South Blanks North 4-0 in All-Star Game at Cowlitz
July 20, 2016 - West Coast League (WCL) News Release
Oregon State senior-to-be outfielder Kyle Nobach of the Corvallis Knights and Cal sophomore-to-be outfielder Jeffery Mitchell of the Gresham GreyWolves combined for five hits, three runs and a pair of RBIs to lead the South to a 4-0 win over the North in the 2016 West Coast League All-Star Game played last night in front of over 1,823 fans at David Story Field on the campus of Lower Columbia College in Longview, Washington.
Nobach, with two hits and three runs scored and Mitchell, with three hits and two RBIs, were the number one and two batters in the South lineup and they wasted no time in getting their act started with Nobach doubling off North starter Eaton Lucas (Walla Walla) of Pepperdine and then Mitchell trading places with him with a double of his own to give the South the 1-0 lead at the end of one.
They would continue their act in the third, this time off the Victoria HarbourCats Austin Dondanville of Cal Poly, when Nobach would reach on a two-base error, move to third on a single by Mitchell and then score on an RBI-single by future Oregon Duck Kenyon Yovan of Cowlitz.
In the fourth, the South would go up 3-0 when Bend's Louis Wolf of OIT would draw a lead-off walk from Walla Walla's Bobby Ay of Cal Poly and eventually come in to score on a double steal. The Nobach-Mitchell back-to-back doubles show then struck again in the fifth, giving the South the 4-0 lead and all the runs they would need on the day.
In addition to the five hits put up by Nobach and Mitchell and Yovan's RBI, other South hits came from Marshall's Tommy Lane (Bend), Oregon State's Andy Atwood (Corvallis) and future OSU Beaver George Mandazona (Bend).
On the mound for the South, College of Idaho southpaw Zach Draper of Yakima Valley got the start and would fare the worst of all South pitchers, giving up three hits in his inning of work, but but the senior-to-be escaped without damage thanks to an assist by Nobach who gunned a runner out at the plate from center field. Draper would be credited with the win. Eight other pitchers saw work with Youngstown State's Sam Boone (Bend), Washington State's Trenton Dupre (Corvallis), Concordia's Jake Brewer (Kitsap), UC Irvine's Cameron Bishop (Corvallis) and Nevada-Reno's Austin Dick (Cowlitz) all throwing no-hit innings for the South.
For the North, seven different players had hits on the night including Edmonds CC's Shane Hanon (Bellingham), future UCLA Bruin Jarron Silva (Victoria), Chico State's Andru Cardenas (Bellingham), Maine's Danny Casals (Bellingham), Gonzaga's Nick Nyquist (Walla Walla), Jake Veith (Bellingham) and Willie MacIver (Walla Walla).
Prior to the game, the 2016 All-Star Home Run Derby took place and it was Bellingham's Jake Veith who won in impressive fashion, smashing seven home runs in the first round and eventualy winning a tight final round by a score of 4-3 over Walla Walla's Willie MacIver of University of Washington. Vieth will be slugging next spring for the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
Nobach earned MVP honors and Cameron Bishop was named the All-Star Game's top prospect by the 23 professional scouts in attendance.
The 2017 WCL All-Star Game is slated to be hosted by the Yakima Valley Pippins at Yakima County Stadium.
WCL All-Star Game History
2006 at Wenatchee - East 6, West 6
Attendance: 1,083
MVP: Zach Borba (UNLV) of the Aloha Knights and DJ Lidyard (Lower Columbia College) of the Wenatchee AppleSox
Top Prospect: Darin Holcomb (Gonzaga) of the Spokane RiverHawks
HR Derby Winner: Darin Holcomb (Gonzaga) of the Spokane RiverHawks
2007 at Bellingham - East 4, West 1
Attendance: 1,092
MVP: Ryan Davis (Vanderbilt) of the Wenatchee AppleSox and Brandon Kuykendall (Benedictine College) of the Kitsap BlueJackets
Top Prospect: Matt Way (Washington State) of the Corvallis Knights
HR Derby Winner: Dillon Baird (Arizona) of the Wenatchee AppleSox
2008 at Moses Lake - East 2, West 2
Attendance: 674
MVP: Stephen Hagen (Oregon State) of the Kelowna Falcons
Top Prospect: Taylor Starr (Oregon State) of the Corvallis Knights
HR Derby Winner: Nick Freitas (Southern Utah) of the Kelowna Falcons
2011 at Corvallis - East 4, West 2
Attendance: 2,157
MVP: Spencer O'Neil (Oregon) of the Cowlitz Black Bears
Top Prospect: Ben Wetzler (Oregon State) of the Corvallis Knights
HR Derby Winner: Sean Myrom (Concordia) of the Corvallis Knights
2012 at Walla Walla - West 3, East 2
Attendance: 2,006
MVP: Connor Hofmann (Oregon) of the Corvallis Knights
Top Prospect: Taylor Williams (Kent State) of the Cowlitz Black Bears and Hunter Virant (UCLA) of the Walla Walla Sweets
HR Derby Winner: Taylor Sparks (UC Irvine) of the Wenatchee AppleSox
2013 at Victoria - South 7, North 5
Attendance: 4,210
MVP: Kyle Knigge (Lewis-Clark State) of the Cowlitz Black Bears
Top Prospect: Cody Poteet (UCLA) of the Walla Walla Sweets
HR Derby Winner: Cody Hough (UC Riverside) of the Klamath Falls Gems
2014 at Klamath Falls - RAINED OUT
HR Derby Winner: Gabe Clark (Oregon Staet) of the Victoria HarbourCats
2015 at Bellingham - South 3, North 0
Attendance: 1,985
MVP: Jake Scudder (Kansas State) of the Kitsap BlueJackets
Top Prospect: Cadyn Grenier (Oregon State) of the Bend Elks
HR Derby Winner: Hunter Villanueva (Fresno Pacific) of the Kelowna Falcons
2016 at Cowlitz - South 4, North 0
Attendance: 1,823
MVP: Kyle Nobach (Oregon State) of the Corvallis Knights
Top Prospect: Cameron Bishop (UC Irvine) of the Corvallis Knights
HR Derby Winner: Jake Vieth (Gonzaga) of the Bellingham Bells
West Coast League Stories from July 20, 2016
- Knights Return to Gresham for Pivotal Three-Game Series - Gresham GreyWolves
- South Blanks North 4-0 in All-Star Game at Cowlitz - WCL
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