A lot of hot dogs consumed. A lot of teammates ripping on teammates — all in fun, of course.
There was a special moment at the end of the night.
Oh yeah, and some baseball, too.
That’s the story of the 39th Clark County Senior All-Star baseball games — a doubleheader featuring the best of the best among the Class 4A, 3A, 2A, and 1A players in the region.
The “American League” and “National League” ended up splitting the hitter-friendly games. The AL won the first one 12-9, then the NL scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning of the second game to win 12-11.
Mitchell Smith of Skyview threw four innings of relief to pick up the win in the first game, plus he had two run-scoring hits in the first game and a triple in the second game.
Trevor Wharton of Heritage drove in four runs for the NL in the two games.
They were named MVPs of the showcase, each receiving a special award in memory of Cpl. Jeremiah Johnson, a former Prairie High School standout who was killed in the line of duty in 2007.
“I have a lot of family in the military,” Smith said. “This means a lot to me.”
“It’s crazy. I’m thrilled,” Wharton said. “The guys are super great. This is some of the most fun high school baseball I’ve ever played. I didn’t know a lot of the guys before this. Everyone’s become great friends. It was a great bonding experience for me.”
Cason Boyce of Union hit a two-run home run — the only guy to go yard in the 16 innings. The all-star games are eight innings apiece, not the normal seven innings for high school play.
Ridgefield pitcher Michael Martin got back-to-back strikeouts in the sixth inning of the second game, holding on to a three-run lead with the bases loaded.
Things got dramatic in the second game. The NL rallied from a five-run deficit to take a 9-8 lead. But then the AL scored three runs in the top of the eighth. Kosta Volkidus of Battle Ground had the go-ahead RBI.
The NL, though, loaded the bases and scored all three runs on wild pitches to win the game.
Tucker Parker of Camas threw three scoreless innings to start the second game — quite a feat on a night that saw 41 runs.
There was plenty of fun in the dugout, too.
One player hit a blast over the fence, but just foul. Then his teammates gave him grief when he did not get a hit on that at-bat. That’s the kind of day it was at Propstra Stadium. This was a celebration of the game, and with graduation in the coming days, a celebration of the players’ careers.
The players mingled while eating hot dogs in between games. Parents gathered on the field to take pictures of both squads — all wearing their high school uniforms — around home plate.
A nice goodbye to high school baseball.
