OGDEN — Every year, high school talent from around the state converges on Ogden to play a couple of All-Star baseball games. This year's games at Lindquist Field were the 59th held, and the first game of the two-day set was a classic.
The 5A South squad rallied from a four-run deficit in the seventh inning to take a tough 8-5 victory over the North squad, which included players from Taylorsville, Hunter, Granger, Skyline and all of Region 1. Brighton's Kyle Scogins was the outstanding player of the game as he finished the day with two hits, including a two-run double in the seventh that sparked the rally.
The North team was the first to get on the scoreboard as Taylorsville's Chad Barben scored after his double on an RBI single from Davis' Chad Woodberry.
They would add three more runs in the fourth inning. Granger's Josh Hinckley would start the inning off with a solo blast into right center field for a 2-0 lead and Woodberry would add to his impressive performance for the North with a towering two-run shot and a North 4-0 lead. However, it took the South bats until the seventh inning to get going, but once they did, it was hard for the North to even stop.
Scogins had a two-run double and the South got RBIs from Brighton's Jeremy Brown and Jordan's Kyle Guest that would tie the game. In the All-Star game, each game will go nine innings and they were impressive from here on out. The South would take the lead in the eighth on an RBI from Alta's Alex Rosenhan. The North would rally in their half of the eighth thanks to an RBI single from Hinckley that tied the score at 5-5 heading into the ninth. In the ninth, the South scored three runs, two with two outs and West Jordan pitcher Shawn Baldwin pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up the win.
"It is such a privilage to coach players of this caliber," 5A North coach Rob Ferneau said. "Everyone had fun and it was a great game to sit and enjoy tonight." The 4A and 3A All-Star games will be played today at 4 and 7 p.m. respectively with a home run derby starting at 10 a.m.