PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles Lefties were in the mix both at the plate and on the mound in the North’s 10-6 win over the South in the West Coast League’s All-Star Game held at Civic Field.
Four Lefties’ starters were installed in the meat of the order in the second, third, fourth and fifth spots in the lineup. Jason Dicochea, batting .358 on the season, batted second; Dalton Harum, leading the WCL in home runs with eight and batting .359, batted third; home run derby winner Ron Brown batted fourth and Kyle Schimpf, batting .323, hit fifth. All four players contributed in some way to the North’s win.
Schimpf, who plays first base for the Lefties, was named the co-MVP of Tuesday’s game. He went 3 for 4 with a double, three RBIs, a run scored and a walk.
Brown was 2 for 3 with two runs scored and an RBI. He also got on two other times with a walk and a hit by a pitch.
Brown also provided the biggest “ooh … ahh” moment (and controversy) of the game, sending the Civic Field crowd buzzing with a towering blast down the left-field line that cleared the fence by 20 feet, but it was ruled just foul. Not everyone agreed with the call, but it was close.
Dicochea went 2 for 5 with a run and an RBI and got on base two other times on a fielder’s choice and a dropped third strike.
Harum struck out twice, but did get on base when he was hit by a pitch and later came in to score.
Lefties’ relief pitcher Triston Busse had a perfect inning in relief, coming in in the seventh inning. He didn’t allow a hit or a walk and struck out one.
Right off the bat in the first inning, the Lefties made their mark. After an error allowed leadoff hitter Ernie Yake of Bellingham to get on base, Dicochea hit a single. Brown followed with a single to drive in Yake and then Schimpf hit a two-run double, scoring Dicochea and Brown to make it 3-0 after one inning.
Lefties combined to do damage again in the fourth inning. Harum was hit by a pitch and Brown moved him to third base with a single. Schimpt drove in his third run of the game with a single.
Other players who had big games were co-MVP Cesar Lopez (Walla Walla Sweets) of the South Team, who went 3 for 5 with a solo home run. In fact, Lopez got on base five times. He also got on base on a fielder’s choice and on an error and he scored two runs.
Collin Runge (Bend Elks) also had a big game with a three-run home run for the South Team in the second inning to tie the game at 3-3.
“I just got a pitch to hit,” said Runge, who is from Redmond, Ore., so basically gets to play for his hometown team in nearby Bend. Runge, a University of Portland player, said he got the chance to play in last year’s All-Star Ganme, but only had one at-bat.
“It was special [to hit a home run]. That’s the first one I’ve ever hit in an all-star game. It’s special when you get to hit one on a stage like this,” Runge said.
Runge also had two walks and a stolen base and got on base for a fourth time on a fielder’s choice.
The game was relatively close at 7-5 after Lopez’s home run in the fifth, but Bellingham’s Matt James (Notre Dame) helped the North pull away late. He belted a home run in the seventh inning to make it 8-5, then drove in another run in the eighth with a sacrifice fly to make it 10-5.
During that eighth inning, Schimpf also scored a run after getting on base with a walk. He moved to third base on a single by Trent Tinglestad of Kelowna and then came home to score on a wild pitch.
Scouts select top prospects
An estimated 20-25 Major League Baseball scouts and cross checkers in attendance selected Walla Walla’s Zach Penrod, Bend’s Bradley Gonzales and Wenatchee’s Jeremy Yelland as the West Coast League All-Star Game’s top three prospects.
North 10, South 6
South 0 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 — 6 6 1
North 3 0 1 1 2 0 1 2 x — 10 13 2
WP: Armbruester LP: McVay
Pitching
South — Bourassa 1IP, 3H, 2ER, 2K; Newstrom 1IP, 2H, K; Morse 1IP, 2H, ER, K; Heaton 1IP, 2H, ER, 3K; McVay 1IP, 2H, 2ER, 2BB, 2K; Pellerin 1IP, 0H, 0BB, 0ER; Gonzales 1IP, H, ER, K; Penrod 1IP, H, 2ER, 3BB, 2K.
North — Bafus 1IP, H, 0ER; Yoshihara 1IP, 2H, 3ER, BB; Goodall 1IP, 2H, ER, K; Davis 1IP, 0ER, BB, K; Armbruester 1IP H, ER, BB, 2K; Yelland 1IP, 0H, 0ER, K; Busse 1IP, 0ER, 0BB, K; Farrell 1IP, BB, 2K; Hehnke 1IP, R, BB, K.
Hitting
South — Lopez 3-4, HR, 2R, RBI; Runge 1-2, HR, R, 3RBI, BB; Stevens 2-3, R, HBP; Cooper 1-2, R, BB.
North — Dicochea 2-5, R, RBI; Brown 2-3, 2R, RBI, BB, HBP; Schimpf 3-4, 2B, 3RBI, R, BB; Harum 0-2, R, HBP; Tinglestad 2-5, R, RBI, SB; James 1-1, HR, 2R, 2RBI, BB, SF.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.
