2007 Cape All-Star Game: East Beats West 3-2

Andrew’s photo (above) shows catcher Robert Stock for the West failing to make a play at the plate in the 4th when Yonder Alonso came in to score on the Beckham RBI.

Until the 4th, the West’s pitchers (Crow, Lindblom and Stohr) no-hit the East through 3 innings. Christian Friedrich (E. Kentucky) entered in the 4th and struck out a batter but Alonso eeked out a single and then trouble set in.

The West answered in the 4th when Matt Hague (Falmouth/Washington) scored after reaching on a fielder’s choice. Jame Darnell (Hyannis/South Carolina) homered later in the game. And that would be all of the scoring for both sides.

Aaron Crow (Falmouth/Missouri) was named MVP from the West for striking out the first 3 batters of the game — two of them looking. Raben was named MVP for the East.

A few game notes:

• Luke Murton (Wareham/Georgia Tech) gave the Gatemen fans something to smile about during an otherwise difficult season for Wareham. He won the home run derby, defeating the 2006 champion, Mitch Moreland (Borne). And how! Murton was impressive, driving a total of 18 homers to deep left field, some of them leaving the stadium completely. His homers energized the crowd more than any other. Moreland had to beat out MVP Raben in a 5-pitch playoff to reach the finals.
• There was an ultimately inconsequential call in the top of the ninth that I look forward to reading more about in the morning newspapers. Cole Figueroa popped up to the second baseman, Kevin Hoef who dropped the ball with men on base. It appeared that Allan Dykstra scored on an apparent error but in fact umpires seem to have called an infield fly (even though the ball sailed out into right field). The second baseman quickly picked up the ball and threw out Cole Figueroa at second. The umpires interviewed, ruled it a double play and the inning ended. Was it an infield fly rule? Or did they rule the second baseman lost it on a transfer?
• The winner of the 50-50 raffle took home over $2,200.
• The game was incredibly well run in my estimation. I am a Falmouth Commodores fan at heart but remain incredibly impressed with the polish of Wareham and its volunteers.
• Andrew and I sat along the 1st base line with the scouts. They don’t have much to say.
• The highlight for me was getting to sit through the game with my son and my co-editor Andrew. More on that another time.