The West All-Stars won the second-annual Shrine Mosque Preservation Baseball Showcase on Saturday at Hammons Field in Springfield. The West has now won both games since last year’s 4-1 victory.
Saturday’s game ended in a similar 3-1 outcome with pitching and defense on full display.
“It was a great group of talented kids, some really good coaches and just a lot of fun,” said Rogersville head coach Casey Ledl, who managed the West team. “Pretty good crowd for a high school all-star game, so it was just great to see the kids go out and play.
“Honestly, baseball-wise, I thought the pitching today was outstanding. I really did, for both sides.”
Each team trotted out a new pitcher every half inning, so the arms stayed fresh coming out of the bullpen. Collectively, there were 17 strikeouts and just 10 hits for both teams in the game.
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Hurley’s Justice Jones got the game started with a couple of strikeouts and a groundout to complete a 1-2-3 top of the first inning for the West. Jones would later save a run at the plate with a terrific outfield assist from left field in the seventh inning.
Hunter Dame from Conway started the game for the East. Dame did give up a walk and hit a batter, but recorded a strikeout to end the inning.
Dame got a taste of what it’s like to play at Hammons Field, which will soon be his home ball park when he suits up for the Missouri State Bears next spring.
“I definitely had a little bit of adrenaline pumping coming out here,” said Dame, “especially pitching for the first time on my soon-to-be home field… It was a cool experience, for sure.”
The scoring didn’t get started until the fourth inning when Hunter Adams from Carl Junction recorded a sacrifice groundout to score a run for the West.
Then in the bottom of the seventh, a wild pitch and a bloop RBI single from Dominic Lee (Humansville) put the West up 3-0.
The East got on the board in the top of the eighth when Plato’s Wiley Miller drove in Hunter Dame with nobody out. But West pitcher Hunter Adams was able to work out of the jam and strand the bases loaded without allowing any more runs.
“I think every kid got out there and just started pumping strikes,” said Ledl. “In high school in the spring, that’s what we all preach and we saw it on display today. Those kids were around the zone and they did a really good job. And a two-hour ball game for a nine inning game, that’s incredible for high school.”
Aside from five players, this game was the last time these standouts will take the diamond as high school athletes.
“It’s cool to come back and play with one of the kids on my [Conway] team,” said Dame. “Just playing with all these guys, and I knew quite a few of them, it was cool to talk with them one last time and kind of wish them fair well with everything they’re doing with the rest of their baseball careers. So it was fun.”
