Story by Scot Sweet / PCBL Staff Writer
This was the first game of our weekend All-Star triple-header at beautiful Matador Stadium on the campus of Cal State Northridge. It was a given before the day even started that the temperatures would be hot and the competition between East & West would be fierce. With that being said, let’s get into some PCBL All-Star action!
The East squad comes up empty in the top half of the 1st inning; sending up the West All-Stars to try and get on the board first. The Indians’ Adam Reynolds draws a leadoff walk; bringing up Branden Budd of the Dogs who singles. The next batter would ground out to 1st; sending the Brewers’ Abe Rodriguez to the plate with 1 out and 2 runners on base. He slaps a 2-run double to put the West on the board first. Pablo Rojas of the Hammers is the next batter. He grounds out to 2nd but gets an RBI as a run scores on the play. The West end up with 3 runs in the inning to take the early 3-0 lead.
But the East don’t wait long to respond to the West offense. The East leads off the top of the 2nd with the Twins’ Branden Davis. He promptly parks one over the left field wall for a solo homer. The next batter is Brad Berthal of the Twins, who is hit by a pitch; followed by yet another Twin by the name of Tim Wayne, who draws a walk. With 2 runners on and nobody out, the next batter was the Ray’s Jeremy Basis. He comes through big with a 3-run homer to left. The East settle for 4 runs in the top of the 2nd and now hold a narrow 4-3 lead.
But here comes the West in the bottom of the 2nd. With 2 out in the inning and 1 on base, The Hammers’ Dave Rosenberg slaps a double to left center to score a run. The West settles for the single run in the inning and have now tied this All-Star contest at 4 apiece through 2 complete.
Both teams fail to score in the 3rd inning; sending up the East squad in the top of the 4th inning with a chance to break the 4-4 tie. The Twins’ Tim Wayne steps to the plate with 2 runners on and 2 out and he singles home a run. The East get a single run in the inning to re-take the lead, now up 5-4.
But the West aren’t ready to lie down. They start off the bottom of the 4th with the Indians’ Raul Orrestieta who draws a leadoff walk. The next batter is Abe Rodriguez (AKA A-Rod) who hit a 2-run double in his last at bat. He singles to right center to put 2 runners on and nobody out for Pablo Rojas who promptly doubles home a pair. Rojas would later score due to a fielding error; giving the West 3 runs in the bottom of the 4th inning, now leading 7-5 through 4 innings of play.
But the East are up to the challenge in the top of the 5th. The Valley Rays’ James Bridges reaches base due to a fielding error to start the inning. He’s followed by Rays’ teammate Jon Rojas who singles. The next batter is Jorge Iniguez who gets the sacrifice fly; scoring a run from 3rd. The next batter was brother Joel Iniguez who singles. With 2 out in the inning, The Twins’ Chris Dickey singles home a run. The East settle for 2 runs in the inning to tie the game at 7.
The game would remain tied 7-7 as we entered the bottom of the 7th inning; with the lead having changed hands 4 times in this contest. This would prove to be a highlight inning for the West squad as they come up in the bottom of the 7th inning. The first 2 batters would be retired, giving the impression that we were about to exit the 7th with the game still tied. This was not to be. With 2 out, the Brewers’ Vinnie Sambrano doubles to left center to keep the inning alive. The next 2 batters would draw walks; loading the bases for Branden Budd who singles home a pair to break the 7-7 tie. Raul Orrostieta followed with an RBI single. A-Rod followed with a 2-run single. And just like that, the West score 5 runs in the inning to take a commanding 12-7 lead through 7 complete innings of play.
The East failed to score in the top of the 8th inning, sending up the West to attempt to add to their 5-run lead. The first batter struck out; followed by Daniel Dent who reached base by way of an error. The next batter is the Dogs’ Chris Bramson. He hits a 2-run homer to put the West up by a score of 14-7. The next batter is Josh Gansky of the Indians. He singles, sending up pinch hitter Chris Temple who singles to score a run. The West add 3 in the bottom of the 8th inning and now have a comfortable 15-7 lead through 8 complete.
The East All-Stars come up in the top of the 9th inning needing a lot to happen to even get close in this All-Star contest. They send up Chris Dickey who singles to start the much-needed rally. Josue Iniguez followed with a single of his own. The next batter would fly out, sending up Eric Johnson who doubles home a run. Mike Rutter followed with a walk. The next batter would strike out, sending up Greg Granillo who reaches base due to an error; with 2 more runs scoring in the process. The East would end up getting 3 runs, but would still fall well short as the last batter strikes out to end this contest.
Congratulations to both All-Star teams for putting on such an entertaining game; and to the West squad for a successful and thrilling victory! What makes All-Star games great is to see All-Star offense…. And we had our share in this contest. Here are some offensive those feats that are worthy of mention:
West All-Stars
Abe “A-Rod” Rodriguez 3 for 4; 1 double, 2 singles, 4 RBI’s
Branden Budd 2 for 3; 2 singles, walk, 2 RBI’s
Dave Rosenberg 2 for 4; single, double, 2 RBI’s
Chris Bramson 1 for 3; 2-run Homerun, 2 RBI’s
Pablo Rojas 1 for 4; double, 3 RBI’s
East All-Stars
Eric Johnson 3 for 4; single, 2 doubles, 1 RBI
Jon Rojas 3 for 3; 3 singles
Jeremy Basis 1 for 2; 3 run Homerun, 3 RBI’s
Brandon Davis 1 for 3; solo Homerun, 1 RBI
Box Score: R H E
East All-Stars 0 4 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 10 13 1
West All-Stars 3 1 0 3 0 0 5 3 - 15 13 4
Game Time: 10:17am - 1:09pm (2 hours, 52 minutes)
Umpires: (Bases) Robert James
(Plate) Carlos Trujillo
