Event Spotlight: HitTrax Home Run Derby Hit it Out of the Park

At the 2018 NFCA Convention, technology company HitTrax unveiled a new event: A Home Run Derby in a batting cage, utilizing their software to determine a winner.

The event has become an annual staple of the Convention, and in Las Vegas earlier this month, HitTrax hosted their third Derby. This one came with a twist: Professional players chose individual partners, many of them coaches, and the teams competed for the Derby crown.

Former McNeese Cowgirl teammates Erika Piancastelli and Emily Vincent made up Team Piancastelli and emerged victorious from the competition. Piancastelli’s famous swing was at its best:

Erika Piancastelli has one of the absolute sweetest swings in the world.

— Justin McLeod (@justfactsmaam) December 10, 2021

Other professional players participating in the Derby included Amanda Lorenz, Samantha Show, Haylie McCleney, Janie Takeda Reed, and Ally Carda. Carda was a late substitution when fellow Olympian Amanda Chidester wasn’t able to make her scheduled appearance.

Lorenz partnered up with former Arizona and Team Philippines player Chelsea Suitos while Show teamed up with Oklahoma State coach Kenny Gajewski. McCleney shared her team with fellow former Alabama star Kelly Kretschman, while Reed and former teammate Nikki Udria Ragin also paired up for the event.

It was a hearty crowd, full of coaches from every level and even other exhibitors, who watched the Derby from start to finish. The observers even got into the event at various points, cheering on some of the participants and their results.

The grand finale came down to a showdown between Piancastelli and Kretschman; pressed for time, the 1-on-1 slug-off would decide the winner after both put on almost a hitting clinic in their respective preliminary rounds of the Derby. Piancastelli, the Italian Olympian, ultimately emerged victorious with thirteen home runs in the final round.

In addition to the Derby’s expanded format, the company also added another element to the Vegas Derby. For the first time, HitTrax partnered with the Natasha Watley Foundation to raise money for the former UCLA shortstop’s namesake charity. Nearly $1,000 was raised for the organization through the Derby, in addition to another $1,000 contributed by the company itself. The NWF’s mission is “𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳-𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭.”