Lakeshore Chinook Lake Bachar (UW-Whitewater) earned the win for the South by pitching a clean fifth inning, while Willmar Stinger Brady Anderson (Florida Gulf Coast) took the loss for the North. Kenosha Kingfish PJ Schuster (SIU-Edwardsville) picked up the one-out save. Fellow Kingfish teammate Eric Filia (UCLA) earned “Star of Stars” honors by going 1-for-3, scoring a pair of runs and picking up two stolen bases.
The game started with a bang as Waterloo Buck Luke Stratman (Lamar CC) hit a solo home run for the North as the second batter of the game. The South responded early as La Crosse Logger Mason McCoy (Iowa) doubled and scored in the first. Filia scored the go-ahead run in the first on a North error.
Over the next six innings, pitching ruled as a plethora of pitchers from both sides kept the hitters off balance. South pitchers picked up nine strike outs in the game, while the North was one better with 10.
The North All-Stars had a chance to break the game open in the top of the seventh when they loaded the bases with no outs. The South, however, would get out of the jam as Madison Mallards pitcher Vince Arobio (Pacific) struck out back-to-back North hitters, followed by a strike out to end the inning from Green Bay Bullfrog pitcher Jeremy Graf (St. Petersburg College).
The South added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth, as Filia singled, stole second, then scored on a Lucas Raley ground out to give the South a two-run cushion.
All teams in the league will have an off day on Wednesday, July 22, for travel before returning to action on July 23.
