High school baseball: West All-Stars rally to beat East in annual Polk showcase
LAKELAND — It looked as if the Polk County East All-Stars would prevail and win 3-0 in the 37th annual Polk County High School All-Star Game at Tigertown on Tuesday night.
But a furious six-run rally in the ninth inning propelled the West All-Stars to victory. The six runs were started by infielder Robby Putnam (Bartow), when he walked in for a score with the bases loaded. Down 3-1, shortstop Isaiah Soler (Kathleen) hit a two-run single to tie the game before another scored on an error to put the West ahead, 4-3.
An errant throw to second base made the score, 5-3, and first baseman Ben McDonald (Lakeland Christian) brought in another run on a dribbler in the infield, which upped the score to 6-3. In the end, the West All-Stars won 6-4 at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium and then celebrated before dumping water on longtime umpire Paul Newell — a well-known baseball official in Polk County who had just called his last game.
“It’s good because guys were getting their second time through, so they already hit once,” said West head coach Daniel Payne, of Bartow High. “It’s kind of just high energy, high focus, the team wanted to win. Both teams were having fun. There‘s an expectation from what I saw that this team wanted to win. They just fought, fought hard at-bats at the end.”
Aside from Soler’s key hit, catcher Colby Small (George Jenkins), Putnam and outfielder Blake Lyons (Santa Fe) all racked up a hit. Caden Kok (George Jenkins), who is signed with Michigan State, pitched in the eighth inning and grabbed the win thanks to an effective curveball. His fastball clocked in at 89 mph.
Production on the East’s side led to the first three runs of the game. Centerfielder Mac McClelland (Lake Region) broke through with an RBI double to put the score at 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Then, third baseman Jalen Hairston (Winter Haven) knocked in a run with a fielder’s choice to up the score to 2-0 and shortstop Brady Doorey (Haines City) scored on a wild pitch, pushing the score to 3-0 in the bottom of the eighth.
It wasn’t until the end of the game when the West’s bats woke up.
“I think we had a lot of big swings early, trying to do too much. But also you got to give credit to their guys — pitch location, a lot of good stuff,” Payne said. “Both teams are all-stars for a reason, so I think they did a good job of executing pitches. And then they had some good at-bats to get ahead in the game."
Right fielder Ralee Blackwell (Winter Haven) had a double, while other East players had a hit including: centerfielder DeSean Rogers (Winter Haven), shortstop Roberto Odor (Winter Haven), left fielder Jacob Welch (Auburndale), pitcher Jeremy Weaver (Winter Haven) and Gaige Hash (Auburndale), who also stole a base.
"The game accomplished it's purpose," West coach Bill Bullock (Lake Region) said. "Guys had a great time, and an exciting game. (It's) a lifelong memory playing at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium, where the Tigers play."
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: High school baseball: West All-Stars rally to beat East in annual Polk showcase
