FROM AFLAC PRESS RELEASE
SAN DIEGO – In a game where the talent was so evenly matched, the outcome of Sunday afternoon’s Aflac All-American High School Baseball Classic was fitting.
A triple down the right field line by Rancho Buena Vista (Calif.) High School shortstop Tony Wolters sent the seventh annual Aflac All-American High School Baseball Classic into extra innings for the first time since the game’s inception in 2003. A unique extra innings format saw both teams score a run in the 10th inning, and the game ended in a 4-all tie Sunday night at Petco Park before a record crowd of 8,027. The overall East vs. West series record for the Aflac All-American Classic, which features 40 of the nation’s premiere high school baseball players, now stands at 3-3-1.
Wolters’ stellar play in the field and at the plate earned him the Aflac All-American MVP title. He finished the game going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a steal. In the field, he flashed leather all night to back up his selection as the 2009 Rawlings Defensive Player of the Year.
The West squad wasted no time getting on the board as they took a 2-0 after both runners scored on a wild pitch and an error on the same play. Right-hander Jameson Taillon of The Woodlands (Texas) High School shut down the East squad with two scoreless innings – including four strikeouts.
A single to left by Jacoby Jones of Richton (Miss.) High School drove in Trey Griffin of Martin Luther King Jr. High School (Stockbridge, Ga.) to tie the game 2-2 in the eighth inning. The East’s Michael Arencibia of Key West (Fla.) High School scoring the go-ahead run off a wild pitch to give it the first lead of the game, 3-2.
Matt Lipka of McKinney High School (Frisco, Texas) walked in the bottom of the ninth off of Yordy Cabrera of Lakeland (Fla.) High School, to set the stage for Wolters’ late inning heroics.
Due to pre-determined game rules, the game ended after 10 innings played. The bases were loaded with one out with each team having the opportunity to score. Both teams were able to put a run on the board to finish this year’s Aflac Classic in a tie.
Prior to the game, in a matchup of the top sluggers from the East and West squads, Cabrera hit five tape measure shots in the final round to win this year’s Home Run Derby title.
2 comments
The best players around the nation got to showcase their talent to all the MLB scouts and colleges. Congrats to all the players
I wish I could’ve witnessed this. But it would be really cool if my own personal old high school team had done something this cool. I miss the old days of me playing some good old American ball. Sounds like this game would’ve been a really cool game to see, as I’ve not seen too many that have gone extra innings before. These guys most be picked up by the pros, or they’re just wasting their talent.
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