Customized bats for the starting lineups. Owner of Dream Bats and NECBL Commissioner are in the house to give them out.
First Inning:
Top: From 1-9, the Western Division lineup is one of the most potent lineups you could construct. Jacob Bruce, Joe Landi, Brian O'Grady, JP Sportman, Danny Spingola, Brendan Hendriks, Alex Cruz, Tommy Monnot and Matt Reida fill out the Western Division starters. Arguably one of the best lineups in recent NECBL history, a mix of power and speed make for a formidable team. Eastern starting pitcher Will Blalock is going to have his hands full.
Landi, with one out lined a long single down the first base line, something he has been doing all summer for the Steeplecats. An out later and Sportman smacks one off the right-center fence for an RBI double.
Nothing special there, as Sportman has been doing that all summer for the Western Division leading Swamp Bats.
Santomauro, the speedy outfielder fires a bullet to the catcher, gunning down Sportman. Coming up firing, he took the ball on one hop and threw him out from center field.
Bottom: The Eastern lineup isn't too weak either, as it is as follows. Troy Black, Andrew Santomauro, Ben Roberts, Michael Gerber, Joel McKeithan, Alec Keller, Steve Anderson, Christopher Travers and Christian Muscarello.
Vermont ace John Miles, who's been one of the best pitchers in the league this year has a crowd of scouts with radar guns behind home. "Meticulous Miles" has taken care of business for the Mountaineers.
Hendriks makes a nice play ranging over into foul territory to retire the second batter.
Broken bat single for the Gulls star outfielder Ben Roberts. Not just a break, but a complete shattering.
He then gets Gerber to go down swinging.
Miles wins the battle of the first inning pitchers.
Second Inning:
Top: Newport's Brett Graves comes in to pitch for the East. College teammates with Miles at the University of Missouri.
Cruz almost takes off Graves head for a single up the middle. No doubt about it. The third Swamp Bat, catcher Tommy Monnot lines a single, and Graves has given up two straight hits. If it wasn't for Robbie Mills Fields small proportions and the speediness of his outfield, one of the two probably would've been doubles.
Holyoke's Reida goes down with the high heat from Graves and we're back to the top of the lineup.
A third single in this inning puts Bruce on and the bases are loaded for Landi. A quick throw by Newports Roberts in right holds Cruz at third.
A foul ball almost takes the camerawomen down from on top of the dugout. She's been targeted twice today.
Graves works out of the bases loaded jam, getting Landi out on a flyout to right.
Bottom: Nathan Kirby is coming in for the West, the tall Swamp Bats righty. Has McKeithan, Keller and Anderson to face.
There is a Swamp Bat catcher and pitcher, as well as at first and in right. Holyoke takes up the left side of the infield and in center. There's apparently no need for any other teams to play for the Western Division.
DH Alec Keller from Mystic breaks up the chance for the first no hit inning. Questionable if we'll see that tonight.
If you've ever seen the movie Rookie of the Year, the hitter Henry Rowengartner has to pitch against as the final hitter is up for the East. Newport's Steve Anderson, standing at 6'5" and 235 pounds is a lot like him. He does go down on strikes, but the comparison still stands.
Muscarello flies out to right with two on, and the West still leads 1-0 going into the third.
Third Inning:
Top: Another new pitcher! No surprise, seeing as this is an All-Star game. New Bedford's John Lieske gets the call. His first batter, Keene's O'Grady has been one of the toughest batters to get out this season as well as having Sportman on deck.
Nothing like starting an appearance with him leading off. And having Sportman second.
Our first pinch-hitter! Vermont manager Joe Brown takes out Sportman and puts in North Adams Vinny Zarillo.
Another bid for a no-hit inning is ruined with Spingola's second single of the game, right in between first and second base.
However, the next batter goes down with a groundout to second. The third 4-3 groundout of the inning.
Bottom: Holyoke's Michael Burke comes in from the bullpen for the West. A shortstop turned pitcher, Burke has been a force for the Blue Sox.
He's greeted rudely with Black lining a looping single into left.
5'8" fan favorite Santomauro gets a hold of one and drives it into left for a deep fly ball out. Then Burke fires his high heat by who is arguably the best Gulls hitter so far this year, Ben Roberts.
A low throw gives Black the first stolen base of the game. He was on display earlier today, running a 6.8 60-yard dash, good for sixth.
Gerber beats out an infield single where first baseman O'Grady struggles getting the ball to the pitcher covering. First and third for McKeithan who drops a single to knock in Black. All tied up here at Robbie Mills Field.
Hendriks makes his second catch in foul territory, ranging a couple of feet from the fence to get his Blue Sox teammate Burke out of a first and second jam.
Fourth Inning:
Top: To no one's amazement, another pitcher appears. Mystic's Kurt Sowa gets the call for the top of the fourth here in Laconia.
Shortstop Christian Muscarello makes a nice, ranging play to throw out Cruz. Does Sowa have a chance against a perfect inning, taking on the 7-8-9 of the West lineup?
Nope. Monnot singles in the right-center gap and there has now been a hit in every inning for both teams. The West has stranded five runners so far, through four. A 6-1 lead had it not been for good pitching and defense.
Another broken bat! That makes two on the day as Reida cracks his against Sowa. Also rocking the Vermont Mountaineers black-and-green helmet, he goes down on strikes. That puts him at 0-2 on the day with two strikeouts.
Travers attempts a pick off from home with a fast transition as he tries to catch Monnot napping. Travers has been a highlight for the East so far, going 1-1 as well as applying the tag on Sportman at home.
Ocean States Muscarello makes a running, leaping catch over the center of the infield to keep from a hit.
Bottom: Another pitcher for the West, Keene's Matthew Clancy.
Narrowly beats Anderson running down the line to record the first out. A 1-23 inning perhaps?
The East have also left five on base. Meanwhile Clancy has retired the first two. Can he become the first All-Star pitcher to set them down 1-2-3?
Muscarello is making it tough for him, battling back with three straight fouls after falling behind 0-2. Flies out to center though, and Clancy records the first 1-2-3 inning. My early pick for MVP right there.
5th Inning:
Top: Another Newport pitcher! The second of many, Brett Lilek is toeing the rubber for the East. Just has to retire Landi, O'Grady and Varillo.
Pinch-hitter! Saratoga's Zach Looney comes in for Landi. Two new members of the game facing off against each other. Looney goes down on strikes and another Brigade member pinch hits, Matt Beaty. The 2-3-4 portion of the Western Division has left, going a combined 2-for-5 with a RBI and a run.
Beaty smacks a single into the left-center gap and the only consistent part of this hitting lineup, Varillio is up. It appears 6'4" Vahn Bozoian from Holyoke is pinch-hitting for the next batter, as he is taking his cuts in the on-deck circle. Bozoian came in second in the home run derby, hitting eight in the first two rounds before not hitting one in the finals.
John Miles, the West starter has been wandering around the left side in foul territory, acting as what seemed like to be a ball boy.
Landi takes a weak cut as Lilek fooled him on that one. That's Lilek's second strikeout of the inning.
Bozian goes down on a ground ball that completely decimated his bat. The bat ended up near the third base dirt. The West leaves another hitter on.
Bottom: The NECBL leader in innings pitched with 47.1 is coming on for the West, as he's made seven starts this season- Jordan Hillyer from the Blue Sox.
Hillyer records his first K on Black.
Pinch-hitter Chris Shaw from New Bedford comes in for Roberts. Retired on three pitches, ending with a flyout to right. Hillyer adds the second perfect inning in this All-Star game.
Sixth Inning:
Top: A wholesale switch has just happened. A mind-boggling eight players were changed out on the field for the East, as the only player staying is the catcher Stubbs. Now pitching is the Gulls Sean Hartnett, whos been a lock down reliever for Newport. The Gulls also make up four of the players on the field, including the middle infield.
Vermont's Brad Kaczka is in for Hendriks and is quickly retired with a groundout to second. Another pinch hitter in the form of Danbury power hitter Riley Palmer. Palmer comes in for Westerner teammate Cruz.
And we're not done with substitutions as North Adams Kevin Martir comes in and flies out uniquely to right field.
Right fielder Joe Torres slipped up in right and makes the catch from his knees.
Bottom: Scott Squier appears for the West, as the North Adams ace will face pinch hitter Carl Anderson, from the New Bedford Bay Sox. The Wave's Gerber leaves the game.
Squier, who has 50 K's on the season, does exactly that, taking down Anderson on strikes. He then faces pinch hitter Tyler Boyd from Mystic (subbing for Keller) and gets him after Kazcka makes a great play in foul territory.
Kazcka reaches his glove over the fence and snags it for the second out. Another pinch hitter makes up the third batter in the inning, with Ocean State's Shaun McGraw going down on strikes for his second K of the inning.
Thats the third straight shutout inning by Western division pitchers, as they've now retired ten straight.
Seventh inning:
Top: Travis Stout from Plymouth coms in to pitch and strikes out Keene pinch hitter Dylan Moore for the first out of the inning.
Another pinch hitter, Keene's Zach Lauriecella singles to center, ending the West's run of six straight outs. Looney singles to right and Beaty grounds out to the first basemen and Varillo stepped to the plate with runners on second and third.
Varillo strands them with a flyout to center and it goes to the bottom of the seventh with the score tied at 1-1 still.
Bottom: Pat Delano, the hard-throwing Mountaineer comes in to pitch the bottom of the 7th with the score 1-1. Laconia's Ryan McBroom leads off, pinch hitting for Steve Anderson and grounds out with Kazcka fielding it and throwing it on the run.
Another pinch hitter, Mystic catcher Greg Holland singled and another pinch hitter, Newport's Trace Tam Sing followed with a flyout. Another Newport pinch hitter,
Eight inning:
Top: Kyle Wilcox, a Newport Gull, came in to pitch for the East. Bozoian lead off with a single, and Kazcka followed with a walk, making it first and second for Palmer.
The second serious threat in as many innings, Palmer flew out to deep right and another pinch hitter is in. Saratoga catcher Brian O'Keefe comes in for Martir, in a very important, first and second situation. O'Keefe went down on strikes for the second out, and what had gone from first and second with nobody out has gotten down to the last out.
Bozoian surprised baseball fans all across the stadium when he took off for third, but caught the Eastern squad by surprise and swiped third base.
However, Moore grounded out to the shortstop to end the threat. That runs the total up to 11 runners left on base.
Just for all of your information, Wilcox hit 97 MPH on the gun last inning, according to the MLB scout sitting next to me on my left.
Bottom: The other North Adams ace, Joeanthony Rivera takes over on the mound for the West in the bottom of the eighth.
Rivera retired Newport pinch-hitter Shea Donlin on a groundout, and another pinch-hitter appeared, in the form of Laconia's Joe Torres. A hometown favorite, Torres received a big ovation for his slicing line drive single into left field.
Rivera pegged Anderson on the back to set up first and second with one out for Boyd.
Boyd singles to right, and an errant throw to the plate lets Torres scamper in to give the East a 2-1 lead. Boyd goes to second on the throw, and with second and third with one out McGraw grounds out to the shortstop.
Another broken bat ground out ends the inning with the East going up heading into the ninth.
9th Inning:
Top: Steven Rice just came in for the East. The Sanford closer has been dominant this summer for the Mainers. Has the 1-2-3 hitters to deal with, in Lauricella, Looney and Beaty.
Rice throws a slick pitch that curves into the dirt to strike out his first batter of the game. The West puts in Mountaineer Thomas Roulis for Looney. Rice snags a high hopping ground ball to get the second out.
Then a nasty breaking pitch in the dirt at 75 MPH takes down Beaty on strikes for the save, but due to All-Star rules, the game's not quite over.
Bottom: Saratoga's Cameron Tekker makes an appearance as the Western closer. Holland, Tam Sing and Donlin are in line to bat.
Tekker takes down two straight before Donlin doubles down the first base line. The next batter, Cody Jones marks the third straight Newport Gull in a row. Torres is on deck, the hero for scoring the game-winning run. Jones goes down on K's to end the game.
Torres doesn't get to bat again but takes the honor of being the MVP of the 2013 NECBL All-Star game in front of his home crowd.
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