By Paul Valencia, Columbian
High School Sports Reporter
Published: May 30, 2012, 5:00pm
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Fort Vancouver's Anthony Gardner tags out Mountain View's Jake Shelley (32) during the second game Wednesday.
A couple of starting pitchers took home the MVP honors Wednesday night at the Curt Daniels Clark County Senior All-Star Games at Propstra Stadium.
Zach Torson of Mountain View threw four innings of two-hit ball to pick up the win in the first game, plus he added a double on offense, in a 6-3 victory for his “American League” all-stars.
The AL made it a sweep with another 6-3 victory in the nightcap. Evergreen’s Austin Hadley struck out three in two innings of work, and he also had a hit on offense, in his MVP performance.
Both players received scholarships from the Evergreen Baseball Umpires Association as well as the family of U.S. Army soldier Jeremiah Johnson, a former Prairie baseball player who died while serving his country in 2007 in Iraq.
“I’m kind of speechless, to be honest,” Hadley said. “I’m honored.”
Torson, too, called it an honor.
“I’m playing with some great players, and to be named the MVP of the game is pretty special,” Torson said.
Camas’ Nate Culver hit a solo home run in the first game to give the AL a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning.
Justin Rinta of Mountain View, Connor Atchinson of Mountain View, Doug Macdonald of Hockinson, and Nate Lauritzen of Camas also drove in runs for the AL.
Four of the runs were unearned as the “National League” committed six errors in the first game.
Ryan Johnson of Mountain View had a run-scoring single in the first inning, and Connor McClellan of Camas had a two-run single in the seventh for the NL.
Torson struck out three in his work on the mound.
“It’s a good way to go out,” Torson said. “I had a pretty good individual year and my team had success as well. It was cool to be able to play in this game.”
The AL jumped out to a 5-0 lead after three innings of the second game.
Spencer Ramsey of Skyview drew a bases-loaded walk in the second, and Rinta blasted a two-run single for a 3-0 lead. The next inning, Culver drove in a run and Emilio Alcantar of Hudson’s Bay connected for a run-scoring single. The AL picked up another run in the bottom of the eighth inning (The home team bats in this all-star structure regardless of the score). Hadley did not give up a hit in his two innings.
“I love playing in a game like this. Good, competitive players. There are no givens,” he said. “Every time you’re on the field, every time you’re up, it’s going to be a challenge.”
Buck Hale of Hudson’s Bay got the NL on the board. His single scored Will Pecson of Evergreen, who opened the fourth with a double. The NL got two more in the sixth on a run-scoring double from Alec Fuller of Washougal and a run-scoring single from Brady Williams of Ridgefield.
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