Sooners softball power and Adrian González put on a special show at HRDX: OKC

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Sooner red dominated the stands at Oklahoma City's Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark as softball fanatics packed the stadium for Saturday's Home Run Derby X. The Sooner Schooner -- the famed University of Oklahoma wagon -- circled the warning track, the school's fight song played over the loud speaker and Sooners head coach Patty Gasso threw out the first pitch in celebration of the event.

In the end, it came down to a faceoff between a team of three decorated Sooners -- Jocelyn Alo, Tiare Jennings, and Kinzie Hansen as the first all-female team in HRDX history -- going up against a Dodgers team consisting of Adrian González and two more Sooners Women's College World Series winners in Sydney Romero and Jayda Coleman in the final.

For a brief moment, it seemed like Jocelyn Alo had given the All-Sooners team, decked out in the exact same uniforms they had last worn when they won the WCWS together, an unsurmountable victory. Alo -- who holds the record for most NCAA home runs in history for both men and women -- blasted moonshot after moonshot into the darkening OKC sky. Her home runs were hit so hard and so high -- a few even bouncing off the roof of the brick batter's eye in center field -- that an endless chorus of "oohs!" followed her every swing.

When she was finished, the Sooners held a 37-6 lead.

"I think the biggest thing for Home Run Derby X was to put on a show," Also said. And with that, you just have to go out and do what you do."

But then González stepped to the plate. The former big league slugger had already booked his team a spot in the Salt Lake City finals in September, but he could still help his Sooner teammates get to Salt Lake. Plus, the always competitive "El Titán" had another goal: He wanted to break the single-round record of 37 points that was set by NC State's Chris McHugh in Durham.

After putting up 33 points in his semifinal victory, González locked in. With the same effortless swing that powered 317 Major League home runs, González peppered the fans in the Home Run Catch Zone, finishing with 36 points on 20 home runs -- one shy of the record.

"I hit a spot where there was, like, four or five swings that weren't home runs," González said. "I feel like that's the reason why I didn't get the record. But it feels good. It feels good to have two really good rounds out here and and win again."

That barrage helped put the Dodgers back in front, but it wasn't a safe lead. Tiare Jennings, who just won MVP at the World Games for Team USA and holds the all-time Women's College World Series record for RBIs, scored 16 points -- matching her point total from the first round victory over the Yankees -- to put the Sooners back in front.

With the final hitters up, the Dodgers leaned into Home Run Derby X strategy. AUSL All-Star Cup star Sydney Romero put up 18 points before -- with less than a minute left in her round -- she called for González to step back in and use the reset of her time. As every hitter knows, swinging nonstop for two-and-a-half minutes often leaves you gassed. With González fresh, the Dodgers slugger added seven more points on five home runs.

This wasn't the first connection between Romero and González: Both represented Mexico at the 2020 Olympics and briefly met for a photo. Now, the two got to play next to each other.

"You could tell he wants to have fun, but deep down, he's so competitive, and he wants to win. I feel like it was a good matchup with all of us," Romero said.

That left it all up to Kinzie Hansen, the famed Sooners catcher with the 'C' still on her chest from her days as a Sooners captain. Down 71-56, she would need to match her first round total to give Oklahoma the victory. Hansen put up 13 points, but as her liners started dropping short of the wall and into fielders gloves, all the fans decked out in Sooners gear as well as announcer Tyler Maun wondered: When would she tag Jocelyn Alo in?

As she kept swinging and the scoreline didn't grow closer, it was too late. Hansen couldn't bring the team back, and with nine of her hits dropping into fielder's gloves to give the Dodgers points, saw the famed hometown team lose, 81-69.

"The time gets on you fast," Hansen said. "At the end, I was trying to tag Jocelyn in. The 30 seconds came up quick, but I was trying to crank them out."

The crowd may have wanted to see history made with the trio of Sooners women wearing their WCWS uniforms to walk away with the win, but this Dodgers team still featured two famed Sooners, who then signed autographs for the eager fans after the victory.

"It was perfect because the Oklahoma Sooners won," González said. "We got two girls that are from Oklahoma and we were able to do what we did. It was a really fun event, like they all are, and the crowd was incredible."

"It feels like home," Coleman said after the victory. "It feels like I've been here before, which I have, but it was awesome. It was so great to be here, be a part of the MLB Home Run Derby X. I just had a great time."

Here's how the two semifinals finished:

Semifinal 1: Dodgers 75 - Royals 64

Lorenzo Cain made his HRDX debut for the Royals and put up 21 points after being tagged in for a few more swings. While he'll be back for the upcoming event in Kansas City, it was important for him to show off in OKC for another reason: He had the two Little League teams he coaches in attendance.

"I had two Little League teams out there in left-center, so hopefully they saw their coach get out here and do it, and then maybe that'll motivate them a little bit. I had to show up and hit a few home runs because I'm their hitting instructor. If I couldn't at least hit a home run, they might not listen to me anymore."

Semifinal 2: Sooners 43 - Yankees 36

Nick Swisher did his best to bring the Yankees back, but in the end, his team came up just short, leaving Alo's bat on the bench. While he -- with his special golden bat -- was disappointed with the outcome, he was proud of Ella Parker and Kasidi Pickering, the two current Sooners he lined up alongside.

"At the end of the day, these girls aren't done here," Swisher said. "They're going to go on to play professionally. They're going to go on and probably win a couple more championships along the way. I got the chance to spend some time with Coach Gasso all morning long, and she is the absolute goat. So, I know they're being taken care of."