The 2015 Junior All-Star Baseball Classic MVPs — (l-r) Julian Graves, Redan (East) and Shaquille Hickson, McNair (West)
Druid Hills’ Jack Bartlewski scored on a passed ball in the bottom of the ninth inning giving the West Junior All-Stars a 4-3 victory over the East All-Stars in the 7th Annual Junior All-Star Baseball Classic at Georgia State University Baseball Complex on Monday.
The East had tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the ninth to set up the exciting finish by the West which now leads the series 2-1 with this year’s victory.
Miller Grove’s Kaine Smith opened the top of the 9th with a double to left center against Chamblee’s Travis Anderson who had entered to pitch in the inning. Tucker’s Booth Vogel followed by reaching on a strikeout that allowed Smith to move to third.
Arabia Mountain’s Kobi Atkins loaded the bases as he reached on an error to bring Southwest DeKalb’s Tyler Sylvester to the plate. Sylvester lifted a fly ball for a sacrifice to score Smith and not the game with two on and only one out. Tucker’s Josh Dunson was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Martin Luther King’s Darrius England stepped to the plate next and drove a ball into centerfield for what looked like a sacrifice fly to give the East the lead. Instead the ball was caught and the runner advancing to third was gunned down for a double-play to end the inning with the score tied at 3-3.
Bartlewski led off the bottom half of the inning by drawing a walk and moved to second on a passed ball. A fly out and a grounder to first moved Bartlewski to third with two outs. The first pitch to Lakeside’s Drew Hinton got away from the catcher to allow Bartlewski to score the winning run.
The East had taken an early 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning on a Redan’s Julian Graves RBI single and a double steal which had Stephenson’s Rohn Blackston crossing the plate for the 2-0 advantage.
The West answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning to cut the lead to 2-1 on a RBI single by McNair’s Shaquille Hickson. The game was tied in the fourth when Hinton drove a pitch over the left-center field fence for a solo home run.
The West took a 3-2 lead in the sixth as Nick Ewing scored on an error with two out after getting hit by a pitch to start the inning.
Hickson was 3-3 with a RBI and stolen base to lead the West team and earn Most Valuable Player honors. Drew Hinton was close behind with a 2-3 performance with a home run and RBI. Travis Anderson picked up the win after pitching the top of the ninth.
The East was led at the plate by Kaine Smith at 2-3 with a double while Graves was named MVP after going 1-3 with a big RBI and stolen base in the double steal to take the 2-0 lead in the second inning. England took the loss after pitching the final two innings for the East.
SENIOR ALL-STARS
East 8, West 5
The 2015 Senior All-Star Baseball Classic MVPs — (l-r) Tekwaan Whyte, Stephenson (East) and Brent Burgess, Chamblee (West)
The East All-Stars took a 2-1 lead in the series with an 8-5 victory over the West behind a big six-run first inning in the lightning shortened Senior All-Star Classic at Georgia State University Baseball Complex.
The East was trailing 1-0 after the first half inning as Lakeside’s Darius Sewell grounded out to plate James Hartsfield who had led off the game with a single for the West.
It would not take long to tie the game and then take the lead for the East as six runs would cross in the bottom of the first for a 6-1 lead.
A single by Stephenson’s Tekwaan Whyte and a walk to Southwest DeKalb’s Mario Alston set up a sacrifice fly by Tucker’s Jake Lovvorn to score Whyte with game tying run.
Stephenson’s Kameron Armstrong gave the East the lead for good with his RBI double to plate Alston. The East would add four more runs on a two-run single by Stone Mountain’s Morris Fulton and RBI singles from Redan’s DeAnthony Baker and Whyte who picked up his second hit of the inning.
The West cut the lead in half at 6-3 with a pair of runs in the third inning as a pair of errors after a double from Keishaun Clark with one out aided the West cause. Clark would score on an error that allowed Cedar Grove’s James Hartsfield to reach base and Hartsfield would score on an RBI groundout by Columbia’s Jalen Atterbury.
Whyte added a run in the fourth as his RBI triple scored Redan’s Marquise Glenn who had led off the inning with a single and Baker would score in the sixth on a passed ball to give the East an 8-3 lead with the clouds starting to roll over the field.
Two runs would cross the plate for the West in the top of the sixth behind Chamblee’s Christopher Burgess’ sacrifice fly and an error on the East that allowed Columbia’s Justin Washington to score after his earlier double.
Lighting moved into the area at the end of 5 ½ innings and the game was called due to the safety of the players and fans.
Whyte was named the East MVP after going 3-4 at the plate with two RBI, two stolen bases and a triple in the game. Terrell McCall picked up the pitching victory after going three innings for the East.
Brent Burgess picked up the West MVP honors after going two innings on the mound, striking out four, walking two and allowing no hits and one unearned run. The award was the second Senior All-Star award for the Chamblee athlete who was also the MVP of the DeKalb County Senior All-Star football game back in December.