SL North All-Stars win third straight classic

PEARL, Miss. -- The scoring opportunities were there for both the North and South squads Monday night at Trustmark Park. In fact, there were only two half innings in which the side was retired in order and both times it was the North that was victimized.

Yet the North also made the most of its chances, taking advantage of almost every South miscue to emerge with a 7-4 victory before 4,555 fans in the Southern League All-Star Game. The victory was the third in a row for the North since the current All-Star format went into effect in 2005. The North has outscored the South, 28-13, in the three games.

Carolina third baseman Lee Mitchell was named the game's Most Valuable Player after driving in two runs and making a spectacular defensive play to end the second inning.

"This is awesome," Mitchell said. "It's a great experience just to be here. There are a lot of good players here. For my first All-Star Game, it was a great experience. I wasn't even thinking about the MVP until they took me out of the game and the manager mentioned something to me because of the RBIs and the big play. It makes it nice because my wife [Ashley] and my mom [Lee Anne] were here."

The North broke the game open with a two-out, four-run rally in the fifth inning. Birmingham's Jack Egbert, who entered the game fourth in the league with a 2.81 ERA, was not sharp and the North took advantage. Huntsville's Brendan Katin led off with a single and went to second on a passed ball. Carolina's Chase Lambin advanced him over to third with a groundout before Chattanooga's Drew Anderson struck out for the second out.

That's when Egbert began to unravel. He walked Huntsville's Steve Sollman before allowing an RBI single to Sollman's teammate Lou Palmisano. Tennessee teammates Jake Fox [Tennessee] and Matt Craig walked to load the bases and end Egbert's evening. Montgomery's Zach Schreiber came on and proceeded to surrender a two-run single to Mitchell, who was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.

The South scored its first run in third inning on J.C. Holt's RBI single. Mobile's Emilio Bonifacio reached first on a fielding error by shortstop Chase Lambin, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch before Holt brought him in with a line drive that clipped off the glove of pitcher Lindsay Gulin.

The South had runners on every inning, including the leadoff man in seven of the first eight frames. It led off with consecutive singles in the first, but was set down quickly by starter Mark DiFelice. John Jaso led off the second with a single, but was erased when Javier Brito hit into a 5-4-3 double play. Don Lucy followed with a smash down the third-base line but Mitchell dove to his right, backhanded the ball and fired from his knees to make the play.

"I like making that play," Mitchell said. "When I was in college [University of Georgia] I'd jump up when I made that play and the ball would wind up in the stands. So know I just stay on my knees."

The South also loaded the bases in the sixth off Carolina's Gaby Hernandez but couldn't push a run across the plate as he sandwiched three strikeouts around a single, a double and a walk.

Perhaps their best chance came in the eighth, though, when the Southerners loaded the bases off a shaky Scott Nestor [Carolina]. Nestor allowed back-to-back singles to start the inning, uncorked a wild pitch and then issued a walk to load the bases. Bonifacio then lofted a fly ball to left, scoring Juan Gonzalez. But Mobile's Wilkin Castillo tried to advance to third on the play and was doubled up to end the threat.

"We just didn't capitalize when we needed to," said Mississippi's J.C. Holt, who was 3-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored for the South. "We had plenty of baserunners. But it was fun anyway. And it was personally fun to do well."

The North capitalized on a Bonifacio fielding error in the ninth and added three more runs to up its lead before the South scored a pair of unearned runs in the bottom half of inning, which was played in a steady rain and delayed for about 10 minutes.