The Kitsap BlueJackets didn’t have the most representatives at the 2008 West Coast Collegiate Baseball League All-Star Game Tuesday.
With just four Jackets making the West Division All-Stars, only Moses Lake, which hosted the game, had fewer representatives (three).
But the impact of those Jackets proved vital as the West and East tied 2-2, the second all-star tie in the game’s three-year run. Last year, the East won 4-1 before a 6-6 tie two seasons ago.
The West and Kitsap first baseman Bucky Aona (Southern Utah), playing designated hitter in the game, wasted little time in getting things going, slapping a two-out RBI single to score Corvallis’ (Ore.) Logan Lotti to give the West a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
That lead grew to 2-0 when BlueJackets’ second baseman Brandon Decker walked, stole second, advanced to third on a fielder’s choice and scored on a passed ball.
The lead didn’t last long, however, as a two-run home run by Kelowna’s (British Columbia) Stephen Hagen in the bottom of the second set up the deadlocked score for the remainder of the nine-inning contest. Hagen was named MVP for his efforts.
Aona didn’t just make a splash in the game, however. The 6-foot-2-inch, 280-pound first baseman from Makakilo, Hawaii, smashed nine homers in the opening round of the pregame home run derby. He advanced to the finals, where he met up with Southern Utah teammate Nick Freitas. It was Freitas who would prevail, hitting four in the finals to Aona’s zero. Freitas also was hit by three pitches.
Corvallis closer Taylor Starr was named the game’s Top Prospect by WCCBL advisory board member Carl Moesche of the MLB Scouting Bureau. A number of scouts were in attendance.
While Aona (1-2, RBI, strikeout) and Decker (0-2, run, walk, stolen base) had the greatest success for Kitsap, outfielder Doug Buser (0-2, strikeout) and catcher/utility man Max Kwan (0-2, strikeout) also took the field for Kitsap.
The BlueJackets (16-17) open the second half of the season Thursday with a non-league home game against affiliate Olympia at 8 p.m. at Lobe Fields at the Fairgrounds.
