Nic Ready Wins 2018 College Home Run Derby
7/1/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Air Force's Nic Ready was crowned the 2018 Quicken Loans College Home Run Derby Champion at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in Omaha, Neb. on Sunday, July 1. Ready hit a derby record 55 home runs and out-dueled Clemson's Logan Davidson in the finals.
Ready and Davidson both hit 20 home runs in the finals but Ready homered on the two-point bonus ball to win 21-20. The finals came down to the final pitch, with Ready leading by one. Davidson was unable to hit the bonus ball out of the park, allowing Ready to earn the win.
Ready hit 17 home runs in the opening round, including the bonus ball, to take an early lead with 18 points. The rising senior belted 19 more home runs in the second round of four players to make it into the finals.
Ready is the first service academy cadet-athlete to participate in the home run derby and the second player from the Mountain West to win it. Aaron Judge won the derby for Fresno State in 2012.
Ready is coming off a 2017 junior season where he hit a conference-leading 20 home runs and 74 RBIs. He ranked seventh in the nation in home runs and was eighth in RBIs.
