The West Juniors jumped to a 4-0 lead and held off a come-back attempt by the East Juniors to win the West’s six consecutive matchup with the East 5-4. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Druid Hills pitcher Alex Balsamo picked up a save as he set down five of the six East Junior All-Stars, he faced to seal a 5-3 victory for the West All-Stars in the 15th annual DeKalb County Junior All-Star Baseball Classic at Dunwoody High School on Monday night.
Balsamo inherited a one-out and runners on second and third situation in relief of Cross Keys’ pitcher Fredman Aquilera in the top of the six with his team leading 5-2.
He quickly got a groundout for the second out of inning as Tucker’s Robert Robinson drove in Redan’s Matthew Evans. A fly ball to center by Southwest DeKalb’s Breshawn Reese closed out the inning with the West up 5-3.
East reliever Montagus Phillips (Southwest DeKalb) came to the mound of his second inning of work and the West looked to add some insurance as Lakeside’s Jayden Mosely tripled into the right field corner to start the inning.
Phillips responded with a strikeout for the first out of the inning and coaxed a popup off the bat of Sean Crawford (Druid Hills) and a line out by Jihad Guy (Lakeside) to keep the lead at two with the East coming to bat for the final shot at a tie or win.
Balsamo returned to the mound for the West and got a quick groundout for the first out before Phillips drilled a double into the gap in left-center field to bring the tying run to the plate. Balsamo answered by getting a popup to second and a strikeout to end the game.
The West opened a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first on five consecutive, one-out hits started by Dunwoody’s Zach Pauling lining a shot up the middle. Sam Heetderks followed with a another single into right.
Pauling scored on a wild pitch to put the West up 1-0. A single by Andrew Fowler put runners at first and third for Mosely who slid a ground ball into the gap between shortstop and third to score Heetderks for a 2-0 advantage. Decatur’s Andwele Pittman lined one over the infield into left field to plate Fowler to make it 3-0.
East pitcher AJ Holloway worked out of the inning with a pair of ground balls to limit the damage to three runs.
Heetderks upped the led to 4-0 in the top of third inning with an RBI double into the left-center field gap to score Chamblee’s Joey David who had walked to lead off the inning.
East pitcher Kameron Scott (Southwest DeKalb) got a ground ball with runners on first second and his defense turned the 4-6-3 double-play to end the West threat.
West pitcher Ryan Davies gave up a run on an RBI single to right by Phillips in the top of the fourth as the East got on the scoreboard. The West defense kept the damage to a minimum with a par of big plays. A relay from left field to shortstop David led to a throw home to cut down Tucker’s Robert Robinson at the plate for the second out of the inning.
Lakeside’s Guy made the big throw from right field to third on the hit by Phillips to cut down Daejon Jones, who was trying to move from first to third on the hit, to end the inning.
A pair of errors added a run for the West in the bottom of the fourth as Pittman walked, stole second and scored to give the West a 5-1 cushion heading into the sixth.
Scott walked and stole second and third to set up a sacrifice fly by Tucker’s Alec Waller to cut the lead to 5-2. Robinson’s groundout plated Evans to make the final of 5-3 as Balsamo closed out the game.
Jayden Mosely finished the game 2-3 at the plate with a triple and RBI and Sam Heetderks was also 2-3 and added a double and RBI for the West. Mosely’s triple tied the mark of one in the Junior Classic record books along with nine others including Xavier Griffen of Columbia who set the mark in 2009. Mosely became the second Viking to have a triple in the game joining Mason Williams (2023).
Southwest DeKalb’s Montagus Phillips (left) was named the East Juniors MVP and Druid Hills Alex Balsamo (right0 was named the West MVP at the 15th annual DCSD Junior All-Star Baseball Classic won 5-4 by the West. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Alex Balsamo was named the West Most Valuable Player after sitting down five of the six East batters he faced over 1 2/3s innings to pick up the save in the game. He allowed just one hit, no runs and struck out one.
Montagus Phillips led the East with a 2-3 performance at the plate with a double and RBI. Southwest DeKalb’s Kameron Scott tied the Junior All-Star Classic record of three stolen bases to join five other players including Lithonia’s DeAngelo Smith who set the mark in the 2010 game.
Phillips was named the East Most Valuable Player after picking up two hits, one a double, and an RBI. He also held the West at bay for two innings allowing just one hit, a walk, no runs and striking out one while facing eight batters in two innings.
The West All-Stars now lead the series 9-2 having won six consecutive matchups including one-run wins in 2018 (8-7) and 2023 (6-5). The East’s last win was in 2017 by a score of 12-4.
See links below for 2024 Junior Box Score and Junior Records: