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True gamer:
http://caller.com/news/2007/jun/27/w...ks-in-winning/
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Hooks' Ash knocks in winning run in 10th
By Greg Rajan
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
CORPUS CHRISTI — The South rose once again, as far as the Texas League is concerned.
The South Division retained its hold on the circuit's all-star game, rallying for a 5-4 victory in 10 innings on Tuesday night at Whataburger Field.
Hooks second baseman Jonny Ash capped the comeback with a run-scoring single in the bottom of the 10 inning, keeping the North winless in the all-star game since 2003.
With the crowd chanting "Jonny, Jonny," Ash laced a 2-2 pitch from Tulsa's Ryan Mattheus into left field to plate Frisco's Casey Benjamin with the winning run.
Ash was the last player named to the South roster, taking the place of Midland's Gregorio Pe after he was promoted to Class AAA late last week. Mattheus, coincidentally, was the last player added to the North roster.
"Not bad at all, I'd say," Ash said after earning game MVP honors. "I couldn't have scripted it any better."
Hooks manager Dave Clark, who was disappointed when Ash wasn't initially voted to the South team, shared Ash's glee.
"That's just baseball, it always seems to happen like that with that last guy with the big hit like that," Clark said. "I'm happy for him, I really am."
Ash's heroics also averted the awkward spectacle of a victory by decision. Had the game remained tied after 10 innings, the South would've been declared the winner because Frisco's German Duran won the pregame home run derby.
"The fans wanted to see it end (like it did)," Clark said. "They were out here in force, they were cheering, they were booing -- they were doing anything. That's how you want to end a game, how you want to win it. Let's do it on the field, in the game."
That appeared to be a moot point when the North took a 4-3 lead in the top of the 10th when Springfield's Sean Danielson stroked a one-out RBI single to bring in Arkansas' Sean Rodriguez, who had led off the frame with a double.
But San Antonio's Will Venable evened things back up with an opposite-field homer to left field to lead off the bottom of the 10th, technically giving the South the victory by tying the score.
"I remembered (the tiebreaker rule) but really wasn't thinking about that," said Venable, the son of former big leaguer Max Venable. "I don't think any of us really wanted to win the game like that. That wasn't something I was thinking about, but I'm glad I put us in that position where we were able to get another run and win the game outright.
"It was great. I know this is the all-star game, but everyone here is a compe or and we want to win every time we step on the field. This is nice."
Meanwhile, the North was left empty-handed in its quest for its first all-star victory since a 4-2 win in the 2003 game at Wichita.
"We wanted to win, but somebody's got to lose," said North manager Ron "Pop" Warner of Springfield. "Tip your cap to them, they came back in the 10th inning. We played hard, we just came out on the losing end."
The biggest winners were the fans, who were treated to a back-and-forth game that saw the North rally twice to tie the score and then take its first lead in the 10th.
Several individual players made highlight-reel plays, with Tulsa pitcher Juan Morillo topping the list.
The Colorado Rockies prospect was clocked at 100 miles per hour on the radar gun when he got Frisco's Anthony Webster to break his bat on a line drive back to the mound during the seventh.
"It was a great job by everybody," Warner said. "This game, you want to win, but that's not what it's about. You want to showcase these guys' ability and skills and let them go out there and compete and play."
