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Bentley Baldwin explains tactics used to win event

Feb. 3 may have been the first time 10-year-old Bentley Baldwin saw a hog face-to-face, but it certainly won’t be his last.

How he managed to guess his way to victory on Hog Day has left those much older puzzled at the formula the first-timer used to get closest to the actual combined weight of the two hogs in the annual event at the Davis, Kessler & Davis law office property at 705 Dinah Shore Blvd. in Winchester.

Bentley, the son of TJ and Dessiree Baldwin of Winchester and a Clark Memorial fifth-grader, guessed 1,550 pounds which was a pound more than the hogs’ actual 1,549-pound combined weight.

Hog Day is sponsored by Joanne Davis, a Franklin County Republican Party leader, and her husband, attorney Floyd Don Davis.

Bentley said he was excited to win the event, but Joanne said his level of enthusiasm paled in comparison to hers due to the unique circumstances involving a child winning the contest.

Joanne said farmers and their wives tend to take a serious interest in attempting to guess the weight every year, hoping their experience will give them the winning edge. She jokingly added that women in the event’s nearly two-decade history have emerged victorious more often, “probably because they are more pound-conscious.”

But this time around, it was someone no one would ever think would win the contest.

“They always come here, take their time and use different tactics to try to guess the winning weight,” Joanne explained to Bentley about farmers. “And you beat them! You beat them!”

Bentley explained he was eyeballing the hogs with the help of Extension Agent Hunter Isbell, his 4-H leader from school, and thought 2,000 pounds might be about right.

However, Isbell told him 1,500 pounds would probably be more accurate.

Bentley explained he decided to split the difference and picked 1,550 pounds because it might give him the winning difference, and it did.

Joanne said that when she called the Baldwin’s number, Bentley’s mother, Dessiree, answered the phone. Joanne asked if Bentley was there so she could inform him he’d won.

Dessiree said he was at basketball practice, and Joanne asked how old he was after initially thinking she was attempting to talk to an adult winner.

“When she said he was 10 years old, I couldn’t believe it,” Joanne said, then talking directly to Bentley. “I got more excited than you did. I couldn’t believe a 10-year-old beat out all the farmers and their wives.”

Hog Day winners have the option of keeping the hogs or selling them.

Again, Bentley agreed to split the difference — one is being processed as a food source with $450 being accepted for the other one.

Bentley, who has been active in basketball since age 4, explained that he’s on an Amateur Athletic Union team in Huntsville, Alabama, and will use the money to buy a much-needed, great pair of athletic shoes.

He added that he dreams of being a pro basketball player in the same class as his idols, the late Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash in 2020, and Kyrie Irving.

Desiree said some of the money will also go toward paying his AAU dues.

Bentley said he had such a great time at Hog Day that he’s definitely coming back for more next year.

Dessiree said Bentley’s success will probably also inspire his sisters, Lillian, 7, and Arianna, 6, to give hog-weight-guessing a shot next year.

And Floyd said the youth involvement in Hog Day won’t end there.

“We’re so glad you won,” he said to Bentley, adding later while laughing: “There’s going to be a lot of kids here next year trying to do what you’ve done — a lot of kids.”