2031 All-Star Game

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The Highlights of the Future's Game were followed by those of the Home Run Derby, with Francisco Rodriguez, Antonio Vega, Mark Collier, Jerry Rutledge, Antonio Santos, Bartolo Mora, Shu-de Mu and Pat Barry being the contestants. The first round saw some exciting matches, with Vega, Rutledge and Barry all winning on their last swings, while Santos had the high score of 20 in the first round, beating Mora 20-15.

The second round provided a pair of upsets, as the early favorites bowed out - both Antonio's losing on their opponents last swing - Jerry Rutledge hitting 17 to knock of Vega and Pat Barry swatting 19 to defeat Santos.

A spirited last round, with fans on the edges of their seats saw Pat Barry, the Bakersfield outfielder, taking home the crown with 19 HRs to edge Rutledge, 19-18.

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The fans rise, and then a roar rounds the park as they realize that coming out to sing the National Anthem in Country-Western Star, Brad Paisley !

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The umpires and managers are meeting at home plate - and there are a few roster changes, due to players withdrawing due to nagging injuries - no D. Evil, no BJ Gassaway and no 'Doppler' Drake...

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And the Imperial League takes the field, with Hartford's Takanobu Shirai on the mound for the IL to face Tomas Martinez, Royce Raines and Antonio Santos...

And we are off, as Martinez, the Neo-Tokyo star, looks at a 2-2 curveball for the first out of the game...

The Codger vet - the 'Jester' is up and he lifts a lazy ball to right-center, gathered in by Patton for out number two...

Antonio Santos, the powerful Eva works a full count, fouling off four tough pitches, before hitting a sharp grounder to Shimizu for the third out...

Nothing for the SL, Here comes the IL...

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For the SL is Mr. Perfect, Jeffrey Mendoza, the young Bakersfield Ace, and he'll face 'Ogre', Lujan and 'Fudd'...

Havana's Ricardo Mateo leads off and he drives one over the head of Carlos Ryan, the Okinawa CF, but he races to the track and hauls it in...

West Virginia's Alejandro Lujan is up next, and the crowd rises to the feet for a long ovation, honoring their beloved star. But his time at the plate is brief, as on an 0-2 count he hits one to the right of Vega, who snags it, flips it to 'Jetstream' for the second out...

Mendoza faces off with the former-Aurora draftee, 'Fudd' Martinez, whose found success in San Juan, but against Mendoza, he swings and misses at strike three...

After an inning...
SL - 0
IL - 0

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There's an new man on the mound for the IL, but he's an 'Old Nick' - as Enrique Vazquez takes over...

First up against Enrique is HR Derby Champ, Pat Barry, and Barry swings through a 2-2 pitch for the first out...

That brings up Antonio Vega, Crystal Lakes 1B, and he wastes little time, hitting a 1-0 looping liner to left for the games first hit...

The young catcher for Toyama, Francisco Alejandez is up, and he works the count to 2-2, before lining a ball to center, but a diving grab by Francisco Rodriguez prevents a hit - and it's a good thing he caught that, or Vega scores from first...

Jerry Long, the DH from Shin Seiki is next, and he looks at a ball before lining a single to right - Vega chugs around second, heading to third...

Here's the strong throw from Tom Patton...

Vega is OUT!! and its not very close...

Heading to B2...

SL - 0
IL - 0

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Taking the mound for the SL is the exciting young arm for Neo-Tokyo, Colin Hopps, and he'll face Rodriguez - already with a fine defensive play, Mike Rose and Dave Petersen...

Hopes shows that he isn't intimidated by the scene, pitching in on Rodriguez, and garnering some good old fashion stank eye, before finally hitting the Kentucky star - and the IL has their first baserunner...

San Juan's outstanding hitter - Mike Rose comes up, and on a 2-1 pitch, lines a single to center - the first hit for the IL - but Rodriguez, full of vinegar, rounds the bag, steams into 3rd...

But Carlos Ryan charges the ball, comes up cleanly... the throw...

OUT!! A bang-bang play at third, but just as the SL rally fizzled with the play at third, will the IL rally?

Dave Petersen, the Amsterdam 1B, long-formerly of Palm Springs - done terrorizing the SL and now doing the same in the IL, lifts a 1-0 pitch to left, easily handled by Barry for the second out...

That brings up Tom Patton, and the Hartford star lifts a shallow fly down the RF line, but Martinez races in and with little effort grabs it before running into foul territory...

After 2...
SL - 0
IL - 0

[Borealis]

It's 'Terrible' Time!! Florida's young ace - Luppe van Dam comes on for the IL in the third inning of a scoreless 25th Annual All-Star Game, live from Charleston West Virginia!

Carlos Ryan is overanxious against the much talked about Luppe, and grounds the first pitch to short for the first out...

Evan Kaufman, getting the starting nod with Neo-Tokyo's BJ Gassaway not playing due to an undisclosed injury, takes ball four, and the Dinosaurs infielder is aboard...

Back to the top of the order, with an out and a runner on, it's Tomas Martinez...

Martinez rips one down the third base line - WOW!!! Lujan with a diving snag - getting that ball just before it hits the ground - Kaufman was moving on the crack of the bat - but he hustles back to first... What a play!!

Kaufman is inching his way off the bag, with the 'Jester' at the plate - van Dam turns and fires to first - and it gets by Petersen and Kaufman gets up and springs over to second - that's an E for Luppe...

Raines, in true family style, works the count, and with it full, he singles to left - but he hits it too hard for Kaufman to score - first & third, with 2-out...

Santos is at the plate and he takes a HUGE hack and dribbles one to the first base side of the mound - 'Terrible' leaps for it, awkwardly bobbles it - and drops the ball!! Santos is safe, Kaufman scores, and that's a second error for the young Featherhead - 1-0 SL...

Barry hits a 1-hopper back to van Dam - who looks twice in his glove before he throws out Pat Barry to end the inning - he looked like he was shocked to have fielded that one...

Off to the bottom of the 3rd...
SL - 1
IL - 0

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Coming in for the SL in the 3rd is Angel Valdez of the surprising Reno Zepyrs, who lead the Desert Hills here at the All-Star Break...

Coming up for the IL is Manchester's Cesar Salgado, the IL catcher... He lifts the first pitch high on the infield - Kaufman calls off Vega and makes the catch...

Next up is San Antonio's Shigekazu Shimizu, who grounds a 1-2 pitch up the middle - 'Jester' dives and grabs it, but he can't get a handle on the ball, and Shigie is safe with an infield single...

'Ogre' comes to the plate, and after the count gets full, he pops one up behind second - Kaufman ranges behind himself and brings it in with an over the shoulder catch...

Valdez goes full on WV's Lujan - maybe a bit rattled by the thunderous applause - both as home town hero and the fine defensive play earlier - then Lujan lines the ball - right at Kaufman and the inning is over...

What a busy three innings for the Fargo second-sacker...

After three...
SL - 1
IL - 0

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Coming on for the IL is someone who is no stranger to a big stage - especially where he performed admirably on the biggest stage last year - the PEC, the former-New Orleans and Aurora star, John Turner...

Turner leads off with Antonio Vega, the Sandgnat slugger... who bounces a 1-2 pitch to Petersen at first for out number one...

Toyama's catcher Alejandez is up and he lines a 1-ball pitch past Petersen - who didn't even flinch on the ball - it moved that fast - and the SL have a 1-out baserunner...

Jerry Long is up to face Turner, and JT looks to have some bad memories flash through his mind, and thus has a hard time finding the strike zone, walking Long on a 3-1 pitch...

Up comes Carlos Ryan - and Turner continues to struggle finding the zone, but he does get Ryan to chase a full count pitch high in the zone - maybe ball four, and lift a fly to left where 'Fudd' grabs it for the second out...

That brings Evan Kaufman to the plate - and Turner is all over the place - walking Evan on four pitches, followed by Salgado running out to the mound to have a word with the Amsterdam pitcher...

JT is in trouble 2-down... bases loaded for the dangerous Tomas Martinez - a key moment in the game...

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And Turner continues to be all over the strike zone - walking Tomas on four pitches - walking in a run - it's 2-0, and with that, here comes the IL manager, WV's Salvador Gonzalez... he calls to the bullpen and here comes Charleston's Cleve Douglas - who is rumored to have been involved in a trade with Madison...

Up comes the 'Jester' with the bases juiced... And Raines jumps on the first pitch and hits an easy grounder to Lujan at third for the final out...

It could have been worse, but the inning is over...

On to the B4...
SL - 2
IL - 0

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Replacing Valdez for the SL is one of the young, bright stars of the SL, Toyama's 'Emperor', Zenko Okada, who replaced Crystal Lake's Tony Cuellar, who had pitched on Sunday...

Zenko get's Roberto Martinez to start the fourth for the IL... 'Fudd' takes a strike before he lifts a lazy, shallow fly to right for the first out...

Kentucky's Francisco Rodriguez is up next and he grounds a 3-2 pitch deep into the hole at short - but there's Royce Raines - who guns F-Rod down at first...

Zenko makes it an easy inning, as much like his San Juan teammate, Mike Rose takes a strike, before he rolls one to the left of the mound - the 'Emperor' grabs it, spins and fires a strike to first to end the inning... A fine effort by the young Toyama star...

Heading to the fifth...
SL - 2
IL - 0

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Changes for the IL, as 'Blueprint' - Manuel Gonzales takes the mound, as the West Virginia crowd gets a chance to honor their star. The last time we saw him on the national stage, he was 1-hitting the Borealis in the PEC clinching game for the Alleghenies...

For the SL, on deck we see Reno's 3B Adrian Fuentes, who looks like he'll be hitting and coming in for Santos, Jason Box - Neo-Tokyo's LF who no doubt will take over for Pat Barry, and the 'Gorilla' - Armando Gandarilla - Toyama's powerful 1B, replacing Vega...

Fuentes takes a few pitches to get the feel of the batters box, before he dumps the ball over third base for a lead-off single...

Jason Box also show's patience against Gonzales - and he looks pretty comfortable looking at a 3-2 pitch - which he lines all the way to the deepest part of the park!!

Fuentes races around the bases and scores standing up, as Box cruises into third with a stand-up triple!! 3-0 SL...

'Blueprint' wipes the sweat form his face on this humid night, then proceeds to walk 'Gorilla' on a full count - excellent patience by Armando to lay off ball four...

The SL continues with changes, as '20 Piece' Steve McDonald comes in for the Toyama catcher... but Manuel looks to have steadied himself, as he strikes the Bakersfield catcher out swinging...

Next up, hitting for Jerry Long is Crystal Lake's long0time catcher, Tony Parker, who looks at a curve for strike three... Two down - will Gonzales get out of this with no further damage?

It's up to Chris Jensen, Madison's outfielder - and the Malt looks at ball four on a full count - 'Blueprint' has loaded the bases...

The potential man of the hour, Evan Kaufman comes to the plate - looking to increase the lead - and maybe etch his name on a trophy... but before he can, Gonzales throws a 1-2 pitch past Salgado, and everyone moves up - and it's 4-0...

Ultimately Kaufman dribbles one in front of the plate- Salgado gets this one, fires to first, to end the threat...

On the B5...
SL - 4
IL - 0

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The Akira's Ernesto Martinez is coming in to pitch the 5th for the SL and he'll face Petersen, Patton and Salgado... and coming in to play LF for the SL is Yuma Arroyo Jose Barajas...

Petersen goes after Martinez' first pitch, and tries to lace it into the LF corner - and beat the newly inserted Yuman, who was shading towards center, but Jose gets over in plenty of time for out #1...

It's the old adage - come into the game cold - the ball will find you, and find him the ball does, as Tom Patton lifts a shallow fly to left that Barajas handles with ease...

The Neo-Tokyo star makes it a quick inning as he strikes out Salgado on three pitches...

Off to the 6th...
SL - 4
IL - 0

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The Trendsetters Jose Martinez will come on in the 6th, and there are a slew of changes for the IL: On deck is Amsterdam's Bill Jones, likely taking 'Ogre's spot... Bartolo Mora, the Kentucky outfielder is also grabbing a bat and it looks like he's coming in for 'Fudd', and Maxime Plamondon, of the Leones is moving about, too - we suspect he'll replace Rodriguez...

Leading off for the SL is Jose Barajas, making his All-Star debut... and Jose lines a 2-2 offering from Martinez into left, but it's handled easily by Mora...

Royce Raines is up next and he swings at a 2-2 pitch and skies it high above the mound - who's going to take it!?!?!?!?

Shimizu races in and grabs it between the mound and home... two down...

Here comes Adrian Fuentes, and he lifts a high fly to center - easy play for Plamondon... and the inning is over...

Heading to the B6...
SL - 4
IL - 0