South outshines North 12-8
Many of the seniors who were on the field for the 2009 Bartley’s Senior All-Star Baseball Game Wednesday night have plans to continue their playing careers, while some will face new challenges.
Cape Coral High’s Nick Gillogly said he wants to become a firefighter and will attend a fire academy in Fort Myers.
“Ever since I was little that’s what I wanted to do,” he said. “I would love to play ball after high school, but that’s looking like the best bet.”
Gillogly and his North All-Star teammates came up short Wednesday, falling 12-8 in a back-and-forth affair at Terry Park. He made his presence felt defensively, though, throwing out a runner trying to score from his left field position and making another running catch toward the left-field line.
Seniors from Cape High, Mariner, Ida Baker, North Fort Myers and Bishop Verot were among those on the North roster.
District 5A-15 champion Mariner was represented by Mike Zunino, Angel Laborde, Anthony Santo, Bryan O’Connor, Ryan Patton and Ryan Schneider.
Laborde and Santo each had doubles and the shortstop-second base tandem teamed up for a 6-4-3 double play in the top of the first. Zunino delivered a single and an RBI, while Patton and Schneider each pitched one inning.
Zunino is signed with the University of Florida, but may opt to sign with a professional team depending on what happens in next month’s Major League Baseball Draft. The other five Tritons are expected to continue playing in college and currently are mulling their options.
“This is a large senior class,” Mariner coach Steve Larsen said. “It’s the most we’ve ever had that had the talent and the grades to move on.”
Ida Baker’s Miles Rubinski, who has signed with Stetson University, came through with an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth. It made the score 6-5 and the North tied it up on an RBI by Mariner’s Patton.
The North fell behind 5-0, battled back to tie it 6-6, but the South emerged with three runs in the eighth and ninth innings.
Twenty different schools were represented in the game, including three players from Class 4A state champion Naples.
Rubinski said he knew some of the players on his team mostly from playing against them in high school, but met others for the first time.
“This was a good way to end the high school career,” Rubinski said.
The South got on the board in the top of the second on an RBI single by St. John Neumann’s Brett Reynolds. They scored three in the third and one in the fourth, which included a two-run single by Golden Gate’s Mike Spano. He added an RBI double in the eighth.
Zunino sparked the North with a leadoff single in the fourth and North’s Mike Becker came on as a pinch runner and scored on a wild pitch. Santo drove in another run on his double.
After Lehigh’s Tim Nelson struck out the side in the top of the fifth, the North scored another run to cut the lead to one. Laborde doubled to deep center and Zunino followed with a deep fly to center that was dropped.
In the sixth, Schneider led off with a single before Rubinski’s RBI double to the gap in right-center.
After falling behind 9-6 in the top of the eighth, the North fought back again. They scored two in the bottom half to make it 9-8, but the South scored three more in the top of the ninth.
South All-Stars 013 101 033 – 12 15 3
North All-Stars 000 312 020 – 8 10 4
W – Yordan Cueto. L – Tommy Munoz.
2B – Anthony Santo (N), Angel Laborde (N), Miles Rubinski (N), Mike Spano (S), Andy Baez (S). 3B – Chad Vanderbosch (S).