Contributing: Jeff Dahn
Box Score | Event Blog
SAN
DIEGO – For the fourth straight year, the West team reigned
champion of the Perfect Game All-American Classic held at Petco Park
in San Diego, Calif., defeating the East by a final score of 7-0 in
front of a crowd of 6,438 to widen the all-time series record lead to
7-4-1.
San
Clemente, Calif. native Kolby Allard was named MVP of the contest
after an impressive inning on the mound, setting the tone for great
pitching performances throughout the game. Allard faced the East’s
4-5-6 hitters in the top of the second and dazzled the scouts and
fans in attendance and got some ‘ooh’s’ and ‘aah’s’ from
both dugouts.
The
southpaw started the inning with a strikeout of the East’s cleanup
hitter Daniel Reyes, who swung and came up empty on a 94 mph
fastball. He then showed off his breaking stuff, getting 2014 Perfect
Game Home Run Challenge winner Brandt Stallings on an 80 mph
curveball. Finally, Allard finished his act by getting Cornelius
Randolph to whiff at a 93 mph fastball.
“The
adrenaline was going with all the fans and your friends and your
family, and I was just trying to have fun,” Allard said. “There
really weren’t many nerves; I was just going out here and trying to
have as much fun as I can. This is one of the most beautiful
ballparks I’ve ever even seen; this is only my second time here and
I’m just blessed to be here.”
The
California native represented the host state well in what many
considered the most impressive pitching performance of the night. It
was an experience Allard won’t soon forget.
“This
has just been awesome,” Allard said. “Perfect Game put on an
amazing event and they treated us like kings, to be honest. Just to
be out here with all the best players in the country is just totally
humbling and it’s just completely awesome.”
Pitching
once again headlined the game, as 18 pitchers took the bump at some
point: ten from the West and eight from the East. All 18 pitchers
topped out above 90 mph, with Hooper recording the highest fastball
velocity at 97 mph. Beau Burrows, Joe DeMers, and Austin Smith all
topped at 96 mph. Ashe Russell, Kolby Allard, Mike Nikorak, Ryan Cole
McKay, and Luken Baker all topped at 95 mph.
Baseball
Prospectus Prospect of the Year Justin Hooper took the ball to start
the game for the West. The 6-foot-7 lefty from San Ramon, Calif.
started the game off with a 93 mph fastball to East’s Jahmai Jones
and eventually got Jones swinging on a 96 mph fastball for strike
three to start things off. Hooper recorded a 1-2-3 inning after
Rawlings Defensive Player of the Year Brendan Rodgers hit into a loud
third out with a flyout to the warning track in left field.
Righthander
Ashe Russell got the start on the mound for the East and recorded all
three outs via the strikeout, despite giving up a two-out single up
the middle off the bat of Chris Betts.
Stroudsburg,
Pa. native righthander Mike Nikorak followed Allard’s impressive
top of the second with a 1-2-3 inning of his own in the bottom half.
The
web gem of the game came to start off the top of the third, when
West’s Kody Clemens showed middle-infield range when he dove
glove-side for a ground ball heading for the 3-4 hole and made the
play to throw out Ryan Mountcastle and help out his pitcher, Beau
Burrows. The Weatherford, Texas native Burrows thanked his defense by
recording back-to-back strikeouts, both looking, to end the inning.
The
East’s Tristin English, of Williamson, Ga., kept the outstanding
pitching trend going by recording a 1-2-3 inning of his own in the
bottom of the third.
Jahmai
Jones, the Perfect Game Nick Adenhart Award winner, broke the East
into the hit column with a two-out single up the middle off Martinez,
Calif. native Joe DeMers. Jones was unable to score as DeMers worked
out of the situation to put up the seventh consecutive ‘0’ on the
scoreboard.
The
fourth inning started off with San Diego native Kyle Dean, wearing
No. 19 on the back of his jersey, standing in the lefthanded hitter’s
batter’s box and taking the first pitch from Austin Smith in honor
of the late Hall of Famer and 'Mr. Padre' Tony Gwynn. Smith, of
Boynton Beach, Fla., recorded a three-up, three-down inning to keep
the game scoreless through four.
The
top of the fifth began with a toolsy defensive display from shortstop
Nick Shumpert, who backhanded a ground ball deep in the 5-6 hole and
showed off his arm strength to get Brendan Rodgers out at first.
Righty Kyle Molnar finished off yet another 1-2-3 inning by striking
out Brandt Stallings with a 93 mph fastball.
The
bottom of the fifth was the same story, as the East’s Triston
McKenzie got three outs through three batters and tallied a pair of
swinging strikeouts, including a 92 mph strikeout of Chris Betts, his
peak velocity in his one inning appearance.
San
Diego native righthander Drew Finley set down the side in order and
got Jonathan India swinging on a 75 mph curveball to record his lone
strikeout. Finley topped at 92 mph as well.
The
game remained scoreless before the West would break it open in the
bottom of the sixth.
After
East lefthanded pitcher Hogan Harris surrendered a leadoff walk to
Ryan Johnson, Kody Clemens connected for an opposite field line drive
single to left field to put two on with no outs and finally threaten
to break into the runs column.
Josh
Naylor, the second Canadian to be named to the Classic, hit a
groundball to shortstop that appeared to be a possible double play
ball, but instead a miscue on the feed to the second baseman ended up
in the outfield and Johnson came around to score the game’s first
run with Clemens moving up to third. Parker Kelly, the first
representative of Oregon to play in the Classic, was then hit by a
pitch, loading the bases with still no outs.
Harris
struck out Cadyn Grenier looking on a 92 mph fastball for the first
out. Then, a wild pitch with Kyle Dean at the plate allowed Clemens
to score to make it 2-0. Harris was able to strike out Dean on an 89
mph fastball for the second out before walking Lucas Wakamatsu to
load the bases again with two outs.
The
second wild pitch of the inning, to Trenton Clark, scored Naylor to
make it 3-0 in favor of the West. Clark then got jammed, but fought a
fastball off the hands for a line drive back to the mound that
knocked Harris to the ground. Harris quickly got to his feet and
attempted a glove flip to first base, but the flip was wild and both
Kelly and Wakamatsu came around to score and increase the lead to
5-0.
Juan
Hillman was able to come in and end the inning on a first pitch
groundout.
With
momentum in the West’s dugout, Baseball America Pitcher of the Year
Cole McKay recorded a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the seventh.
Southpaw
Juan Hillman returned to the mound in the bottom of the seventh for
the East and quickly recorded a strikeout, getting Wyatt Cross
swinging at a 73 mph breaking ball. Doak Dozier then smacked a line
drive single up the middle and threatened on the base paths. Dozier
stole second before an errant throw winded up in the outfield and
allowed him to advance safely to third. Hillman worked out of the
jam, collecting a pair of strikeouts to end the threat. He topped at
92 mph from the bump.
The
East’s Kyle Tucker began the eighth with the game’s only
extra-base hit when he connected for a hard-hit line drive over the
center fielder’s head for a leadoff double. Luken Baker then walked
Lansdale, Pa. native John Aiello.
After
recording two outs, including a strikeout of Chris Chatfield, who
went down swinging at Baker’s 92 mph fastball, Mission Viejo,
Calif. southpaw Patrick Sandoval got Alonzo Jones swinging at a 91
mph fastball to end the inning.
Ke’Bryan
Hayes, of Tomball, Texas, started the bottom of the eighth with a
line drive single to center field off of Austin Riley. Aiello then
displayed excellent defense when he leapt at third base on a choppy
ground ball and threw out the runner at first.
With
two outs, Kyle Dean connected for an opposite field single to right
field to score Hayes from second, moments after Dean finished a short
MLB Network television interview. After Dean stole second, a
groundball to second base and a wild throwing error plated Dean for
the game’s final run, giving the West a 7-0 advantage.
After
Sandoval recorded the first out in the top of the ninth, Christifer
Adritsos came in to close the door and preserve the shutout.
He
started off with a strikeout of Willie Burger on a 92 mph fastball
and got the final out of the game on a ground ball to first base,
which Naylor tossed to Andritsos to finish the game and send both
teams into a frenzied dog pile between first base and the pitcher’s
mound.
The
final round of the Classic’s Home Run Challenge was held about an
hour before the game’s first pitch with Brandt Stallings from
Buford, Ga., using a walk-off blast to beat East teammate and fellow
Georgian Isiah Gilliam from Lilburn in a five-out playoff. Both
players hit a pair of home runs in spacious Petco in the first 10-out
segment of the finals, forcing the playoff.
“It’s
so much to be out here just doing what I love – hitting the
baseball,” the righthanded hitting Stallings said shortly after he
had hit the first pitch he saw in the playoffs for a home run to left
field after Gilliam had been shutout in his turn at bat. “You get a
little bit of the competitive juices going in it, you get a little
bit of the nerves mixed in with that, and it makes for a fun time,
that’s for sure; you have to battle the other athletes and
yourself.”
Gilliam,
a switch-hitter, powered two balls way out of the park to left field
in his first 10-out session, then went 0-for-5 from the left side in
the playoff.
“It’s
a lot of fun, win or lose,” he said. “Hitting at Petco Park? A
major league park? Oh yeah, that’s a lot of fun. It’s really
hard, though; most of the balls we hit probably would have went out
of any other park.”
East
team sluggers Stallings, Gilliam and Brendan Rodgers from Longwood,
Fla., were joined by the West’s big Luken Baker out of Spring,
Texas, in Sunday’s final round. Stallings, Rodgers and Baker each
hit six bombs in Saturday’s first round at Fowler Park at
Cunningham Field at the University of San Diego and Gilliam was added
as an at-large entry in the finals after slugging four on Saturday.
The
competitive juices were definitely flowing, but you could also feel
the love.
“We
trash-talk each other in good spirit,” Stallings said with a wide
smile spread across his face. “We all love each other; I know
Luken, Isiah and Brendan all real well. We’ve played with each
other and against each other for some time now, so of course we’re
going to trash-talk each other and heckle each other as much as we
can but it’s all out of love.”
Dazmon
Cameron, the high school class of 2015’s top-ranked prospect, won
the distinguished Jackie Robinson Player of the Year Award, announced
during Saturday night’s dinner banquet. Greg Pickett took home the
Louisville Slugger Most Outstanding Offensive Player award and Chris
Betts won the EvoShield SWAG Award.
Congratulations
to all of the players, coaches, scouts, friends, family members,
sponsors, partners and fans for making the 2014 Perfect Game
All-American Classic another successful event.