Chris Truby searched time and time again for the words to describe his experience pitching to Rhys Hoskins in Monday’s home run derby. He never could seem to find them Wednesday afternoon. All he could do was smile.

“It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever gone through. It was wild,” Truby said. “It was high-energy. It was nerve-wracking. It was exciting. It was a bunch of emotions all wrapped into one.”

Truby was the manager of the Williamsport Crosscutters in 2009 and 2010 and has been the roving minor league infield instructor for the Philadelphia Phillies since 2014, the year Hoskins was drafted in the fifth round out of Sacramento State. Hoskins asked Truby to throw to him in the home run derby after he was selected a couple weeks ago. It was a no-brainer for Truby to accept the invitation, but he admitted there were some nerves leading into the event.

Truby routinely throws batting practice to the minor league affiliates he’s visiting. Monday night he threw to Hoskins as he upset top-seeded Jesus Aguilar in the first round of the derby and then fell one home run short of beating Kyle Schwarber in the semifinals.

“It was just cool. I don’t know any other way to describe it,” Truby said Wednesday after Crosscutters batting practice. “(Hoskins) calling and saying I’d like you to throw in the derby, I was like, huh? You trust me that much? We got a chance to get embarrassed here, you know that right?”

Truby said Hoskins was as nervous as him when they were the first ones to hit Monday night. But they carried just three small goals into the event: First, Truby didn’t want to hit Hoskins with a pitch. Second, Hoskins didn’t want to swing and miss. And third, Hoskins wanted to hit more than one home run.

They got over those early as Hoskins hit a couple home runs early to easy the pressure. He finished the first round with 17 home runs to knock off Aguilar, the National League leader in home runs. He then put up the first 20 home run round of the event against the Cubs’ Schwarber in the second round before Schwarber rallied for 21 to advance to the finals against Bryce Harper.

Truby said one of the toughest parts of throwing was not watching just how far Hoskins’ home runs went. He said he could tell when Hoskins got one really clean and would catch himself watching just how far it went instead of looking at the umpire to see when he could throw his next pitch.

For a man who played 263 games in the big leagues and has been employed by the Phillies as a coach for the past 10 years, for one night Truby got to be a fan of the game again. He enjoyed just listening to the players pick on each other on the bus ride to Nationals Park. He enjoyed standing along the baselines and watching the best players in the world put on an incredible show.

“Those guys hit the ball far, man,” Truby said. “Then to see the run Harper put on at the end. To see Schwarber and the run he put on to catch Rhys, and then the run Harper had, that’s like storybook stuff. You see why these guys are that good.”

Truby has been working with Hoskins since he made his professional debut with the Crosscutters in 2014. He said he couldn’t have seen the trajectory his career has taken in which Hoskins set a Major League record by hitting 18 home runs in his first 35 big league games and getting to the point where he was asked to participate in the home run derby.

But Hoskins has handled the attention and the pressure with ease and has helped bring some notoriety not only to himself, but to a Phillies team which is in first place at the All-Star break in the NL East.

“He was raised right. He’s just a good person. He’s the right guy to be in Philly right now,” Truby said. “He’s obviously a good ballplayer. He’s a better person. He’s a better leader. He’s a better competitor. It’s been fun to watch him grow and watch where he’s at. And it’s only going to get better.”

And if Hoskins is asked to participate in the home run derby again, Truby said he wouldn’t mind another opportunity to throw to him.

“I might mention it. Just to see what can happen,” Truby said with a smile. “It’s an unbelievable honor and it’s something I won’t forget.”