Sal Stewart took one specific hack on Saturday and knew it was going to be a fun day.

Stewart and fellow prep prospect Jared Jones were the top two finishers in Saturday afternoon’s All-Star High School Home Run Derby at Coors Field, combining for 56 homers to punch their tickets to compete against each other during Monday’s T-Mobile Home Run Derby in Denver.

“Oh yeah, it can definitely carry,” said Stewart, a Westminster Christian (FL) HS product, of launching baseballs thrown by Andrew Liberty in Denver’s mile-high air. “There was one swing in particular, it was a low pitch and I just golfed it out. It literally went dead center into the trees and I was like, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to do this at every park, but I’ll take it now.’ It was fun.”

Stewart hammered 26 homers through his two rounds, a three-minute opening round followed by a 90-second round to cap off the day. Using metal bats, some of the top high school prospects in the game launched baseballs all over the home of the Rockies, reaching the concourse in left field, the third deck in right and the batter’s eye in center.

• Watch the complete derby

The Vanderbilt commit’s longest blast of the day traveled an eye-popping 533 feet. That one left his bat at 117 miles per hour, which wasn’t even his highest exit velocity of the day. Stewart swatted his final shot of the afternoon at 118 off the bat.

“It was an awesome experience,” he said. “I really had fun. usually when I’m preparing for a game, it’s a different [batting practice] session, but knowing today was a home run derby, I could just let it eat. I’m super happy about that.

I was just looking for a pitch I could handle middle, middle-in and just try to put on a show for everyone.”

Hulking catcher Jones put on a display of his own. The Marietta, Ga., native belted 22 homers in the first round alone and closed with 30 for the day. The LSU commit hit his farthest 511 feet and matched Stewart’s 118 mph exit velocity.

“It was a great experience especially playing with great players,” Stewart said. “I mean, who doesn’t love to be around great players? I’m thankful for them helping me even when I was hitting and going against them. That just shows the friendships that we’ve created and the bond that we have.”

Stewart and Jones will now take part in the finals of the High School Home Run Derby, which will take place during Monday’s big league event at Coors Field. They'll be competing on the same day that fans will see one of the most exciting fields in T-Mobile Home Run Derby history, featuring sluggers like Angels two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani and Rangers’ big bopper Joey Gallo.

Recent winners of the High School Home Run Derby include top prospects Nolan Gorman (MLB Pipeline’s No. 28 overall prospect) in 2017, Bobby Witt Jr. (No. 7) in 2018 and Blaze Jordan (Boston’s No. 10) in 2019.

“It hasn’t settled in yet,” Stewart said, sporting a broad smile. “I was just focusing on getting there, but I guess now I’ve just got to be who I am. That’s what’s gotten me here, just being myself, being the person I am, working hard. My parents have given me everything I could ask for, and just making them proud, that’s what makes me proud.”

The final standings:
Jared Jones (GA, LSU commit): 30
Sal Stewart (FL, Vanderbilt commit): 26
Termarr Johnson (GA, uncommitted): 24
Robby Snelling (NV, uncommitted): 21
Elijah Green (FL, Miami commit): 18
Riley Stanford (GA, Georgia Tech commit): 15
Kaden Martin (GA, Miami commit): 13
Jason Torres (FL, Miami commit): 12