Nationals beat Americans 11-4

  The best MVABL players took to the field Sunday afternoon at Athletes in Action’s Sports Complex for the 2007 All-Star Game. The National Team, comprised of players from the Sox, Rangers, Astros, and Outlaws, defeated the American Team, which included members of the Royals, Panthers, and Indians, by a score of 11-4.

Both starting pitchers were effective for the first two innings. The Americans sent Indians pitcher Phil Beach to the mound, while the Nationals gave the starting nod to Sox pitcher Tim Antil. Antil was sharp in his three innings of work, facing the minimum 9 batters, striking out two, and sandwiched a pickoff at first in the second inning. Beach ran into trouble in the third after the Rangers’ Joe Staten led off with a single. Sox shortstop Darnell Young reached on a fielding error allowing Staten to move to third. Young stole second to put both runners in scoring position for Astros second baseman Taylor Nakamura. Nakamura grounded out to second base scoring Staten for a 1-0 Nationals lead. The Nationals made it 2-0 after Young had a straight steal of home.

Josh Wick relieved his Indians teammate in the fourth with a 1-2-3 inning. American coach Mark Franklin then turned to a familiar face in Royals right-hander Brian Duffy. The Nationals didn’t do much against Duffy over the next couple of innings, but did score twice to take a 4-0 lead.

After Antil’s day was complete, National coach Jeff Fruhwirth handed the ball to the Rangers’ Brad Clark. Clark shut out the Americans in the fourth and fifth innings before surrendering two runs in the bottom of the sixth. The Nationals put runners on first and third with one out after Panthers catcher Chris Kuhn reached on an error and Wick reached on a walk. Wick attempted to steal second base but was gunned down by the Outlaws’ Rick Anderson. Kuhn scored from third as the throw went to second. Duffy singled after the play and came around to score on Joey Herren’s single. The Indians’ Herren finished 3-for-4 on the day.

The Nationals opened the floodgates on the next Americans pitcher, Kevin Reynolds. The Nationals batted around in the seventh inning. Sox outfielder Chris Tabler led off with a single and stole second. Adam Stewart followed up with an RBI single. After moving to second on an error, Joe Staten singled Stewart home. Rangers shortstop Jake Robinson made it four singled in a row before Reynolds was able to get two outs. Sox first baseman Jon Dalton doubled deep to the gap in left center to plate the Rangers duo and give the Nationals a comfortable lead at 8-2.

Ryan Benkert from the Outlaws came on in relief in the seventh inning for the Nationals. Panthers right fielder Ryan Diehl produced an RBI single to score his regular season teammate Justin Hayes to cut the deficit to 8-3. Reynolds settled down in the top of the eighth getting three straight outs after a leadoff double by Chris Tabler.

The remainder of the scoring came in the ninth inning. Royals closer Kyle Ubinger came in to finish the game for the Americans and promptly struck out the first batter and induced a groundball out to the second. Rangers outfielder Clint Wolf doubled to deep right field and took third after Jon Dalton reached on a fielding error. Jeremey Fruhwirth doubled in Wolf. Rick Anderson then walked to load the bases. Chris Tabler came to the plate and made the most of his first All-Star appearance by singling in two more runs to give the Nationals an 11-3 advantage. Astros righthander Steve Murphy pitched the ninth for the Nationals allowing an RBI single to Royals second baseman Chad Campbell for a final score of 11-4.

Chris Tabler of the Beavercreek Sox was named the game’s Most Valuable Player coming in off the bench to go 3-for-3 with a double, 2 RBIs, a run scored, and a stolen base. Other players up for the award included: Jon Dalton was 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs and a double; Joe Staten was 2-for-4 with 2 runs scored and an RBI; Joey Herren was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base.

The Defensive Player award went to the Rangers shortstop Jacob Robinson. Robinson laid out towards the pitcher’s mound to snag a bloop flyball off the bat of the Indians’ Danny Colella. Robinson then did his best Superman impression going horizontal to rob Chris Kuhn of a line drive hit to left field. Other top defensive performances included: Tim Antil’s three shutout innings while adding a pickoff; Ben Ailes made a great running catch over his head at the wall in deep centerfield; second baseman Taylor Nakamura ran a long way to grab a foul ball deep down the right field line.

Previous All-Star winners: MVP – Gabe Thomas (Woodpeckers) 2005; Ron Runyon (Royals) 2004

Defense – P Toby Stewart (Woodpeckers) 2005; SS Mike Leach (Astros) 2004