Huntsville puts on a show as the North beats the South in the All-Star Game

By Aaron Morse

Huntsville hasn’t hosted the All-Star game since 1986, but they more than made up for lost time Monday night.

A daring magician putting swords down his throat in front of a captive audience and multiple skydivers landing on the outfield grass before the game got things off to a rousing start.

Then the rain held off, making it a great night for baseball. The energetic crowd of 7782 watched the North Division All-Stars knock off the South by a final score of 3-2.

The North was shut down by South starter Tom Koehler in the first, but made the necessary adjustments in the second. Southern League RBI leader Corey Smith drew a leadoff walk. Another category leader, Dave Sappelt, showed why he’s tops in the SL in batting average with a double to center.

With runners on second and third, the Tennessee Smokies’ players made themselves known thanks to back-to-back singles from Robinson Chirinos and Blake Lalli. The RBI base knocks made the score 2-0 in favor of the North.

Michael Bowman represented Huntsville well as he entered in the third and tossed a perfect frame, striking out one.

The score remained 2-0 until the fifth when former Florida Marlins’ first round draft pick Matt Dominguez took Jon Huber deep for a solo shot.

The North responded to the long ball with a run of their own. With two away in the bottom of the frame, Tony Campana singled off reliever Miguel Socolovich. After Jake Kahaulelio drew a walk, Johan Limonta came up big with a single to right to drive in Campana and extend the lead to 3-1.

Dominguez wasn’t done impressing the many scouts on-hand as he drilled a solo homer in the seventh off Anthony Varvaro.

The last stand for the South in the ninth started off well when Kenley Jansen hit the leadoff man. One out later, Dominguez reached on an infield single. But Jansen got a big “K” for the second out. The last hope for the South came to the plate in the form of Mauro Gomez. He bounced to third for the final out of the game as Jansen nailed down the save.

Dominguez earned All-Star game MVP despite his team suffering the loss. Since the game switched to the North-South format in 2005, the North is now 6-0. Joshua Collmenter of the BayBears got credited for the win, which is odd because Mobile is in the South Division. But he got the start because the North was short on pitching. Meanwhile Tom Koehler took the loss for the South. The only other Huntsville Star to make an appearance besides Bowman was Brett Lawrie, perhaps a bit jet-lagged after participating in the XM Futures Game the night before, he struck-out in his lone AB.

After the narrow win, the Stars’ organization celebrated the North’s victory and the great show put on overall with a grand finale of fireworks.

After an off day on Tuesday, the Stars get back to work Wednesday when they take on the Mississippi Braves at “The Joe” beginning at 7:00 p.m. central time. You can hear the action on www.huntsvillestars.com.