2030 All-Star Game

[DanD]

Let's go IL (and Rocky Medina!)

Go Superior League!

That felt weird

[Wind Dancers]

[Arroyos]

Oh, that Gorilla, he one ugly batter.

[Reg]

Let's go IL (and Rocky Medina!)

Go Superior League!

That felt weird

**gasp**

DAN!!!

[Borealis]

Okinawa's Takanobu Shirai takes the mound in the 4th for the Sovereign League, and Bobby Wallace greets him by swinging at an 0-2 pitch in the dirt for a strikeout...

Francisco Rodriguez, with a 3-2 count, swings at a nasty slider that just keeps diving for a second strikeout...

But it's Shirai's turn to see his luck end, as with a 3-1 count, Florida's Wilson Munoz lines one to the opposite field, Carpenter races back, but he can't get it - Monuz with a 362 foot shot, a solo homer, and the SL lead is cut in half, 2-1...

Walter Daniels tries to tie the game on the first pitch of his at bat, but his drive to dead center is caught on the run by Heath, and the inning is over - but the IL is on the board...

Heading to inning number 5, SL - 2, IL - 1...

[Duane]

Let's go IL (and Rocky Medina!)

Go Superior League!

That felt weird

Sub-par league

[Borealis]

Arlington's Motoyuki Hatsutori strolls to the mound for the IL, with Loetzsch and Hill to follow... and it looks like in the SL dugout we may have our first substitution, as Reno's Steve Boyer looks to be grabbing a bat...

Loetzsch rolls a 1-1 pitch to third, which Cedeno handles with ease...

Dmitri Hill shows more patience, and it pays off as Hatsutori's 3-1 pitch is nowhere near the zone...

And it is Boyer, coming in to hit for Carpenter... and the Reno slugger, with 26 homers on the year, pops one up on the infield, Wallace calls for it and he makes the catch to the left of the mound...

AND the Crowd ERUPTS as out of the dugout, to hit for Gonzalez is Palm Springs own Mike Clarke...

Clarke takes the first pitch for a strike, but Hill takes of for second and steals it with ease, as he caught the Arlington pitcher napping...

Motoyuki's 2-2 pitch to Clarke is lined up the middle for a base hit, Flores charges, Hill rounds second - here's the throw... here's the play at the plate... SAFE!! Clarke with the RBI and the SL ups their lead back to 2, at 3-1...

Now coming out of the dugout to hit for Heath, it's Crystal Lake LF Gabe Moran, looking to continue the rally... But Gabe lifts a 2-2 pitch lazily to center for the third out...

Heading to B5 - SL - 3, IL - 1...

[Borealis]

Fargo's Ernesto Molina, the 32-year old ace of the Dinosaurs takes the mound for the SL...

Pedro Flores lifts a fly ball to medium deep right field, but Rowan drifts towards the corner and makes the catch...

'Slaughter' Vervain struggles with Molina's pitches, looking all out of whack, lifting a 2-2 pitch softly on the infield, with Webb making the grab...

That brings up rookie Foppe Ros, and to him, Molina is no mystery, lining a 1-1 pitch up the middle for a clean single...

But Molina is unperturbed by the single and he gets Cuevas on a 0-1 pitch to pop up to Webb, and the inning is over...

And we head to the 6th, the SL - 3, the IL - 1...

[Borealis]

Amsterdam reliever Ron 'Pumpkin' Wilson will come on in the 6th for the IL and he will be greeted with a loud ovation - but it's not for him, as Codger OF Shane Willis comes out to take Rowan's spot in the game...

And Willis wastes no time, as he lines Wilson's first pitch into the right field corner - he turns the bag at first, hustles into second - here's the throw - but it's cut off and he has a lead off double...

Here comes the 'Gorilla', his earlier homer earning him the extra AB... but all he does is sky one into the RF corner, where Rodriguez grabs it, short of the wall... Willis tags and hustles into 3rd...

That brings up the SL back-up catcher, Aurora's 'Fido' Castro, who is having a career season, hitting .340 with 8 HR for the Borealis... Wilson gets ahead of Castro 0-2, but Manny grounds it, into the hole at short - Cedeno is forced to make the play at first, Willis comes in to score and make it 4-1...

And for the second time of the inning, the crowd rises, this time for Codger infielder Pablo Ortiz, who comes into the game for Webb... Ortiz rolls an 0-1 pitch to second, to end the inning... But the SL up their lead...

Off to the bottom of the 6th, it's SL - 4, the IL - 1...

[Duane]

boooooooooooo ......

c'mon IL we need a bunch of runs

[Borealis]

Neo-Tokyo reliever 'Tapper' Gonzalez comes into the game here in the 6th, and there are three new faces in the on deck circle - West Virginia's 3B Lujan, Havana SS 'Ogre' Mateo and Charleston RF Jimmy Hudson...

Lujan starts the inning with a grounder right to Ortiz, who scoops it up and makes the play to first to begin the inning...

'Ogre' lifts a 1-1 pitch to right-center... Steve Boyer calls for it in the gap and makes the play...

'Tapper' works hard to get the count against Hudson to full, but Hudson must have been guessing - and he guesses wrong, looking at strike three to end the 6th...

On to the 7th... SL - 4, IL - 1...

[Borealis]

The 7th begins with Charleston closer Cleve Douglas coming to the mound, fresh off his 9-hole All-Star golf title, and he'll face the last of the Palm Springs All-Stars, the 'Jester', Royce Raines, hitting for his Desert Hills counterpart, Loetzsch...

Raines steps in, as cat calls and hoots and hollers come from the PEBAtv broadcast booth, his older brother, the PEBA GOAT taunting him from high above... He works a full count before bouncing one to Lujan at third for the first out - and the taunts from the broadcast booth get louder...

Canton infielder Mike Barton comes into the game for Hill, and he rolls a 2-0 count deep into the hole at short, but 'Ogre' fluidly gets there and in one motion, fires a strike to first for the second out...

Kentucky Manger, Paul Conner comes out of the dugout and signals for West Virginia reliever Gustavo Hernandez to come on and face Boyer... and Boyer lifts one to left... Daniels to the warning track and he makes the catch...

and as the crowd rises and sings 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game', it's the Sovereign League 4, the Imperial League 1...

[DanD]

Raines steps in, as cat calls and hoots and hollers come from the PEBAtv broadcast booth, his older brother, the PEBA GOAT taunting him from high above... He works a full count before bouncing one to Lujan at third for the first out - and the taunts from the broadcast booth get louder...

[Borealis]

Kalamazoo reliever, He Ling comes in for the SL in the bottom of the 7th to face West Virginia's Carlos Bruno and Kentucky's Bartolo Mora to begin the inning...

Bruno, swinging the bat incessantly, waits and finds himself way ahead of Ling's pitch, and pops one up to shallow center, easily handled by Boyer for the first out...

Mora, looks at a strike before lifting a soft liner over the shift for a base hit - he takes a hard turn at first, but decides to hold on...

Out of the dugout comes Manchester's lone all-star Scott Carpenter... and he lifts a soft fly to left, on a 2-2 pitch for the second out...

And here comes Shin Seiki manager Paul Woods, and he's making a change... out goes Ling and in comes Mark Powers...

Powers gets a smattering of applause - the feel good story of the Desert Hills, Power, a Rule 5 selection by Aurora off the Codger roster, Powers has a 1.35 ERA in 46 IP for Aurora... Coming in with him, to play first is Yuma 1B Andres Hernandez...

And coming up for the IL is John Dickson, the Florida infielder... Powers and Castro get their signals crossed and the ball gets by Castro and Mora heads to second... Dickson battles Power to a full count, before he lines a single to left, Mora scoring to get the IL on the board, cutting the lead to 4-2...

The Scottish catcher, Yasunari Fujihara, comes on for Ros, and he swings at a full count pitch for strike three, and the inning is over...

On to the 8th: SL - 4, IL - 2...

[Borealis]

We are getting word from BOTH dugouts of some disturbing news... Mike Clarke, Carlos Bruno and 'Casino' Aguilera - players from both sides, have all headed to their respective locker rooms with what is being called a sudden and violent case of food poisoning. We are getting reports that the three had all had dinner last night at the Desert Swan Grill, where they had dined heavily upon a seafood platter that contained copious oysters... we will report back to you soon...