NY-Penn League North 1
NY-Penn League South 1
Aug. 19 at MCU Park
The stars aligned in Brooklyn for this year’s New York Penn League All-Star Game, and the pitching shined bright for both teams.
Cyclones starter Marcos Molina took the mound for the South and once again showed his dominance giving up only one hit and struck out two. Corey Oswalt also got a turn on the mound and pitched the third inning. He got himself into a jam when he gave up a lead off single to Mahoning Valley’s Nick Tanielu, his second of the night. Oswalt gave up another single and then a ground ball put runners on the corners, Oswalt got out of the jam unscathed by striking out the last batter he faced.
The game remained scoreless until the fifth inning when the North plated a run on a soft line drive by Tanielu who was named the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player.
The South didn’t get its first hit until the bottom of the fifth on a line drive of the bat of Williamsport’s Derek Campbell, and didn’t score until the seventh when a sacrifice fly drove in Staten Island’s Luis Torrens.
Brooklyn closer Shane Bay came in to get the last out of the top of the ninth, and he induced a pop up to end the game in a tie.
Unlike Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game, which cannot end in a tie because the winning league gets home-field advantage in the World Series, the New York -Penn League has no such rule, so the game was allowed to end a tie by the league’s commissioner.
The Cyclones go across the bridge on Wednesday to take on the hated Staten Island Yankees.
Ups and Downs
Something new: This year’s New York Penn League All-Star Game teams were named “North” and “South” as apposed to the “American League” and “National League” because the Houston Astros made the jump from the National League to the American League, making it impossible to have an even number of players on each team from each league.
All-stars from around the world: The game features players from seven countries: the United States, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Cuba, Australia, Curacao, and Aruba. Twenty-one states are also represented, with a player each coming from New York and Pennsylvania.
Getting started: Cyclones pitcher Marcos Molina got the start for this year’s All-Star Game, marking the sixth time a Mini-Met had been selected to take the mound first. It is also the third consecutive year a Cyclone got the honor.
