Top players showcase skills at W-H Senior All-Star Game
Wooster High senior left-hander Ashton Still, left, shown with Aaron Dorksen, was named the MVP for the Wayne-Holmes team at the Wayne-Holmes Senior All-Star Game at The College of Wooster on June 19.
Many of the area’s top baseball players got a chance to showcase their skills and wear their school’s colors one last time at the Wayne-Holmes Senior All-Star Game at The College of Wooster on June 19.
The Wayne County Athletic League All-Stars posted a 12-3 win over the Wayne/Holmes All-Stars in a game that was sponsored by The Bargain Hunter/Wooster Weekly News, Insurance Centre Agency and Murr Printing.
Hillsdale’s Jack Fickes was named MVP for the WCAL team after scoring two runs, ripping a run-scoring single to left field, drawing a walk and stealing a base. He also played strong defense.
“The WCAL is always a good league, and to come out here and play with the guys and get MVP was definitely something special,” Fickes said. “It’s something I won’t forget.”
Wooster senior left-hander Ashton Still pitched two scoreless innings in the second and third frames with two strikeouts and was named the MVP for the Wayne-Holmes team.
“I was just here to play and didn’t really expect anything,” Still said. “I didn’t even know they were giving out MVPs, but it’s nice to come out with it, and it’s fun to hit for once. I don’t usually get to do that a whole lot.”
Triway senior Tyler Snyder pitched the sixth inning and clearly had fun despite his Wayne-Holmes team coming up short on the scoreboard.
“It was just so fun to be out here with some of my friends and in front of my family and friends,” said Snyder, who plans to golf at Ohio Wesleyan. “I played with guys I’ve grown up with.”
The WCAL team led 12-0 entering the bottom of the seventh and final inning when the Wayne-Holmes team finally got onto the scoreboard, helped by doubles from Loudonville’s Baylor Weiser and Triway’s Owen Walter.
By that point the WCAL squad coached by Chippewa’s Dave Maculaitis was employing some unusual defensive alignments including having no outfielders for several batters, which obviously made baseball purists cringe.
With the score so lopsided and knowing it was their final game, the WCAL team decided to have some added fun.
“It was a combination of honestly just plain stupidity and also being out here to have fun,” Smithville’s Bryce Butcher said. “The scoreboard definitely showed that we had a little more energy than the other team.”
Butcher and future Mount Vernon Nazarene University teammate Ryan Lapinski from Tuslaw provided one of the game’s best sequences when they faced each other in the sixth inning.
With Lapinski on the mound, Butcher switched from hitting right-handed to left-handed. Lapinski proceeded to throw him several eephus pitches, with Butcher eventually smashing one of the lobs for a hard-hit single up the middle.
Hillsdale’s Owen Hoffman made one of the top defensive plays, going from his second base position far into the outfield to make an over-the-shoulder catch on a looper hit by Wooster’s Jack Ritchie in the fourth inning. Hoffman then whirled around and threw to second for a double play.
Also helping the WCAL cause were Smithville’s Joe Copenhaver (two runs), Northwestern’s Brandon Barnette (single, run), Norwayne’s Garrett Schmidt (triple) and Brayden Harklau (two singles), and Dalton’s Talon Greegor (double).
The Wayne-Holmes team only wound up having one player from Holmes County participate: West Holmes’ Graham Martin (walk, run).
Despite being outmanned, Triway coach Justin McDowell was glad to give the players on his team one last chance to compete.
“The score got away from the Wayne-Holmes team, but it was still fun to see all these kids have fun and get to play together one last time in front of family and friends,” McDowell said. “We really appreciate The College of Wooster letting us host the game here.”