Nationals Defeat Americans in Annual American Legion All-Star Game

In the 17th District American Legion Baseball All-Star battle Monday, the National All-Stars dominated in their 15-6 win over the American All-Stars at Waters Field in Vienna.

The game's starters — Eli Facenda of Vienna Post 180 for the Nationals and JT Williamson of Springfield Post 176 for the Americans — kept the game scoreless in the first inning. Williamson gave up a triple to Chris Hanson with two outs, but the third popout of the inning would leave the Nationals scoreless. Facenda struck out two, walked one and gave up a single to Nathan Slater in his outing.

The Nationals broke out in the second inning, scoring seven runs. Ryan Dickt, Robert Banks and Adam Forrer would drive in two runs each for the Nationals and Rob Mannel would drive in one.

The Americans answered in the bottom of the inning with three runs of their own from an RBI single from Tom Woodruff (Centreville Post 1995) and an RBI double from Joe Townsend. The Americans added another run in the fourth with an RBI double from Danny Zdancewicz, putting the score at 7-4 heading into the fourth.

But the Nationals kept the Americans at four runs until the sixth while they tacked on five more runs after a home run from Joe Warren, a hit-and-run with Mason Hauser in the batter's box and Hanson at third base, a steal at home from Forrer, and an RBI double from James Clark.

The Americans scored twice more before the end of the game with an RBI single from James Wiltshire and a sacrifice fly from Bruce Beatty . The Nationals added three more runs on an RBI triple from Facenda and a fielder's choice from Clark, ending the game at 15-6.

"More than anything, [the All-Star game] is used as a way to showcase the talent that's in the league and then try to get scouts from colleges or professional ranks to come out and see guys in this sort of setting," said Aaron Tarr, manager of Post 1976 and a National All-Star coach.

Because of the scouts, the players do have some pressure on them, but it's still a loose atmosphere with an eye on winning.

"It's not as intense as a regular game. You're going up and having fun," said Mason Hauser, who represented Post 180 on the National All-Star team. "It's good to get some playing time in All-Stars because everyone's really good. It's good competition."

The coaches approach their game plans with a similar attitude.

"I think in order to showcase what things the kids do well, I think you have to approach it like a game you want to win," Tarr said. "I don't think coaches are looking for who went 3 for 4, who hit the ball 400 feet. They're looking for the typical things that will happen in the course of the game that you can actually use if they were on their team."

The 17th District American Legion league is gaining popularity again after a dip in the last few years. This year, the league comprises nine teams. Last year it had seven, and at its height it had 12.

Regardless of how many players are in the league, the Legion hosts the All-Star game as a way to acknowledge the kids who have been playing well, said Bill Murphy, the 17th District Baseball Chairman.

"It makes kids want to participate when they know they have a local All-Star team to aspire to," Murphy said. "Also, it makes our program look good because we get a lot of scouts come out to the games."

The American All-Stars had players from Centreville Post 1995, Falls Church Post 130, Springfield Post 176, Fairfax Post 177.

Alexandria Post 24 provided players to both teams. The National All-Stars also consisted of players from Alexandria Post 129, Arlington Post 139, Vienna Post 180 and Annandale Bicentennial Post 1976.

Relief pitchers

National: Alex Hurst (2nd inning), Chris Cattaneo (3rd), Ben Garner (4th), John Beck (5th), Rob Mannel (6th), Gavin Gibbons (7th), Chuck Feola (8th), Andrew Bladen (9th)

American: David Lehner (2nd), Phillip Morse (3rd), James Wiltshire (4th), Matt Keen (5th), John Duffy (6th), Collin Bowyer (7th), Justin Dreschel (8th), Bruce Beatty (9th)

Hits

National: Chris Hanson (triple, double), Joe Warren (double, home run, single), Ryan Dickt (double, single), Rob Mannel (single), Eli Facenda (double, triple), Robert Banks (double), Adam Forrer (double), Isidro Lopez (double), James Clark (double), Mason Hauser (single)

American: Nathan Slater (single), Patrick Still (single), Tom Woodruff (single), Joe Townsend (double), JP Kaczmarek (single), Danny Zdancewicz (double), John Duffy (single), Herminio Azor (double), James Wiltshire (single)

RBI

National: Dickt (2), Mannel (1), Banks (2), Forrer (2), Warren (1), Mason Hauser (1), Clark (3), Facenda (2)

American: Woodruff (2), Townsend (1), Zdancewicz (1), Wiltshire (1), Beatty (1)