For Peyton Maddox, the result was secondary, even if it did go in his team’s favor. The West All-Stars topped the East, 9-7, Wednesday night at Liberty Baseball Stadium in the VHSCA All-Star Game, and Maddox had a small hand in it, smacking a double early in the contest.
Already enrolled at VMI, the former Amherst standout came back to Lynchburg to play in front of a loud group of friends and family at LU. Just the experience of being able to represent his school and community in the showcase event was enough to leave him satisfied.
“It was amazing,” Maddox said. “I met a bunch of new guys and made a bunch of friendships that will last, maybe even forever. I’ll be playing against a lot of these guys in college baseball. It’s something I’ll never forget.”
One of those guys will probably be West MVP Michael Smith, who pitched and settled his team down with two scoreless innings and hit a key single during the West’s game-tying three-run rally in the seventh.
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The seemingly random order of the teams had Smith, who attended South County in Lorton, about eight miles from the Potomac River that forms Virginia’s eastern border, playing for the West. He’ll be an infielder for George Mason next spring, but it was his pitching that got his team back into the contest after it trailed 4-0 early.
“My coach just told me to get the first-pitch strike,” Smith said. “I didn’t really get it at first, but that calmed me down. Then I just focused on throwing strikes.”
The East got a strong pitching performance from Maddox’s Amherst teammate, DA Christian, who struck out three in 1 1/3 innings to close out the game in keep the East within striking distance.
“I actually really wanted to hit against him,” Maddox said. “But he threw really well. It was a little weird to be on the other team, but he threw tremendous. So I’m happy for him. He played well.”
Christian stopped the bleeding in the top of the eighth with a strikeout, ending the West’s four-run rally. He pitched a perfect ninth, opening the door for a rally. Northumberland’s Brandon Walker, who was named the East’s MVP, blasted a two-out, two-run home run into the bullpen in left to cut the lead to 9-7, but Dan River’s Dallas Smithers was able to rebound and retire Heritage-Leesburg’s Ryan Price, who is bound for Coastal Carolina, to end the game.
“We just had to let them throw pitches and make sure they were strikes,” Smith said of the West’s late rally. “We jumped on it early, and we weren’t getting many good swings.”
The East built most of its early lead on smart baserunning, capitalizing on several West wild pitches. Of the East’s first four runs, only one was batted in, coming on a sacrifice fly to right from First Colonial’s Joey Brown in the fourth.
New Kent’s Michael Carpenter tied the game at 5-5 in the seventh with a one-out, two-run single with the bases loaded, and the West took the lead for good in the eighth when Chilhowie’s Tyler Pierce scored from third on a wild pitch.
“I think in the beginning, all of us had nerves and some pressure on us from trying to perform in front of the fans and our teammates,” Maddox said. “We started warming up and relaxing a bit. We got our sticks up, and we never got down on ourselves.”
West 9, East 7
WEST 000 002 340 — 9 12 3
EAST 020 021 002 — 7 10 2
Follow Chris Lang on Twitter: @ChrisLangLNA
