Jocelyn Alo powers Sox to HRDX win: 'She's every bit the Aaron Judge'

MEXICO CITY -- They traveled the world, crisscrossing the globe to spread a brand new game of baseball to fans new and old. There was music, there was food, and there were so many home runs.

On Saturday at Mexico City's legendary Campo Marte, the Red Sox, Dodgers, Cubs, and Yankees battled one more time in the grand final. The winner in CDMX would be named the champion of the entire tournament.

After losing in the finals in both London and Seoul, the Red Sox once again played in the finals. Thanks to an amazing performance by Mexico City MVP Award winner Jocelyn Alo -- the all-time NCAA leader in home runs among both men and women -- Boston got its title.

"Jonny [Gomes] told me there are something like seven billion women on this world and she's the only one that can do that," Red Sox BP pitcher and former Reds pitching coach Mack Jenkins said of her performance. "She hit some balls back to the screen that made me jump."

Here's how it all went down:

Preliminary Game No. 1: Red Sox 62, Cubs 51

The Cubs had never lost in any of the practice rounds. Not at the Raleigh training camp, not in any of the batting practices in London, Seoul, or Mexico City. And yet, when it mattered, the Cubs never won a single match.

Once again, it wasn't the Cubs hitters that were at fault, though. This time, the Cubs can place the blame squarely on Red Sox No. 18 prospect Enmanuel Valdez. Valdez, acquired from the Astros in the Christian Vázquez Trade Deadline deal, went off with a record-setting 29-point performance at the plate. Rocking cleats and a bat featuring the colors of both the Mexican and the Dominican Republic's flag, Valdez smashed home run after home run into the CDMX crowd.

"Immediately after the Red Sox called me for this event, I called my agent and I was like, 'I need some spikes, I need a bat, and I need the flag of both countries,'" Valdez said. "It's such an honor for me to be here and to represent Boston."

Valdez unleashed a massive bat flip on his final swing, sending the flags of his home country and the one he was playing in up into the air. It wasn't something he had planned.

"That was just the adrenaline of the moment," Valdez said.

Valdez wasn't the only Red Sox player with a special bat, though. Gomes brought out a special Día de los Muertos stick for the event.

"Glad that thing got a championship because it's pretty freaking cool," Gomes said. "It wouldn't be that cool in second."

For a while, it looked like Chicago might be able to take the game, though. Geo Soto started off hot and gave the team an early 20-19 lead.

"I was like, man, hopefully I can give us a substantial lead," Soto said. "But I feel no matter what I would have done, [we would have lost]. I mean, I got 20 points on 25 pitches. [Valdez[ had like 35 points! But it was good to see that kind of talent."

Wild Card Spencer Owen -- celebrating his birthday and rocking what he hoped was a lucky new mustache -- then outscored his opponent by three points. During a brief break in the action, he even pulled out a Baseball for Dummies book to get some quick pointers in.

"We did a little award ceremony for the Wild Cards and I was given that because I'm the one that complains about the rules the most," Owen said. "When they had that timeout, it was an obvious thing to do. I tried to bring some entertainment to [the event] even if I couldn't bring a win."

Prelim 2: Dodgers 68, Yankees 63

In the highest scoring HRDX game ever played, it came down to the Superstars and Rookies. Adrián González -- with his own special Mexico bat -- got it started for the Dodgers, putting up a solid 25 points -- which would have been a single-round record if not for what Valdez had done just minutes before.

Nick Swisher, who has never quietly entered a room, then came out in Mariachi sombrero and topped that with 27 points.

"I wasn't able to get a cool bat done in time," Swisher said. "Playoffs started, it was really rushed. So, I was like, 'You know what I need? I need a mariachi sombrero, bro.' I left early this morning, went to the mall, bought one. I got a luchador mask too, I was gonna break it out for the finals. But you know me -- I always try to make an entrance. Always try to make it fun, electric because if I was in the stands, that's what I would want to see."

After local Wild Card star and former Mexican Olympic gymnast Daniel Corral outscored his counterpart, Yoongy Kwak, 6-1 -- cementing his place as the highest scoring Wild Card in the competition -- it looked like the Yankees just might run away to the finals.

But the Dodgers' Ashton Lansdell then put up an impressive 16 points on 11 home runs.

Dodgers prospect Nelson Quiroz, who had missed much of this season with an injury, then put on a show. He scored 22 points -- and added a pretty impressive catch, too -- to send the Dodgers to the finals.

"We were only winning by one point and I knew that I had to give my best because [Jared Serna] from the other team is amazing," Quiroz said. "So, I just had to give the best of myself."

The Yankees' Steffy Aradillas, a member of the Mexican national softball team and who hails from Mexico City, came out to thunderous applause. After starting off slow, she finished with a bang -- smashing a home run in her final at-bat and celebrating in front of her hometown.

"I wanted to give a good show for my people, for my country," Aradillas said. "I think that was the perfect ending for me. Just releasing all that tension. It was just a celebration of my career, and I got to share it with other people."

Finals: Red Sox 57, Dodgers 56

After struggling in the first round, scoring only 10 points, Alo went supernova in the finals. Coming to the plate down by 15 points, Boston was in need of a solid performance.

She did so much more.

Alo smashed 17 home runs, scoring 24 points -- by far the most by any women's player in a single round.

"I had a pretty big expectation for myself, as I didn't do as good in the first round," Alo said. "I really took that motivation to be like, 'Alright, let me just really show who I am and what I do.'"

After hitting the longest home run in Seoul, Alo smashed the second-longest in Mexico City with a 410-foot shot. It's a point of pride for the slugger in an event that prides itself on putting men and women on the same stage.

"I know that [the men] can hit the long ball and stuff, but just me being a woman and showing how strong I am," Alo said. "I want girls all over the world to just have that motivation in them that they can do this as well."

"There's not many women on this planet that can do what Jocelyn just did," Gomes said. "We kind of lose sight of it, you know, hitting the furthest balls, just launching balls. She's every bit the Aaron Judge, she's the Barry Bonds of everything right now. I'm so lucky to have her on my team."

After Quiroz put the Dodgers back up on top by eight, Valdez -- the hero of the first round -- stepped back up to the plate. He quickly repeated his performance. When he brought the score to within three, he asked for a "hot streak," -- the special orange baseballs that are worth double points.

This wasn't by accident.

"I was doing the math in my head and I knew what was going on," Valdez said. "I wanted to win with the orange ball because [each homer] was sending proceeds to Make-A-Wish. So, I knew what I was doing."

Though the Dodgers lost on Saturday evening, they have no regrets.

"I mean, we were ready to bust it back up and get another dub this time around," Lansdell said. "But Jocelyn did her thing up there, man. I don't think any other girls scored over 20 points, and she hit 24. Nothing you can do about that. She was on fire. It was a good battle and they went on to walk it off. You don't want to end the championship any other way."

"It was such a great experience," González said. "Love the experience. We had an incredible day, won the first one and came up short in the second one. But that doesn't take away anything. This is a great event, I felt the fans energy out there. And it was a lot of fun."

As for Alo's plans to celebrate after being named the MVP?

"I'm definitely going to have lots of champagne. And I'm going to be carrying the trophy around all night."

Translation assistance from Chanel Zapata and Lazaro Montaño.