OUA WINS INAUGURAL ALL-STAR GAME – HAWKS HALIM MVP
TORONTO: The First Annual OUA/OCAA Men's Baseball All-Star Game on Sunday at the Rogers Centre was an exciting affair, which saw the host OUA squad come back to take the game 8-5.
Humber was represented by five players and coaches Denny Berni and Matt Ferreira.
The group was led by senior shortstop and OCAA Player of the Game George Halim, who checked in with a 2 for 4 night, which included 2 RBI's and a run scored. He also dazzled the crowd with a run saving, diving catch in the fifth inning.
Pitchers James Byrnes and Andrew Hyde put in solid outings on the mound. Hyde threw a scoreless ninth inning, and Byrnes, who should have had a better fate as the three runs he surrendered in the third inning were all unearned.
Outfielder Daniel Campos wowed the 400 plus fans in attendance by racing into the corner at the 333 foot mark to collect a drive by an OUA All-Star, and then promptly threw him out with a rocket toss to the second baseman.
Len Wood entered the game in the sixth and delivered a solid single by way of a line drive up the middle, and he eventually came around to score the first run of the inning.
GAME RECAP:
The OCAA opened up the scoring, capitalizing on a stretch of wildness in the first inning. A number of walks and a hit batsman allowed the visitors to score two runs without registering a hit.
The OUA answered with a single run of their own, by scoring on the OCAA Player of the Year Kyle Breitner. Breitner came back and had a solid second inning before giving way to an array of OCAA pitchers.
The OCAA once again scored in the top of the second as Humber's George Halim hit safely and then advanced to second by way of a poor throw to first base. He eventually came around to score by way of a groundout.
As mentioned earlier, the OUA scored three times in the third off of Byrnes, but all the runs were unearned. After three complete, the OUA led 4-3.
After two innings of scoreless ball the OCAA jumped back into the lead in the sixth by scoring 2 runs.
The OCAA had a chance to build on their lead in the seventh but were unable to cross the plate, although they had runners on first and third with only a single out.
It was the bottom of the seventh when the game changed for good. The OCAA pitcher was unable to find the plate and then found himself in a bases loaded situation. University of Guelph star Wes Romack stepped up and lifted a run clearing double. Romack eventually came around to score to complete the four run barrage. For his efforts, Romack was selected as the OUA Player of the Game.
The OCAA was unable to make any noise the rest of the way, and the game ended on quiet groundout.
After the awards presentations both teams gathered in the infield for team photos. Almost every team took this opportunity to take group shots of the players representing their individual schools.
