Texas Baseball | Tres Barrera Wins College Home Run Derby
OMAHA, Neb. – Texas catcher Tres Barrera captured the 2014 College Home Run Derby championship by blasting a total of 41 homers Thursday night at TD Ameritrade Park.
Paired against childhood friend and former high school teammate Eric Gutierrez of Texas Tech, Barrera blasted a record 25 home runs in the final round to win the championship, including the first-ever home runs hit to center field in TD Ameritrade Park. That was enough to hold off Gutierrez, who hit 18 in the final round.
The competition started with eight participants and was cut down to four for the second round. Barrera hit 11 home runs in the first round to move on along with Gutierrez, Zach Ratcliff (Ohio State) and Matt Dacey (Richmond).
Barrera hit five more in the second round, giving him a total of 16 and placing him in the finals with Gutierrez, who hit an impressive 34 in the first two rounds.
The two both went to Sharyland High School in Mission, Texas, and put on a show throughout the competition. In the finals, Barrera – who brought his dad along to pitch to him -- turned it up a notch.
"I just got in a groove and went from there," said Barrera. "My dad was throwing strikes right where I liked them and I took good hacks."
2014 TD Ameritrade Home Run Derby Results
First Round
Eric Gutierrez (Texas Tech) – 15
Tres Barrera (Texas) – 11
Zach Ratcliff (Ohio State) – 5
Matt Dacey (Richmond) – 5
Sikes Orvis (Mississippi) – 4
Bobby Dalbec (Arizona) – 3
Michael Aquino (Rice) – 4
Hunter Haley (Oklahoma) – 1
Second Round
Eric Gutierrez – 19 (34 total)
Tres Barrera – 5 (16 total)
Matt Dacey – 9 (14 total)
Zach Ratcliff – 5 (10 total)
Final Round
Tres Barrera – 25
Eric Gutierrez - 18
