Nats greats power past NL East foes to win HRDX in Atlanta

ATLANTA -- When it was all over, Ian Desmond was laying on the ground, relaxing, as he caught the final out of Home Run Derby X: Atlanta. He had just completed the greatest round in the tournament's four-year history, setting records for most home runs (21) and points scored (33) in a single at-bat -- helping give the Nationals an insurmountable lead heading into the Phillies' last at-bat of the final round.

So, when Georgia Tech's Ryan Hernandez took his final swing and hit the ball into left field, Desmond saw his opportunity. He got down on the ground, posed to nap like Steph Curry, and nonchalantly snagged the baseball. The Nationals won, 78-58, and were the first team to punch their ticket to the finals, which will be held in Salt Lake City and come with a $200,000 prize on Sept. 19-20.

"He was running out of time, so I was like, 'All right, this is definitely going to be over,'" Desmond said after the victory. "So I went to lay down and did the Steph Curry. Then the ball started coming right to me, so I was like, 'Oh, I might as well just catch it.'"

"It was made for content! I'm just a content machine here," he joked.

Desmond's star turn came after a powerful lead-off round by "Mr. National," Ryan Zimmerman, who scored 20 points to put the Nats in pole position.

"I always love coming into Atlanta and leaving with a W," Zimmerman joked. "It happened a good amount, but we also left with some losses. But no, in all seriousness, this is one of my favorite places to play. I grew up a huge Braves fan, because when I was young, we didn't have MLB Network and Chipper [Jones] and the boys were on at night and that's what I watched. For me to be able to play against them and to play here as much as I did, was honestly one of the coolest parts of my career."

Ali Newland, who starred at LSU and now plays in the AUSL, also grew up a Braves fan. She had no issues coming into Georgia and helping her team to victory.

"Listen, I like winning more than I like pretty much anything else. So I was pumped to beat the Braves today," she said. "I'll be pumped to beat the Braves in Durham and then pumped to do it in Salt Lake City. So I'm just excited. I hope the Braves can turn around here a little bit on the back half of the season. But I was glad for a win today."

Newland put up a team-best 23 points in the first round to defeat the Ryan Klesko-led Braves team (because the event was in Altanta over All-Star Weekend, there were two Braves teams, the other captained by Andruw Jones), before scoring 13 more points to set up Desmond's supernova turn at the end. Having already won three LSU home run derbies, she had no concerns in her first HRDX tournament.

"I think you just have an opportunity to have fun," Newland said about competing in home run derbies. "You're not quite so process oriented, quite so, 'Can I get a hit? What am I trying to do here?' You're just going up there, trying to smash. And I think that's really fun for me."

The Phillies did their best to come back at the end thanks in large part to the hometown star, Alex Hernandez. The reigning ACC Freshman of the Year, Hernandez had hit a walk-off shot to defeat Andruw Jones' Braves squad in the semifinals and then put up a blistering 27 points on 19 home runs in the final. In the end though, it was too little, too late despite the chants of his name from the Georgia Tech faithful.

"It just shows the support that we have here at Georgia Tech," Hernandez said. "It's a great place to play."

Phillies legend Ryan Howard also put on a show, hitting some of the highest-arcing, deepest drives, smashing 25 home runs on the day. With his daughters and one of the girls he coaches in attendance, Howard wanted to make sure to come up big.

"The focus was just trying to go out there and practice what I preach," Howard said. "Remember, watch the ball hit the bat. Try to keep it simple. Hopefully they were watching, hopefully they were paying attention to it. So just try to keep it simple and just put it on for them."

With the next event taking place in Round Rock on July 26, Desmond, Zimmerman and Newland will now wait to see which teams will join them in Salt Lake City this September. They've punched their ticket and they're looking forward to the competition.

"Well, first and foremost, it's my 40th birthday that I'll be celebrating in Salt Lake, so that's really cool," Desmond said with a laugh. "I've got that Home Run Derby X up on my shelf at home. Anytime you can collect awards, especially after you're retired, you're taking it."

Here's how the first two semifinals finished:

Semifinal 1:
Nationals 73
Ryan Klesko's Braves 40

While a 20-point round from Zimmerman and a 23-point round from Newland put this out of reach early, the Braves team of Klesko, Jonny Gomes, and Ashton Lansdell refused to quit. They also came with plenty of style, with Lansdell bringing a Dirty South USA-wrapped bat, Gomes bringing a Victus crayon bat in his own custom "Gomes Green" shade" and Klesko swinging a golden mine bat. Klesko, playing in a Braves uniform for the first time since 1999, flipped his golden lumber on his last swing as the ball soared over the fence.

"Just come out here and have fun -- that's the main thing," Klesko said. "Get back and come back to our roots down here in Atlanta and play in front of a lot of our hometown crowds and our family, and to go out there and have fun."

Semifinal 2:
Andruw Jones' Braves 43
Phillies 44

In the closest game of the day, the Phillies -- thanks to Hernandez -- just squeaked past Jeff Francoeur, Andruw Jones, and Alex Hugo. Francoeur finished with 15 points on nine home runs, but found swinging on the platform difficult early.

"For the [first] 60 seconds, I looked up [to the scoreboard], and I'm thinking, 'These two are just going to wear me out,'" Francoeur said. "I had to get it going. But here it is interesting, because you can do too much trying too hard. It's almost like when I got tired is when I started doing good because I wasn't trying to swing as hard."