January 14, 1958
Eastern All-Stars Clobber the West in 10-1 Laugher
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Wolseley, Oxford (BP) – At first glance, the 1957-58 all-star game should have been an interesting one, with firepower and power pitching to spare on both squads. But when it was all over, the Eastern League All-Stars ran roughshod over an overmatched Western squad. Although both clubs went ‘3-up, 3-down’ four separate times, the Eastern All-Stars managed to cash in their chances much more effectively than the Western All-Stars, who ended up leaving 15 base runners stranded.
For the first 2-1/2 innings, it looked as though the sellout crowd at Wolseley’s Satchel Paige Park would be treated to a low scoring affair with the pitchers limiting the offense to one hit – a one-out double by Sherburn’s 3B Adrian Flynn off Stratford’s LHP Robin Wadsworth. The West, in fact, got on the board first in the bottom of the 3rd. Sherburn’s SS Dwayne Vick singled off Embro’s close Rob Gladstone with one out. Cambria’s 2B Doug Martin then lined a double into rightfield, bringing home Vick for the West’s only run.
After that, the East took over. In the top of the 4th, Pulberry’s manager Ryo Ichikawa made a curious move by bringing in Sherburn’s reliever RHP Callum Benstead, despite his 0-1, 6.03 ERA, 1.54 WHIP record on the season and plenty of better options in the bullpen. As expected, it did not go well. After walking Queensland’s 3B Apia Yarrah to lead off, Braeland City’s RF Aidan Trembath roped a liner into deep right-center for a double, scoring Yarrah to tie things up. Next up was Cobourg’s CF Raymond Williams, who slammed a Benstead’s 92 mph fastball 386 ft. into the rightfield bleachers for a 2-run homer. But the East was not done. After Embro’s 1B Damien Whetter singled with one out, Brunswick’s C Robert Kersey scorched Benstead’s 75 mph change-up for a 2-out, 2-run home run of his own that landed 448 ft. deep in the centerfield stands, pushing the score to 5-1.
In the top of the 5th, the East added two more runs, thanks again to Raymond Williams’ bat. With Stratford’s CF Alfonso León on first and facing Pulberry’s RHP Robin Medellin with two out, Williams smashed Medellin’s 86 mph forkball 408 ft. into the rightfield bleachers.
The East would round out the scoring with two more runs in the top 8th thanks to Embro’s C Gareth Mawle’s two-run, two out double and a final run in the top of the 9th when Downie’s 2B Dominic Dudding singled home Cobourg’s LF Nihopalaoa Neho from second.
For his heroics,
Raymond Williams won his second All-Star game MVP award after first winning it back in 1950-51. He becomes the second player to win two MVP awards, after Brunswick’s Stuart Bentham (1942-43, 1947-48). With the victory the Eastern All-Stars have triumphed in back-to-back All-Star games and have won 7 of the last 9 All-Star games. They now lead the head-to-head matchup, 13-8.
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Here is the game summary as well as the complete All-Star rosters:
