FARGO, N.D. – In front of a full house of 4,569 fans at Newman Outdoor Field, the South Division All-Stars downed the host North club 7-5 in a game that saw plenty of action early, but faded as the contest wore on.  Leading the way for the South, Christian Snavely (Schaumburg) went two-for-four with a triple, home run, two runs scored, and two RBIs on his way to MVP honors.

 

The South All-Stars kicked off the scoring with four runs in the first two innings.  Aharon Eggleston (Kansas City) crossed the plate for the first run on a sacrifice fly by Dario Delgado (Schaumburg).  After Jose Yepez (Gary) singled to lead off the second frame, Snavely drove a ball to center and raced to third on an RBI-triple that scored Yepez.  Snavely and Tanner Townsend (Gary) would also cross home in the second inning.  All four of the South’s runs in the first two innings came off of North starter Scott Richmond (Edmonton), who was charged with the loss in the contest.

The North Division plated their first two runs of the contest with help from Adam Shorsher (Fargo-Moorhead) in the bottom of the second.  With runners on second and third, Shorsher supplied the first hit for the Northern squad with a double down the left field line to score Kyle Nichols (Calgary) and Jason Colson (Calgary).

Closing within one of their Southern counterparts, the North All-Stars received an RBI-single from Drew Miller (Calgary) in the bottom of the third to plate Fehlandt Lentini (Winnipeg).

The South Division extended their lead to 6-3 in the top of the fourth with a pair of run-scoring doubles from Jay Pecci (Gary) and Eggleston.

The North took their turn in the bottom half of the fourth.  Leading off the inning, Nichols smashed a double and scored later in the frame on a sacrifice fly by Antoin Gray (Winnipeg).

The South matched the run in the top of the fifth as Snavely provided his second RBI of the game on a solo blast down the right-field line.  Snavely’s home run was the only one of the contest and pushed the South lead to three, 7-4.

Scoring the final run of the contest, the North All-Stars received an RBI-groundout from Lentini to plate Gray from third which closed the South’s lead to two.  The North Division tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth as two hitters reached in the inning, but Kenny Durost (Kansas City) pitched out of the jam and recorded the save for the South.

Nate Sevier (Joliet) earned the win for the South squad as he set the North batters down in order in the fifth inning.

All-Star Notes:  Northern League home run leader Juan Diaz (Joliet) was victorious over the field in the home run contest held before the All-Star game.  After hitting six homers in the first round, Diaz outmatched Richard Austin (Fargo-Moorhead), who hit three in the first round, in the finals as Austin wasn’t able to muster a home run.  Diaz hit a total of seven home runs in the contest while the other participants were only able to combine for seven homers amongst themselves.

WP – Nate Sevier
LP – Scott Richmond
SV – Kenny Durost
Time – 2:40
Attendance - 4569