Wednesday, July 2, 2008

LLMSL American, National all-star teams to clash for 17th time

First-place Sox, Rebels each send five players to Fourth of July game

Jason W. Brooks News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jbrooks@news-bulletin.com

Los Lunas A good thing to bring to Friday's Los Lunas Men's Softball League All-Star festivities would be sunscreen. Or a raincoat. Or insect repellent. Or all three.

The varied weather conditions of July afternoons have all visited the league's all-star game in its first 16 years, and last year, fierce winds during the annual home run derby yielded to rain and a shifted wind during the all-star game itself. The action on the field took almost as many turns as well.

In what has become a Fourth of July tradition, the Americans and Nationals will meet Friday at 6 p.m. at the Daniel Fernandez Park softball field for a 6 p.m. game, prefaced by the 5 p.m. home run derby.

The American Division triumphed 31-30 in 2007 on a final-inning rally, capping the closest game in the history of the series. The offense-packed event stacks players with the best hitting statistics against one another, with the first-place team getting the most spots on the all-star roster.

As usual, the Sox lead the American Division with a 13-2 record, having knocked off the National Division-leading Rebels, 24-12, in a Monday night game.

Crews with the Village of Los Lunas had to work Monday to repair storm damage to the Fernandez Park field.

Players earn points for batting average, hits, runs and RBI that are used to calculate where they rank on their team. The most frequent champion in the home run derby, Ramon Barela, is one of only two players from Sunrise Builders, a team that is in fourth place in the American Division.

Barela, a man built like someone who could win a home run contest while wrestling both a polar bear and a mountain lion, was nearly beaten in the event last season. He and Gerry Degraff each were the only ones to a hit a homer in regulation before Barela finally hit one just over the left-field fence in sudden death.

The wind was blowing in against hitters in the 2007 derby, but was blowing out during the game, leading to numerous home runs. Isaac Delgado hit three of those home runs, though pitcher Eliseo Aguirre, who also drove in the winning run, was voted the MVP.

Aguirre, however, is one of many league notables not to return to the all-star team in the statistic-based system. He plays for the Sox, a team that competes statewide and has many stars.

The Sox are represented in this year's game by Josh Kerns, Randy Castillo, Aaron Yalch, Eric Gonzales and Degraff. The Rebels, the first-place team in the National Division, will send Josh Hernandez, Rick Salas, Andres Rascon, Ryan Van Landingham and Carlos Castillo to the game.

Rascon and Van Landingham are among seven first-time all-stars to be picked for the 2008 game. The others are Bobby Baca (Sunrise Builders), Patrick Ortiz and Carlos Serafin (Crushers) for the Americans, plus Mark Beltron (Familia Auto Sales), Mike Garcia (Crunch Time), Allen Wells and Zach Johnson (Iron Birds) for the Nationals.

The Americans are coached by Ray Chavez and Angel Garcia of the Sox, while the Nats will be helmed by Chris Baca and Pat Baca of Crunch Time.

There will be no "B" division all-star game this year for teams below the top four places, as there are only 11 total teams in the LLMSL this year. The league averages around 14 teams.

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