Three All-Star Games involving juniors and seniors from DeKalb County/Decatur are set for the coming weeks.
The annual DCSD Junior All-Star and Senior All-Star games are set for Wednesday, May 25 and are joined in the postseason lineup by the inaugural Atlanta Public Schools (APS) vs. DeKalb County Schools (DCSD) Senior All-Star game on Tuesday, May 31.
All three games are set to be played at Gresham Park in DeKalb County for the first time.
Appoximately 60 of the best players in DeKalb County play in the Junior and Senior All-Star Classics. The 13th annual Junior All-Star Classic opens the doubleheader at Gresham Park on May 25 at 4:00 pm with the 19th annual Senior All-Star Classic to follow at 7:00 pm.
The Junior game features an East vs. West for DeKalb County with the West holding a 6-2 edge in the series.
The East will be coached by Southwest DeKalb’s Tyrus Taylor and Stephenson’s Timothy Jones as they look to break a three-game win streak in the series for the West.
Sluggers Skylon Jackson (MLK, .468 BA, 222 RBI), Antrez McDowell (SW DeKalb, .453 BA, 20 RBI) and Bernard Moon (Redan, .435, 23 RBI) are set to power up the East lineup.
Southwest DeKalb pitcher Jarhyl Williams (3.61 ERA, 45 stikeouts, 42 2/3 innings) and Jackson (42 strikeouts, 36 1/3 innings) are tasked with limiting the West offense.
The West is coached by Lakeside’s Brian Granger and Towers’ Crystal Savage and look to the bats of David Welsh (Chamblee, .382, 22 RBI), Devon Moyer (Lakeside, .373, 18 RBI) and Porter LeDoyen (Dunwoody, .328, 13 RBI) to help keep the streak alive.
Chamblee’s Noah Harkins (2.63 ERA, 32 stikeouts, 9 walks, 40 innings) and Druid Hills’ Cullen Riel (4.50 ERA, 46 strikeouts, 28 innings) are two pitches the West look to slow down the high-powered East hitters.
SENIOR ALL-STAR CLASSIC
The West Seniors have won four of the last five matchups to lead the series 5-3 as the two squads take the field at 7:00 pm following the Junior game.
East coaches Lamont Barner and Leviski Wray of Martin Luther King Jr. have a potent lineup led by two of the top hitters in DeKalb this year in Redan’s Manolo Parcels (.596, 21 RBI and Stephenson’s Michael Robinson (.491, 12 RBI).
Redan’s Anthony Mateo (1.84 ERA, 43 strikeouts, 34 1/3 innings) should anchor the pitching staff for the East.
The West’s Eric Love of Druid Hills and Brian Ely of Chamblee will counter with Lakeside’s Will Tansil (.316, 14 RBI) and Towers Demetress Broughton (.447, 13 RBI) along with Decatur’s Joash Lanum and Braydon Gordon.
Tansil was 3-3 on the mound (3.94 ERA, 73 strikeouts, 4 2/3 innings) and Broughton was 7-2 with 103 strikeouts for the Titans who made the playoffs for the first time in 35 years.
APS/DCSD SENIOR ALL-STARS
DeKalb and Atlanta Public Schools clash in the first ever Senior All-Star Game between the two Metro Atlanta Districts on Tuesday, May 31 at 5:30 pm at Gresham Park.
APS has yet to release a roster, but the DCSD squad coached by Redan’s Alexander Wyche and Arabia Mountain’s Eric Hoxie has four of the top sluggers in DeKalb this year to go to against APS.
Redan’s Daniel Ortiz (.630, 21 RBI, 4 HR) and Jason Avila (.582, 33 RBI) were first and third respectively hitting the ball in the regular season. They are joined by the fourth best batting average in Arabia Mountain’s Devin Tallington (.564, 27 RBI, 16 2B) and No. 10 Max Fishbein (.434, 16 RBI) on the roster.
Pitchers Noah Grayson (3.39 ERA 52 strikeouts, 43 1/3 innings) of Tucker,Chamblee’s Jake Potthoff (3.43 ERA, 5-2 record) and Dunwoody’s Connor Haynes (3.43 ERA, 49 strikeouts, 34 2/3 innings) to form a solid pitching core.
See link below for All-Star Rosters: