ARLINGTON — A state championship? Check. A position amongst the best prep baseball players to ever pass through Dallas-Fort Worth? Check. A meteoric rise to major league stardom? Check.
A Home Run Derby win in his own backyard? Close, but not quite.
Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. — a Colleyville Heritage alum — fell just short of the 2024 Home Run Derby crown on Monday night at Globe Life Field in his first-ever attempt at the event and first-ever trip to MLB’s All-Star Game. He lost to Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández 14-13 in the final round.
“It was an honor,” said Witt, who had the hometown crowd pulling for him in the final round. “just to represent the Kansas City Royals, and just so much fun in my home town-ish and with my family out there.”
Witt hit 11 regulation home runs in the Derby’s final round, and needed three in extra time to match Hernández and four to win. Witt hit two to pull within one home run of Hernández and, with one out remaining in extra time, drilled a pitch deep into center field, though it fell just short of the visitor’s bullpen and gave Hernández the crown.
“I knew when I hit it,” Witt said. “I didn’t think I got it.”
The Colleyville native slugged 50 total home runs over the course of three rounds to outlast a star-studded field that included Texas Rangers right fielder Adolis García. Witt hit 20 first-round home runs and advanced to the semifinals alongside Philadelphia’s Alec Bohm, Cleveland’s José Ramírez and Hernández. He out-slugged Ramírez 17-12 in the semifinals to advance into a final-round showdown with Hernández.
Witt — the son of longtime Rangers pitcher Bobby Witt Sr. — was named The Dallas Morning News’ All-Area Baseball Player of the Year in 2019 after he led Colleyville Heritage to the 5A state championship less than a week after he was drafted second overall by the Royals in the first round of the MLB draft.
He was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year in his senior season after hit .482 with 15 home runs and 55 RBIs, and was considered by many publications to be the No. 1 prospect in the country, though Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman (who will start for the American League in Tuesday’s All-Star Game) was picked first overall.
“I was just coming out here and having fun,” Witt said. “and then I made it far.”
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