UKIAH — Kevin Llamas singled home Fort Bragg teammate Al Huerta with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday evening to cap the North”s 7-6 victory over the South in the third annual North Central League I All-Star Game at Mendocino College in Ukiah.
The North wasted an early 5-3 lead as the South pushed across single runs in the sixth, eighth and ninth innings to go up 6-5.
In the bottom of the ninth, Cody Ryden, another standout for Fort Bragg this season, singled off reliever Branden Mooney of St. Vincent with one out. Huerta was then hit by a pitch. After a double steal, Middletown”s Connor Chick drove in his second run of the game with a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Ryden. Huerta advanced to third on a wild pitch before Llamas delivered the game-winning hit to left field.
“It was a great game,” Middletown coach and North manager Mitch Tucker said. “The South squad battled back, but so did we.”
The North now leads the series 2-1. Since the North and South teams are combining into a single NCL I next season ? with St. Vincent and Upper Lake moving into the NCL II ? the game will have a slightly different look, according to Tucker.
“We were talking about a Lake County versus everyone else (format) next year,” Tucker said. “So I guess that means the North wins the series. Tonight was the rubber game.”
Tucker, who wasn”t sure if he would be able to manage the North All-Stars on Wednesday owing to a personal commitment, was a last-minute replacement for Kelseyville”s Lou Poloni, however, Poloni, Lower Lake”s Joe Mattos and Willits” Mark Mercer did assist Tucker as coaches during the game.
“We had 16 guys and trying to get them all in was a card shuffle for me ? and still win the game at the same time,” Tucker said. “And these guys wanted to win.”
Although the game doesn”t honor a MVP, Tucker said there were plenty of candidates on the North squad.
Among them:
— Ryden, who went 1-for-5, scored the tying run, threw three innings of relief and threw out a runner at the plate in the top of the ninth while playing in center field, his accurate throw taken by catcher Chick, who applied the tag.
— Llamas, who went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. He drove in the North”s first run to tie the game at 1 in the bottom of the first, and his second RBI won the game in the ninth.
— Chick, who started on the mound for the North, struck out seven in four innings. He also went 1-for-4 with two RBIs, including a RBI single that capped the North”s four-run rally in the bottom of the fourth, putting his team up 5-3.
— And, finally, Kelsey-ville”s Mike Davis, who not only picked up the win in relief, but who went 1-for-4, scored twice and drove in two runs with a fourth-inning double. He also made a handful of great plays at shortstop, according to Tucker.
The South out-hit the North 11-7 and St. Vincent”s K.C. Ped-ersen led the way, going 4-for-4 with two runs scored. St. Vincent teammate Michael Meiswinkel went 2-for-5 with a double, run and RBI.
Clear Lake”s Tanner Mansell had a RBI groundout in the top of the eighth to pull the South into a 6-6 tie. The South moved ahead 7-6 in the ninth. Meiswinkel opened the inning with a double but was gunned down at home plate trying to score on Pedersen”s single to Ryden in center field. Pedersen moved up to second base on the throw home and eventually scored on a single by Josh Mehta of St. Vincent.
The game was played in ideal weather conditions at Mendocino College.
“We had a pretty good crowd and played in a beautiful ballpark. I thank them for letting us play here,” Tucker said.
Each of the first two All-Star contests took place at City Park in Cloverdale.
