Published: June 22, 2008 11:46 pm            

CORY ISENBERG | Stars shine on Altoona diamond

ALTOONA — The inaugural S&T Bank Altoona Curve High School Classic at Blair County Ballpark featured a chance for 30 of the top senior high school baseball players from districts 5, 6 and 9 to play their last games at a big-league field.

Seven area players were able to take advantage of that opportunity, suiting up for the South squad which defeated the North 9-7 on Sunday afternoon.

“I thought this all-star game was a great idea to feature district 5, 6 and 9 all-stars, to give the kids the opportunity to play at the stadium,” said South coach Jon Szynal of Hollidaysburg, formerly of Gallitzin. “To showcase their skills at a stadium like this was very exciting for them. The toughest thing as a coach of an all-star game is to make sure everyone gets a chance to play.”

The unorthodox rule which allowed free substitution reminded those trying to keep a scorecard of the old Abbott and Costello “Who’s on first?” routine, but the players didn’t seem to have any trouble adapting.

“It was definitely a really cool experience,” Richland’s Russ Gray said. “Playing on this field was really pretty sick. Competition was really good. We didn’t have a practice beforehand, we just showed up and played.”

Added Somerset’s Tyler Uphouse: “It was fun, it was a good group of guys here. You meet new people and have a good time.”

Conemaugh Township’s Sam Watkins was playing on the field at Blair County Ballpark for the first time.

“It’s an awesome field,” Watkins said. “It was a great experience and I’m glad I was invited to come out.”

The one thing that surprised Laurel Valley’s Caleb Karasack about this game was that the players were allowed to use aluminum bats.

“It was pretty exciting to play with some of the best kids from districts 5, 6 and 9,” said Karasack, who was one of the South’s catchers. “It’s a good thing we got the win. You don’t want to drive the whole way up here and go home a loser, so it’s a good feeling, winning. This was a great experience. I played at PNC Park twice and got to play here; it’s a good feeling.”

Central Cambria’s Matt Cornetti put in a late night on Saturday at the Ken Lantzy football game and yet couldn’t imagine passing up the opportunity to play in Altoona.

“It was rough getting out of bed and coming up here this morning,” Cornetti said. “Two all-star games in two days, it was just an honor to do that.”

Cornetti, who was a linebacker for the North team, was behind the plate for the South.

“The field and the caliber of the players was amazing,” the Red Devil said. “It was a little rough adapting to the different pitchers, but I’ve caught many pitchers over the year.”

According to Jason Dambach, the Curve’s director of broadcasting and communications, the all-star concept for high school baseball players was a relatively novel one.

“Kids that play football in this area have a lot of opportunities with different all-star games, but there really isn’t any major all-star game for baseball,” Dambach said. “We’ve hosted many high school events here at the ballpark – the state championships, the District 6 finals and the Curve Classic – so we’re used to dealing with a lot of the high school programs.

“Putting this All-Star Classic together, was a lot of work in the first year, but I think the first event went really well.”

Notes: The other area players for the South were Mike Sprowl (Conemaugh Township) and Kyle Bowser (North Star). ... Ridgway’s Jerico Weitzel from the North squad was selected the MVP.



Cory Isenberg is a sports writer for The Tribune-Democrat.

        

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