GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After some of Taylor Shumaker’s recent batting practice sessions, Tim Walton coaxed his standout sophomore slugger into some extra swings. 
 
Only these were at overhand pitches and baseballs. 
 

After Shumaker, the 2025 NFCA All American and Freshman of the Year, parked a couple out of Seashole Pressly Stadium, the Florida softball coach was satisfied. 
 
“Yeah, you’re good,” Walton said. 
 
She was again this week, as Shumaker took a few more cuts to prep for Friday and Saturday night’s Home Run Derby X championship round in Salt Lake City. 
 
HRDX, now in its fourth season, is a co-ed baseball tournament that features mostly former major-league baseball stars and softball players in a three-on-three competition with both hitting and fielding. Two weeks ago, Shumaker teamed with Adam Wainwright and Rick Ankiel, the trio representing the St. Louis Cardinals, to defeat the threesome of MLBer Nick Swisher, Savannah Bananas player Noah Bridges and former Oklahoma superstar and NCAA all-time home run leader Jocelyn Alo in an event played at the Field of Dreams in Des Moines, Iowa. 
 
“It was an amazing experience,” Shumaker said. 
 
Of course it was. Shumaker, who hit .389 as a collegiate rookie last spring and tied the program record for home runs (22) and RBI (86), learned of the opportunity after the Gators’ went to the Women’s College World Series in June. She got the invite and jumped at the chance. 
 

SALT LAKE CITY BOUND➡️ Cardinals team of first timers locks down their spot in the CHAMPIONSHIPS 🏆#HomeRunDerbyX pic.twitter.com/OBl6BNRNlR

— MLB’s Home Run Derby X (@homerunderbyx) August 31, 2025

Shumaker hails from Fullerton, California, a short drive from Angel Stadium and her hometown Los Angeles Angels. She grew up a baseball fan, but she was a toddler when Wainwright was in his All-Star prime and had yet to be born when Ankiel’s unique story (pitcher-with-control-issues-turned-outfielder) was playing out. 
 
“They were both great,” Shumaker said. “Couldn’t have been nicer.”
 
And both, like Shumaker, could hit, obviously. The rules, she admitted, were “a little tricky,” at first.
 
Some HRDX background: 

• Points are scored with home runs on offense and outfield catches on defense. 
• Batters set up on a hitting stage along the third-base line and aim toward a home run zone. 
• Extra points are scored by landing balls into a target area in centerfield and for so-called “hot streaks” when every hit counts as a double. 

On the Yankees’ final at-bat, the Cardinals led by just six points with 30 seconds to go, a very slim margin. Wainwright, in fact, looked at Shumaker, as Swisher was at the plate. 
 
“Doesn’t look good,” he said. 
 
But the pitcher didn’t do the Yankees any favors, per Shumaker. He was low and away or high and inside and Swisher could not make decent contact. With about five seconds to go, the Yankees needed just two points. Shumaker, from her outfield spot, was anxious. Fielding baseballs is not like fielding softballs, especially under the bright lights. 
 
“I was panicking a little bit,” Shumaker recalled with a chuckle. “Honestly, though, getting to be out there in a playful competition was just really cool.” 

It proved even cooler when time ran out and the Cardinals won 68-67 to advance to the HRDX championship, where eight different teams will be represented over the two-day competition with $200,000 in prize money at stake. Some of the notables Shumaker will face this weekend in Salt Lake City include Ryan Zimmerman, Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Pillar, Jose Reyes and Mike Moustakas
 
“The whole thing has just been really, really cool,” Shumaker said. “Now, in the finals, we can just have fun and play the game.”
 
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu