With a dramatic flourish in the ninth inning, the North topped the South 3-2 in Wednesday night’s West Coast League All-Star Game. Gavyn Jones (Kelowna Falcons) was the North’s hero in the bottom of the ninth inning, rapping a two-out, two-strike, bases-loaded grounder that South shortstop Ty Yukumoto (Corvallis Knights) couldn’t quite corral in time to keep the tying and winning run from scoring, despite a close play at the plate.

Nobody scored until the top of the third, when Dylan Schlaegel (Cowlitz Black Bears) plated Kedren Kinzie (Springfield Drifters) with a sacrifice fly. The South threatened further, but Adison Mattix (Nanaimo NightOwls) escaped a bases-loaded jam with a big strikeout. In the fifth inning, Easton Amundsen (Bend Elks) drew a bases-loaded walk to add another run for the South, but again the North held the damage to just one run.

Which ultimately was all the South would get, as they finished the contest with only four hits. Meanwhile, the North halved the South lead in the seventh inning on Jacob Poturnak’s (Edmonton Riverhawks) RBI single. Which set up the dramatic ninth inning, highlighted by Gavyn Jones’s walk-off hit.

After the game, pitchers Nic Peterson (Bellingham Bells) and James DeCremer (Corvallis Knights) were selected by scouts as the All-Star Game’s top prospects. Davis Mauzy (Walla Walla Sweets) earned the first-ever Guts & Grit Award, and Nanaimo NightOwls slugger Wylie Waters, who reached base three times while playing the whole game at first base, garnered MVP honors. All four award winners were presented with customized Axe Bats.

Recap supplied by the West Coast League