ALL-STAR SPORTS WEEK: South, rain get the best of North
Stanhope Elmore’s Zach Stevens fires a pitch in the opening inning of the All-Star Sports Week doubleheader at Riverwalk Stadium on Monday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
While many of Clint Shores’ all-star teammates spent their mornings practicing for the upcoming Alabama All-Stars Sports Week, the St. James’ H-back and outside linebacker was busy preparing for the upcoming football season.
“It’s not easy,” he admitted. “All of my mornings are taken up by football and whatever time I have left in the afternoon I’ve got to use on baseball. Usually, by the end of the day, I’m pretty worn out.”
Football practice didn’t seem to affect his baseball performance. The outfielder went 2 for 3 and drove in a run in a 5-0 win for the South all-stars in the opening day of Alabama All-Stars Sports Week at Riverwalk Stadium on Monday night.
The South rallied to tie the second game, shortened to five innings after a 61-minute rain delay in the middle of the first game. The tie, couple with the Game 1 win in the doubleheader, allowed the South to claim the victory in a series dominated by their North counterparts since the first game in 1997.
“It’s pretty important to us,” Shores said. “It’s not quite like a school rivalry, but we definitely wanted to come out here and turn it around a little bit.”
The South team had plenty of local support in the win. Stanhope Elmore’s Zach Stevens was the starting pitcher in the first game and pitched 2.2 quality innings before hitting three batters and leaving the mound in the third inning. Prattville’s Drew Jolly went 1 for 1 with a pair of walks, scored twice, and closed out the win with an inning on the mound.
Holtville shortstop Sam Silas earned most valuable player honors for the South with the biggest hit of the night, a shot to the left center field wall that resulted in a third inning triple. He scored moments later on a wild pitch for a 2-0 lead and went 2 for 4 in the first game.
Wetumpka pitcher Jaxon Shineflew was impressive in three innings of relief, striking out five batters to keep the North scoreless after they had secured a 2-0 lead. Carter Sheehan singled to lead off the bottom of the third inning and went to third on a hit-and-run single by Hugh Windle, finishing the night for Josh Gunther.
Shineflew took the mound and struck out Trent Shirley and Tucker Cagle, walked Jeremiah Struggs to load the bases, then struck out William Walburn to keep the South’s deficit at two runs.
The South scored two runs in the fourth to tie the game, but could not push across the game-winning run with runners on the corners and two outs.
And then there was Shores, who struck out in the first game after the first two runners had reached base in the third inning, then singled in the fifth to put Jolly on third with no outs, later resulting in a run. In the seventh, he singled again to drive in Jolly.
“This is easily the most talented group of guys I’ve ever played with,” Shores said. “The competition was real good, but I feel like I was ready to go.”
He didn’t reach base in his two plate appearances in the second game, but his only miscue was dropping a two-out fly ball after a long run toward foul territory. Jackson Ollis went to second on the play when Shores pulled up short of the wall near the bullpen and the ball bounced out of his glove, but Ollis was stranded on second.
“The wall got in my mind,” Shores said.
Wetumpka’s Ty Brooks was held out of competition with a labrum injury, but the remainder of the local all-stars contributed heavily toward the South’s win, creating a happy evening for South all-star coach Jarrod Cook of Trinity.
“It’s good baseball,” Cook said. “It’s guys eager to play at the next level, a lot of talented kids. A lot of guys have been blessed by God and blessed with a really good gift. Our group, it’s like they’ve known each other for 10 years. These kids played hard. They played the game the right way. They just enjoyed being out here and being around each other.”
Shores enjoyed his evening at Riverwalk. It sure beats morning football workouts in the weight room and on the practice field at St. James.
“I could have definitely done a lot better, but I felt like I held my own,” Shores said. “This is easily the toughest competition I’ve played against. I didn’t do too bad.”
ALABAMA ALL-STARS SPORTS WEEK
Monday, July 18
Boys golf -- North 62.5, South 27.5 (North leads series 3-0)
Girls golf -- North 47, South 25 (North leads series 2-1)
Baseball -- South 5-2, North 0-2 (North leads series 23-16-3)
Tuesday, July 19
Girls cross country, Gateway Park, 7:30 a.m.
Boys cross country, Gateway Park, 8 a.m.
Boys and girls tennis, Lagoon Park, 5 p.m.
Girls basketball, Multiplex, 5 p.m.
Boys basketball, Multiplex, 6:45 p.m.
Wednesday, July 20
Softball, Lagoon Park, 4 p.m.
Girls soccer, Emory Folmar Soccer Complex, 5 p.m.
Boys soccer, Emory Folmar Soccer Complex, 7 p.m.
Thursday, July 21
Volleyball, Multiplex, 4 p.m.