Missouri Rallies Late; But Illinois Secures All-Star Win

By Jayden Shuman

The 12th annual Missouri vs. Illinois All-Star Game at Veterans Field in Hannibal took place Saturday night. The area’s best baseball athletes, who were invited, competed in the Cross River Classic. Missouri took the home side of the scoreboard, while Illinois took the guest side.

Illinois jumped out to an early lead with a double from Quincy High’s Cameron Lawson, who brought home Pittsfield’s Hayden Gratton for the first run of the game. Quincy High’s James Day made it a 2-0 ballgame with a fielder’s choice, scoring Lawson.

In the top of the fourth, Pittsfield’s Hayden Gratton struck again and hit an RBI triple to make it a 4-0 game. Cameron Lawson drove in another run to increase Illinois’ lead to 5.

In the top of the 6th, Hayden Gratton had his 3rd hit and 2nd RBI, and a single from Illini West’s Wesley Robertson made it an 8-0 game going into the bottom of the 6th.

Missouri’s bats finally got hot in the bottom of the 6th when North Shelby’s Cole Browning hit a double and later scored on a wild pitch to give the Missouri All Stars their first run of the game. Missouri got momentum off the double and rallied 6 runs on just 2 hits to make it 8-6

The bottom of the 7th saw Centralia’s Luke Waltemate knock in an RBI and make Missouri’s comeback down to a one-run differential. In the bottom of the 8th, Cole Browning struck again with his 2nd double but got stranded at second.

Avery Freese would shut everything down in the bottom of the 9th, and Illinois would hold on to their early lead to win the game 8-7.

Missouri MVP’s:

Cole Browning, North Shelby

Luke Waltemate,  Centralia

Illinois MVP’s:

Hayden Gratton, Pittsfield

Cam Lawson, Quincy High