Angelo Casale – UNION, NJ (August 1, 2011) – It was a great atmosphere for baseball fans of all ages on Monday, as the annual ABCCL All-Star Game took center stage at Kean University’s Jim Hynes ’63 Baseball Stadium.  Family members, friends, and baseball scouts were all on hand to witness the ABCCL’s best showcase their talents at one of the finer college baseball stadiums in the state.  Both teams put in solid efforts, but the Larry Doby All-Stars came out on top defeating the Yogi Berra All-Stars 6-1.

The Yogi Berra All-Stars were made up of players from the league’s Protocall Starz, NJ Marlins, Monmouth Monarchs, and Middlesex Rays.  The Larry Doby team was a combination of players from the Langan Baseball Falcons, Toms River Hurricanes, Jackson Thunder and Freehold Clippers.

Starz head coach John DiMeglio managed the Yogi Berra All-Stars, while Clippers head coach Jared Craig was in charge of the Larry Doby Stars.  They were the two managers chosen to hold the responsibility of trying to get every player into the game, which in most cases is not an easy task. When you have 27 players on each roster, it’s especially challenging to find playing time and enough at-bats for everyone. Six other ABCCL head coaches acted as assistants during the game, serving as bench coaches as well as first and third base coaches.

Coach John DiMeglio gave his input on the situation: “It’s going to be interesting coaching today, trying to get all these players into the game.”  On the other hand, DiMeglio suggested that players may be happy for frequent substitutions as per all-star game format. “It’s hot out there on the turf, not as hot as the Astrodome when JR Richard was throwing on 150 degree turf, but with the sun out, it will definitely be uncomfortable. But I’m going to try to get everyone multiple at bats, get everyone into the game and keep them safe.”  Fortunately, for all there was a nice breeze throughout the game.

In the game, the Larry Doby team scored first, taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning.  Clean-up hitter Chris Grimes (St. Peter’s College; hometown Iselin, NJ) smashed a double to score his Hurricane teammate Mitchell Powers (University of the Ozarks; hometown Little Rock, AR), who had walked a batter earlier.

They took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third on a Patrick Christopher’s (McDaniel College; hometown Union Beach, NJ) RBI single.  But the Berra All-Stars got one back courtesy of a Taylor Bargiacci (Dowling College; hometown Chester, NJ) RBI base hit to make the score 2-1.

The Doby Stars then tacked on two more runs in the fifth to take a 4-1 advantage. Jon Koslowski (Ocean County College; hometown Jackson, NJ) led off the inning with a single, and scored when Matthew Toth (Lake Erie College; hometown Lorain, OH) doubled down the left field line. Toth was soon driven by his Toms River teammate, Mitchell Powers, as was reminiscent of so many Hurricane games over the summer.

Finally, in the top of the eighth, the Larry Doby Stars put a final stamp on things with an emphasis on the long ball.  Chris Grimes was at it again, this time launching a home run to left field that was estimated at 400 feet.  The next batter, Nuri Gunes (St. Joseph’s University; hometown Sussex, NJ), matched Grimes with a shot over the left field fence giving their team a 6-1 advantage. The back-to-back home runs was a first in ABCCL All-Star Game history, and left the crowd buzzing.

Grimes humbly added after the game, “It was great just to be selected, but yeah, hitting a home run was great too.”

Grimes was named team MVP after going 2-4 with a double, a home run, and 2 RBI’s. On the other side, Anthony Montefusco (George Mason University; hometown Medford, NJ) was selected as MVP of the Yogi Berra team. Montefusco pitched a solid 5th inning, while hitting 91 on the radar gun.

It was a stellar conclusion to what was another amazing season this summer in the Atlantic Baseball Confederation Collegiate League. From the beginning of the season at the end of May, all the way to the final series at the end of July, there was great action all across the state from some of the nation’s finest young baseball players. We would like to thank everyone who came out this summer and showed support for our players and our League, and we look forward to seeing you all next summer at a local ABCCL game near you.