Three Ethel baseball players closed out their high school careers on a winning note. Alex Schuster, Hayden Graves, and Reeves Threadgill were members of the South team that came from behind for a 12-11 victory at the D.M. Howie North/South All Star Game for 1A and 2A teams Saturday at William Carey University.
“Good teams find a way to win and we found a way to win today,” said Ethel Coach Chris Schuster, one of the South's coaches.
Down 11-5 after five innings, the South scored two runs in the sixth, two in the seventh, tied the game on a two-run double by Graves in the eighth, and scored the winning run in the ninth. Tanner Bevard of Sacred Heart reached on an error and scored on a single by Daniel Swain of Enterprise-Clarke.
South pitchers struggled with control through the first five innings. The South outhit the North 15-7 but surrendered six walks and three hit batters. Five who walked and one hit batter came around to score.
It was a different story the final four innings. Four pitchers, one per inning, blanked the North on one hit, retiring 12 of 13 batters, seven by strikeouts.
Schuster played shortstop and third and started a four-run rally in the first inning with a single and scored the game's first run. Graves caught and Threadgill pitched one inning.
The three seniors played key roles as Ethel won Region 5-1A and reached the third round of the playoffs. They enjoyed the all-star game experience.
“It was a fun experience. You don't get to do this every day,” Alex Schuster said.
“It was a great experience to wear the Ethel jersey one more time,” Graves said.
Threadgill said, “It was a fun time. Great guys.”
There have been North/South all-star games in one form or another since 1975, but this is the only fourth time that there was a game for only 1A and 2A teams. North won the first two, South the last two.
