The South deafted the North 11-6 in the Sun Conference All-Star game Saturday.
SouthTakes Down North, 11-6
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The South defeated the North, 11-6 in the annual Sun Conference All-Star Game that was held at Sliwa Stadium on the campus of Embry-Riddle Saturday.
The game, held annually before each team’s regular season begins, is a contest for juniors and seniors to showcase their talents in front of major league scouts. The conference is split up into a North and South division and players are selected by their respective coaches to represent their teams.
The North team consisted of players from Webber International, Embry-Riddle, SCAD Savannah, Southeastern and South Carolina Beaufort while the South team was made up of players from St. Thomas, Florida Memorial, Warner, Northwood and Ave Maria.
It took a while for either team to score, but the North struck first, plating the first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth when St. Thomas pitcher Miguel Hernandez threw a wild pitch. The North scored another run in the inning on a double from Southeastern’s Kyle Petrick giving them a 2-0 lead.
With a leadoff double and a walk to start the top of the fifth, the South team was able to tie the game at two by capitalizing on a wild pitch from Embry-Riddle’s Barrett Bruce and a single from Ave Maria’s Patrick Collins-Bride.
After two walks and an error, South Carolina Beaufort’s Ty Main ripped a double down the line to put the North back up by two. The North answered with another run in the bottom half of the frame to put them up 5-2.
The South came back with two runs of their own in the top half of the sixth to cut the lead to one at 5-4.
A leadoff triple from SCAD Savannah’s Mark Malec followed by a groundball to the shortstop in the bottom of the seventh gave the North a two-run lead heading into the eighth inning.
The South was able to cut the lead to one and shut the North down in the bottom half of the eighth, giving them a chance to make a final comeback in the ninth, which is exactly what they did.
Andy Ruiz of Florida Memorial was hit by a pitch, Ethan Lovell (Warner) singled and Joshua Leo (Northwood) reach on an error loading up the bases for the South squad. St. Thomas’ Yasel Gomez singled and plated two runs, giving the South a 7-6 lead. The South scored two more runs and went into the bottom half of the ninth with a 9-6 lead.
The North went three up, three down in the ninth, but the teams weren’t done as they continued for one more inning of play. Two errors from the North to start the top of the 10th allowed the South to tack on two more runs, putting their lead to 11-6.
A double from Southeastern’s Tyler Reuhlman to start the 10th gave the North the spark they needed to make a comeback, but Justin James of Ave Maria was able to shut the door. He struck out the next batter and got Embry-Riddle’s Chris Page to line into a double play to end the contest giving the South team their victory.
Main finished 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs and two stolen bases for the North, while Gomez was 1-for-2 with 2 RBIs and two runs scored.
The Sun Conference teams will each begin their regular season schedule in early Feb.