The regular seasons were done, the postseason tournaments were done and the champions crowned. It was time to have some fun on the diamonds.
Adams County baseball all stars were on showcase in West Union on July 25 with players participating in their leagues all-star games and home run derbies.
Austin Newkirk from Peebles took home the honor of being crowned home run derby champion for the A-league on a sun-baked afternoon in a season that at times was plagued by monsoon-like weather.
“Well I knew it’d be a close one with [Stephen] Penn right after me but I’d rather it be him beating me than anyone else,” Newkirk said. “It was definitely a good way to end my last year of ball though.”
Newkirk said he felt good a few pitches in and was confident he could take the title.
“After the first couple I felt good,” Newkirk said. “I just knew I had to wait on the right pitches if I wanted to win.”
Rickey DeAtley from Manchester said it was enjoyable to be out on the diamond one last time as a high school player.
“I liked having the pleasure to play with all the seniors for the last time,” DeAtley said.
Another player hanging up his A-ball uniform is Jordan Carpenter who said it was nice to play and get to know many of the players from Adams County better since he grew up in neighboring Brown County.
“Being able to play in Adams County was just my favorite memory,” Carpenter said. “I grew up playing knothole in Brown County and never got the chance to play against these other kids other than high school. It was nice making new friends through the game I love, and playing against new competition.”
Carpenter said during the game it was nice to be able to converse with some of the players he may not the chance to play with again, at least competitively.
“It was just exciting to be able to play with all the other players,” Carpenter said. “I’ve always known of a lot of them, so it was nice to actually play and talk with them.”
North Adams player Noah Bunn said the coolest part of the all star game was getting to pitch for the first time in his career. Bunn sat down the opposing lineup in order with two strikeouts.”
“It was pretty awesome,” Bunn said.
