The five Tennessee Smokies selected to play in Tuesday’s Southern League All-Star Game in Mississippi gave the folks back home something to be proud of with fine individual performances across the board, helping their North squad to a 7-4 win over the South.
The North All-Stars plated four runs in the fifth inning and three in the ninth while limiting the South All-Stars to one run in the third inning, one in the eighth and a pair in the ninth.
The five players representing Tennessee at the All-Star Game in Pearl, Mississippi, the home of the Braves, were pitcher Mark Holliman, catcher Jake Fox, infielder Matt Craig, infielder Casey McGehee, and infielder Jorge Cortez.
Each Tennessee player made his respective mark on the outcome of the game, which marked the third consecutive Southern League All-Star Game won by the team representing North side.
Holliman replaced starting pitcher Mark DiFelice on the mound to start the second inning. After allowing a leadoff single, Holliman forced a South batter to hit into a double play and then made the next batter slap a routine grounder up the middle for out three.
Holliman was replaced to start the third and was not responsible for the first South run. Holliman’s final line included one inning pitched with one hit allowed and no strikeouts.
Fox flied out to right field to lead off the top of the fourth inning. His teammate, Craig, singled to shortstop but was ultimately left stranded on base when Lee Mitchell, who wound up earning the game’s Most Valuable Player nod, struck out for out-two and Prince Redman popped it up to first base.
Fox did manage to find himself in the middle of the North’s four-run uprising in the fifth inning though.
Jack Enbert came in to replace Matthew Green for the South team at pitcher to begin the top of the fifth and quickly allowed a leadoff single to the North’s Brendan Katin, who lifted Enbert’s delivery to an opening in centerfield.
Katin then advanced to second base on a passed ball before moving over to third on a sacrifice grounder.
Following a Drew Anderson strikeout for the frame’s second out, Lou Palmisano delivered an RBI single to right field to score Katin and tie the game 1-1.
With Fox back at the plate, Egbert flung a wild pitch past his catcher to move Steve Sollmann, who was previously at second base, over to third, and Palmisano from first to second.
Egbert continued to struggle with control, ultimately walking Fox to load the bases and bring Craig to the plate. Craig, too, worked Egbert for a free pass, driving in Sollmann and giving the North its first lead of the game at 2-1.
The back-to-back base-on-balls spelled the end of the night for Egbert. The South sent Zach Schreiber in to pick up the slack. The first batter Schreiber faced (Mitchell) pegged a line drive to the outfield that scored both Palmisano and Fox. Mitchell was thrown out sliding into second base to stop the bleeding after the North had tallied four runs with two outs to take a 4-1 advantage.
McGehee, a versatile infielder who has played a lot of third base for the Smokies, replaced Palmisano behind the plate for the North squad in the bottom of the fifth. He came up to bat and struck out looking in the top of the seventh inning as the North went down in order.
Juan Gonzalez scored the game’s next run for the South team on a wild play that cut the North’s lead in half, making it 4-2 going into the game’s final frame.
The ninth inning would be the game’s most eventful as Sollmann led off with a single for the North squad. McGehee followed with a single to right field. A passed ball to Smokies’ infielder Jorge Cortez moved both runners into scoring position at third and second base, respectively.
Craig struck out by tapping a foul tip into the catcher’s glove but Matt Tuiasosopo delivered an RBI single to right to plate Sollmann and McGehee. Cortez came around to score on a Redman single to centerfield for put the North on top 7-2.
The South tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the ninth.