Lockdown
The International League plays with a vengeance in the 2006 edition of the Triple-A All-Star classic in Toledo.

Jason Blasco
MLNSportsZone.com

TOLEDO- International League manager Larry Parrish made the call to pull the eventual All-Star MVP, the Durham Bull’s Kevin Witt in favor of first basemen Kevin Barker with a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning.

Barker made good on his chance to play by unloading a 2-run blast to put the final nail in the coffin of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) as the International League (IL) shut out the PCL 6-0. 

“You look to see an aggressive night, and with everyone wanting to catch a bus or plane ride home, it helps,” International League manager Larry Parrish of the hometown Toledo Mudhens said. 

Barker’s homerun blast, and an RBI sealed the game. Witt’s 3-for-3 evening, which included a homerun and three RBI’s, stole the show. Witt, who finished one hit short of batting the cycle, was encouraged by teammates to stay in and go for it.

“If I get a triple, it’s going to start snowing,” Witt told his teammates during the game. “I honestly just got lucky and was able to swing the bat well tonight.”

The shortest game in Triple-A history, IL pitching froze the PCL to just two hits, which tied a record for the lowest amount by a team in an All-Star Game, and retired 14 batters in a row.

“We made a lot of first-pitch outs,” manager Mike Jirschele said. “They were just more aggressive then us at the plate.” 

The first score was in the bottom of the third. With Joe Thurston batting, a wild pitch by Ben Hendrickson scored Jorge Velandia. Three batters later, Witt increased the lead to 3-0 by smashing a drive over the right-center field fence.

In the bottom of the seventh, Chris Barker and Ryan Raburn concluded the scoring with back-to-back homers.

“With hitting like this, it makes a manager look good,” said Parrish.

Witt was awarded MVP honors.