By Ron Rop
LocalSportsJournal.com
MUSKEGON — The game really wasn’t about winning or losing, but more a social gathering of the area’s top senior high school baseball players.
Oh, there was a baseball game, and, for the record, the Blue Team, coached by Ludington’s Evan Kroeze came out on top, 7-5, over the Red Team, which was coached by Fruitport’s Nick Reed. The game is billed as the Greater Muskegon Area High School All-Star Classic.
The big crowd at historic Marsh Field had the chance to see a group of seniors play a friendly game of baseball. There was some friendly banter between the dugouts, high school teammates facing each other in a pitcher vs. batter confrontation. There were some solid hits, some errors, plenty of walks, but a whole lot of fun.
Photo/Eric Sturr
“This is one of the more fun baseball events I’ve been a part of,” said Kroeze, who attends the event annually, but this time had the opportunity to serve as the head coach. “The best part was the guys before the game in the dugout. It’s crazy how close all these guys are. They compete against each other all year, they’re all great friends. They know each other from high school ball, summer ball. It was a real special night and it was a good baseball game, which adds something to it.”
The unique format allowed the coaches to bat all of their players and change around their defense every inning. In fact, Kroeze’s batting order featured 15 batters and Reed’s team had 17 hitters.
The Red Team scored a pair of runs in the first inning, highlighted by RBI singles by Mona Shores’ Jaxon Huffman and Ravenna’s Hunter Hogan.
The Blue team scored four in the bottom of the third inning. One hit, four walks and a hit batter helped push four runs across the plate. Three runs came in on three consecutive walks with the bases loaded and a sacrifice fly by Montague’s Chase Gowell.
Two runs in the top of the fourth by the Red Team tied the game at 4-all.
The Blue Team took a 5-4 lead when Grand Haven’s Braden Rademaker singled to center and later scored on a wild pitch.
A run in the top of the fifth inning tied the game at 5-all. The Red Team plated a run on an infield error.
In the bottom of the sixth, Kroeze’s team put up two runs, which capped the scoring for the night. North Muskegon’s Troy McManus singled to right, went to second on a passed ball and scored when he attempted to steal third and scampered all the way home on a wild pitch. Montague’s Nick Moss scored on a wild pitch.
Whitehall’s Taryn Hardy set down the Red Team in order in the top of the seventh to end the game. Hardy said he enjoys pitching in cool weather and even a little rain.
Photo/Eric Sturr
Even the cool temperatures and a little drizzle in the latter stages of the game could not put a damper on the evening.
“It was a blast,” Reed said. “It’s always fun to be out here and get to see the senior all-stars play. It’s relaxing and you get to meet other kids. You get to see their personalities and what makes them special so it was a fun night.”
“I would love to do it again,” said Kroeze, who recently completed his third season as the Orioles’ coach. “I hope I get invited back one day because it was an awesome night.”
Photos by LSJ Photographer Eric Sturr
