South Handles North 11-2 in All-Star Game
Box Score
BABSON PARK, Fla. - The South made it two straight wins over the North with an 11-2 victory in the 2014 version of the All-Star Game on Saturday at Webber International's Heart of Florida Medical Regional Center Field. The South racked up 13 hits while the North managed just two runs on eight hits.
The South team struck first, getting an unearned run in the first thanks to a pair of North errors that first allowed Kolbe Andrade (Ave Maria) to reach base before he stole second, then third and another error on the throw to third allowed the Gyrene to scoot home for a 1-0 South lead, despite Josh Ganus (Webber International) not allowing a hit in the frame.
Anthony Seblano (Northwood) cruised through the first two North batters with strikeouts before walking Ramon Sanchez (Webber International). But the Seahawk pitcher got Darryl Knight (Embry-Riddle) to pop up to shallow right to end the first with the South in front, 1-0.
Aaron Pigna (Ave Maria) brought home the second South run of the afternoon with an RBI groundout in the second, scoring Randolf Ham (Northwood) from third after Ham singled then moved to third on a Erik Yglesias (Florida Memorial) double down the right field line.
Emilio Ogando (St. Thomas) delivered a 1-2-3 inning for the South in the home-half of the second, getting a pair of groundouts and a fly ball to center to send his team back to the plate.
After walking Johnny Groubert (Warner) with one out, Stetson Nelson (Embry-Riddle) got a 5-4-3 double-play to end the third and keep the North behind by just two runs.
The North collected its first two hits of the day when Ryan Knuth (Southeastern) and Jon Andrews (USCB) collected two out singles against Ethan Striz (Ave Maria). But the Gyrene pitcher stranded the two by getting Ramon Sanchez (Webber International) to fly out to right to send the game to the fourth.
Nelson got the first pair of South hitters to strikeout in the fourth, but a base hit followed by an error and stolen base put runners on second and third. Nelson battled Aaron Pigna (Ave Maria) before hetting the AMU infielder to fly out to left to end the threat.
Mike Hardison (Florida Memorial) threw all of six pitches in the last of the fourth to retire the side, including a punch out of Josh Bruijn (Thomas) to end the inning.
Ronnie Lozada (Embry-Riddle) got out of a jam in the top of the fifth, getting a groundout and strikeout to end the frame after runners had reach second and third with just one out.
The South pitching staff continued to silence the North bats in the fifth as Eddie Cody (St. Thomas) stranded a pair of runners on the bases with a strikeout of Jon Andrews (USCB).
The South extended its lead in the sixth thanks to a single up the middle from Angel Garcia (Northwood), scoring Justin Burgess (Warner) from second for a 3-0 advantage.
The South blew it open in the sixth with six runs on three hits to take a commanding 8-0 lead. The big blow came off the bat of Conor Sullivan (Ave Maria) who hit a bases-clearing double for three RBIs.
Aaron Kehres (Warner) kept the South pitching dominance going in the sixth, walking just one while getting a trio of fly balls for outs.
CJ Kelly (USCB) stopped the bleeding with a shutout inning in the seventh, including getting a nice throw from Carlos Guzman (Southeastern) to second base to cut down Carlos Senluis trying to swipe a bag.
The North loaded the bases in the last of the seventh, getting a walk, error and single, but Casey Johnston (Florida Memorial) got a pair of strikeouts to keep the North side off the scoreboard.
The South chipped on three more runs (two unearned), getting RBIs from several batters to take an 11-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth.
Randolf Ham (Northwood) moved to the mound in the bottom of the eighth and cruised with a three-up, three-down inning as the North continued to struggle offensively.
John Gainey (Thomas) struck out two-of-three in the ninth, setting the table for Zach Quayle (Ave Maria) for the South in the bottom of the inning. Quayle didn’t allow a hit in his outing as the contest moved to the final inning.
Dayron Gomez (St. Thomas) closed things out for the South, but the North was finally able to scratch across a run thanks to a Bryan Muniz (Southeastern) RBI single, bringing home Ramon Sanchez (Webber International). Josh Gordon (Southeastern) followed his teammates’ base knock with one of his own as the North cut the lead to 11-2. Gomez ended the game with a flyout to right as the South celebrated the win.