Inaugural Hot Stove All-Star Games prove to be a hit

WELLINGTON — Prior to this year, Lorain County Hot Stove never held all-star games. The high caliber of play and the packed stands at Wellington Community Park should guarantee the future generations of Hot Stove players will continue to get the all-star experience. Grafton Midview Slimans third baseman-catcher Joe Solet provided the big hit Saturday with a fourth-inning double that scored Landon Widenmeyer and Noah Gutierrez to help the Black All-Stars to a 5-1 win over the Orange All-Stars in the Class F (ages 13-14) game. The Black team, led by North Ridgeville Raptors state championship winning coach Mike Estefani, took a 2-0 lead in the second inning when Columbia's Liam McJahnke reached base on an Orange error, stole second and scored when Gutierrez drew a bases-loaded walk. Kevin Marflak, who represented the North Ridgeville Americans, scored on a bases-loaded balk. McJahnke, who is about to begin his freshman year at Columbia High School, had played Hot Stove most of his baseball career. He relished the opportunity to be in the first all-star class. "I had a really fun time," McJahnke said. "I was really happy to be picked for this game. It means I did a good job. I wish they would have had this when I was younger." Players from 14 communities took part in the Class F game. According to Lorain County Hot Stove president Pat Anderson, 263 baseball players and 104 softball players were selected to play in the 10 all-star games, representing five divisions in baseball and three in softball. "I think this was awesome for the kids," Estefani said. "Being able to recognize a kid from each team as an all-star and having the best players out here to play against each other is the coolest thing for the kids. Technically, it's an exhibition, but everyone was playing to win." The Orange team was led by Wellington Nukes 2.0 coach Mike Wimsatt and represented on the field by Parker Bowman, who started at catcher, batted leadoff and also pitched an inning. "I love the experience and being able to meet some new people," said Solet, who also made a pair of big defensive plays at third base in the fifth inning. "When I'm on defense I stopped thinking about everything, I stopped listening to the crowd and just focused on baseball." With four games going on simultaneously Saturday, it was hard to ignore the crowd that filled the park and added to the all-star atmosphere. "It showed today a lot of people care about the league and about seeing the good people play," McJahnke said. Black River American Legion Post 8's Jacob Hardman drove in the final Black run with an RBI single. He also pitched a scoreless sixth inning to preserve the win. Sheffield Venom 13U's Logan Kannard stole home to score the lone Orange run. He also pitched two perfect innings. As part of the all-star activities, Lorain County Hot Stove also conducted a 50-50 to raise funds to support the families of the three Lorain police officers who were ambushed in the line of duty July 24. One more all-star game is left to be played as the Class HH (ages 9-10) all-stars will play their game, that was rained out Wednesday, on Monday night in Wellington. Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.