to go out and have fun,” he said. “I haven’t done one of these since I was a little kid in the backyard. It was fun then and it was fun now.”

Nieuwenhuis said a change of bats helped him get going in his second turn. Parmelee said he talked to pitching coach Steve Mintz and started to get better pitches.

“That made a difference,” Parmelee said.

Parmelee added that being left handed “no doubt” gave him an advantage.

He had two home runs in the first round but the eight in the second round allowed him to go second in the finals. The home runs in the first round carried over to the second but not in the finals.

Nieuwenhuis led off the finals with two. With the fan support, Parmelee delivered three, including a clinching blast to right center.