HRDX: Durham rosters

And with that, there was one. We are down to the final stop in the 2024 HRDX tour as the heart-stopping home run derby makes its way to Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Saturday, Sept. 7th. After Jocelyn Alo tagged in for a remarkable, come-from-behind victory in Nashville, what can possibly top that this weekend?

• Buy your tickets for HRDX: Durham

The competition, which not only highlights light-tower power but defense as well, is a showdown between four co-ed teams of three.

Each team has a former Major League star, a women's baseball or softball standout, and a local player who is ready to show off their skills and take on some pros.

The rules are a little different from derbies you may be used to. Click here for more information, but here's a quick primer:

- Each batter gets two minutes and 30 seconds to take as many swings as possible.

- They get one point for every home run -- with an extra point being awarded for a ball that flies through the outfield target.

- During each at-bat, hitters can call for a "hot streak." They'll get double points for every ball they hit during the hot streak.

- The defense can make plays, too. For every ball they catch, they earn one point. If it's during a hot streak? They get two.

Here's how the teams will look on Saturday:

Bulls

Andruw Jones

Jones introduced himself to America with a home run: The then 19-year-old made history as the youngest player to homer in a World Series when he went deep in the 1996 Fall Classic ... then followed that with a home run in his very next AB. The Willemstad, Curacao, native was a true all-around threat, finishing his career with 434 home runs, 152 stolen bases and a remarkable 10 Gold Glove Awards. His No. 25 is now retired by the Braves.

"We're doing this for the fans, so they can come out and see home runs, and see local people come out and see softball players come out in and do what they do," Jones said after losing in his HRDX debut in Nashville. "So, it's a great thing. It's fun. It's bad that we took the L, but we're looking forward for the next one."

Skylar Wallace

An SEC standout during her college career that was split between Alabama and the University of Florida, Wallace was a three-time All-American as well as the SEC Player of the Year and NFCA National Player of the Year in 2023. That year, she led the NCAA in slugging percentage and was second in on-base percentage while becoming the only player to record 65 or more hits, 70 or more runs, 55 or more RBIs, 50 or more walks and 30 or more stolen bases.

Wallace was then drafted sixth overall in the 2024 Athletes Unlimited draft, finishing fourth in batting average (.354) and tied for first with three home runs.

Ben Miller

A grad student at Duke, Miller had an incredible 2024 season. The third baseman hit .360 with 15 home runs and 49 RBIs en route to being named to the All-ACC First Team and the ABCA/Rawlings Second Team All-Region. Before attending Duke, Miller played at the University of Pennsylvania where he was named First Team All-Ivy League in 2022.

Mack Jenkins

The Reds pitching coach from 2016-18, Jenkins helped oversee the development of future stars like starter Luis Castillo and closer Raisel Iglesias. He also has a pretty unique highlight: He broke up the longest winning streak in American professional baseball history when he snapped the Salt Lake Trappers' 29-game winning streak while in the Minor Leagues in 1987. He's now a coach for the Pro5 Baseball Academy.

Bull City Rays

Jonny Gomes

Along with bashing 162 career home runs, Gomes was known as a consummate winner and team player. A two-time World Series champion with the Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals, the bearded outfielder also won the first Home Run Derby X title in 2022. Gomes is a true baseball lifer, regularly laying his body out on the line to make the catch. He led the 2022 HRDX tour with 21 catches.

"I love the opportunity to share the field and collab with the softball girls," Gomes said. "I don't know if it's been done before or even tried. I know it's really hard to come up with an event to collab softball and baseball. But that's really cool, and I'm super lucky to have a relationship with these girls and watch them just smash the ball."

Tiare Jennings

You can't get a more stacked trophy cabinet than what Jennings has. The Oklahoma Sooners star is a remarkable four-time Women's College World Series Champion -- getting named to the All-Tournament Team every year. She was also a four-time First Team All-American, the NFCA National Freshman of the Year, Softball America Freshman of the Year and the Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2021.

Jennings now lines up for the independent pro softball team, the Oklahoma City Spark.

Hunter Stokely

A senior at the University of North Carolina, Stokely was a standout at first base for the team in 2023. That year, Stokely ranked second on the team in batting average (.317), third in doubles (15), and fifth in hits (63) and RBIs (36). Stokely showed off that power with a game-winning, 11th inning home run against then-Miami closer Andrew Walter, who was later taken 62nd overall by the Guardians.

Sammy Serrano

A 1st Team Freshman All-American in 1996 and a 1st Team All-American in 1998 at Stetson University, Serrano was drafted in the 2nd round by the San Francisco Giants. Unfortunately, his career ended in 2002 following a shoulder injury. Since then, he has coached at the college level and has served various coaching and evaluation roles for USA baseball since 2008. He is now a coach for the Pro5 Academy. His son, Eli Serrano, was recently drafted in the 4th round by the New York Mets.

Toros Bravos

Manny Ramirez

"Manny being Manny" is back! The legendary slugger with one of the sweetest right-handed swings in baseball history returns to compete in HRDX Durham. The native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, played 19 seasons and finished his career with a .312 average and 555 home runs -- 15th most in big league history.

"When I was small in the Dominican Republic, I always wanted to be a baseball player," Ramirez said when asked why he's partaking in HRDX. "So, if I can still go out there and show people what I could do and have fun with my teammates, why not?"

Amanda Lorenz

The reigning Athletes Unlimited softball winner, Lorenz finished the season tied for the batting title with a .373 average while adding three home runs. Before that, Lorenz was a star softball player at the University of Florida, winning the NFCA National Freshman of the Year Award in 2016, taking home the SEC Player of the Year honor in 2018 and she was a four-time First team All-American.

Lorenz put up 20 points in her first round of play in Nashville last week.

Chris McHugh

A rising sophomore at NC State, McHugh transferred after a solid freshman season at VCU. He recorded 56 hits with five doubles and six home runs for the Rams, driving in 33 runs and scoring 36 of his own.

Dave Jauss

Jauss just may be the man you want to call when hosting a home run derby. A near-constant presence at the MLB HR Derby as one of the pitchers to help deliver a title to Pete Alonso, Jauss has done practically any and everything in his 40-plus year career in pro baseball. His greatest accomplishment may have come in 2004, though: That year he was the advance scout for the Boston Red Sox when they broke an 86-year championship drought.

Though Jauss has been partaking in HRDX events since 2022, last week's event in Nashville was the first time that the team he pitched for walked away with the trophy.

Bull Sharks

Ian Desmond

A two-time All-Star and a three-time Silver Slugger Award winner, Desmond played 11 Major League seasons -- most notably with the Nationals from 2009-15. Though he came up as a shortstop, Desmond eventually saw time at nearly every position save for catcher and third base. He finished his big league career with 181 home runs ... and 181 stolen bases.

Desmond made his HRDX debut last season in Fredericksburg, helping lead his team -- the Freddies -- to victory, and played at HRDX: Albuquerque.

Ashton Lansdell

A HRDX veteran since 2022, Lansdell has seen and done it all on the ballfield. A trailblazing infielder, Lansdell made the USA Baseball roster at just 17 years old in 2018 and was the first woman to play baseball at the NJCAA level in 2021. After switching her focus to softball, she played at FIU for two seasons before recently announcing her transfer to Ole Miss ahead of next season.

She made a mechanical change at HRDX: Nashville after a conversation with Prince Fielder that led to a 20-point round -- a personal best this season.

"Prince Fielder, before we came out here, he gave me a tip and helped me fix something," Lansdell noted after last week's event. "I felt the difference immediately. So shout out, Prince Fielder. That's my boy, and I'll definitely keep that tip with me for life."

Tanner Thach

Thach is no stranger to the longball. During his sophomore season at UNC Wilmington last year, Thach smashed a school-record 27 longballs to earn the CAA Co-Player of the Year Award. He was also named to the First-Team All-CAA and earned NCBWA third-team All-America honors. He even appeared on the mound last year, which shouldn't be too surprising: His great uncle is Hall of Fame pitcher “Catfish” Hunter.

Jay Stott

Stott is the current GM of the Pro5 Baseball academy and a respected force in international baseball. A former UNC Wilmington college player, Stott has held clinics in Germany, Hungary, Spain, Austria, Slovakia among others and helped coach the Czech National Team at the 2019 European Championships.

He was the pitcher for the winning team at Albuquerque this year.