Stefania Aradillas joins the Yankees for HRDX Mexico City
After pulling off a narrow win in London, the Yankees finished in last in Seoul. At Mexico City on Oct. 15, they'll be looking to capture the FTX MLB Home Run Derby X crown.
Though London MVP Award winner Erika Piancastelli is unable to compete at Campo Marte next weekend, that's OK: They've got international softball star Stefania Aradillas in her place.
Aradillas first starred at Mt. San Antonio College, where she earned the all-state athlete award in 2014 and was an all-conference student-athlete in 2013 and '14. That led to her then transferring to San Diego State University for her final two years of college eligibility.
But just as HRDX is an international event, Aradillas is an international star. She's played for the Mexican National Team since 2010, collecting silver medals at the Pan-American Qualifier and the Central American Softball Championships. She was then the only native Mexican player on Team Mexico's roster at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games.
Unfortunately, Mexico lost to Canada, 3-2, in the bronze medal game -- coming just one run shy of medaling in the team's first Olympic games.
While Aradillas now embraces and loves softball, her story is one that resonates with many female athletes: She only turned to the sport when she was barred from playing baseball.
“I always practiced sports, a little bit of everything: swimming, gymnastics, dance, tennis, karate, baseball. Suddenly, when I played baseball with children, they told me I can't go to a World Cup because I'm a woman. That's when I decided to switch to softball. The rest is history," Aradillas told Esto. "At 9 years old, I switched to softball. At 15, I started representing Mexico, and at 27, I represented Mexico at the Olympics. I would not change anything that I experienced. At the time, it was perhaps painful, but now I see it as a gift."
A fan of Adrián González growing up, Aradillas may now get a chance to face -- and beat him -- at HRDX. The two teams will square off in the first-round matchup, with the winner competing for the championship against the winner of the Red Sox-Cubs contest.