By Jeremy McDonald
jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
CORVALLIS, Ore.– Ryan Brown had a way to help spark the South game in the Oregon All-Star Game Saturday Night at Goss Stadium.
Of his first three at-bats, he gave the South a 1-0 lead (first inning) and drove in runs in the third and fifth that helped the South squad tie or come within tying the game at three and six in the fifth inning.
Not to mention his steal of home in the third gave the squad a brief 4-3 lead ending the bottom half of the inning.
“We’re a solid squad together and we’ve never played together. I’ve played with Decker (Stedman) one-year and we all click like we’ve all been together for three-, four-years,” said Brown, who went 3-for-5 with seven RBIs in the win. “The opportunity here is incredible and our team clicks together and we’re a good team.”
Stedman, a Thurston-product and going to Oregon for baseball, won the Home Run derby over Tigard’s CJ Rivers before the first game Friday and hit a homerun in the series opener. Central’s Ruben Cedillo flashed his bat off too, coming close to two homeruns in three of his hits in the opening game as the South offense was loaded with some offensive weapons.
“We both hit the ball good, it’s contagious. We started off hot, I got that first hit in the first inning and we just kept getting hits and it just helps us,” said Cedillo who collected four hits, two near homeruns, in the game.
South had 19 hits to the North’s 12 in Saturday’s series opener.
Brown came in for relief in the sixth inning and pitched two shutout innings with two strikeouts as the Oregon State-Commit shows off his fastball at his home ballpark for the next few years. Stedman came in during the eighth inning with the South leading 12-10 as the Oregon-Commit shut the door on the North for the 13-10 save Friday night.
Stedman struck out four in two innings in relief.
“I kind of knew it was going to happen, I knew they were going to throw us late because we have an absolute pitching staff,” said Brown. “We have me and Decker and Lucas (Stanfeld), (Ethan) Krupp and everybody. We have a solid staff and we got to throw everybody.”
With Stanfeld, 5A Pitcher of the Year in Kaleb Kantola, Dallas’ Eric Kessler and Krupp still to pitch against the North squad at Sunday’s high-noon game back at Goss Stadium at Oregon State, it should be interesting to see if the South squad can get the sweep of the North.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
