Midwest League All-Star game leaves Eastern Division Halved;
Last minute replacement named MVP

Ketan Dhawan
MinorLeagueNews.com

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa –When it was announced that Howie Kendrick was out of the All-Star game, Western Division fans were disappointed. With Kendrick, an MLN FAB 50 player, out of the game with a groin pull, the West had no second baseman. At the last second a replacement was announced, and what a replacement he was! Burlington’s Mitch Maier stepped up to the plate in more ways than one.

He was 2-for-3 with an RBI, a run and stolen base to lead the Western Division past the Eastern Division, 6-3, in the 40th Midwest League All-Star Game in Cedar Rapids.

It was the first time that Maier had ever played second base in his life.

The duel began at Veterans Memorial Stadium in front of a standing room crowd of 5,589.

The west opened the gates early, pulling down a run in the second. The East came right back, as Peoria’s Brendan Ryan slammed a solo homer in the third. Battle Creek’s Willie Vasquez added to the lead with a two run pot-shot in the top of the fifth.

Then, in one fall swoop fueled by Maier, the West took over.

The newly appointed second-baseman drove in two on an RBI single, tying the game in the bottom of the fifth. Cedar Rapids Kernal Matt Brown then fired off a two run single to take the lead. As the East fell apart, another Kernal, Matt Pali, drove home the final nail in the coffin with an RBI single, doubling the East’s score.

Fort Wayne’s Dirk Hayhurst took the loss, responsible for all of the fifth running runs given up. Wisconsin southpaw Ryan Feierabend, who Vasquez homered on, was the winning pitcher. Kane County’s Jairo Garcia pitched a scoreless ninth and notched the save.

Maier, for his excellent effort, was named All-Star MVP.