DeKalb County All-Star Baseball Classics Set for Tuesday, May 27

By: Mark Brock, DeKalb County Athletics Information Officer

Georgia State University is set to host the 2014 DeKalb County Junior and Senior All-Star Baseball Classics for the second consecutive year on Tuesday, May 27 in a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m.

The Sixth Annual Junior All-Star Baseball Classic kicks off the evening of baseball at the GSU Baseball Complex next to Panthersville Stadium at 4 p.m. as 30 of the top DeKalb County juniors close out the 2014 season.

The East Juniors are looking to even the series with the West at 1-0 in the second year of the East-West format after dropping a 12-0 decision in 2013.

Tucker’s Vince Byams heads the coaching staff for the East squad and will be assisted by Richard Gaines of Martin Luther King as they get their team ready to play.

Martin Luther King’s Jordan Thomas (.537) and Arabia Mountain’s Jakobi Myers (.500) are both hitting .500 on the season and lead the East batters. Redan’s James Nelson has 39 RBI for the year while Stephenson’s Tekwann Whyte follows with 27 and DaAnthony Baker of Redan with 22 to give the East a formidable line up.

Kameron Young (27) and Dexter Neal (20) provide big threats on the base paths for the East with 20 or more stolen bases each.

The pitching staff features three players with earned run averages (ERA) below 2.00 in Tucker’s Jake Lovvorn (0.82), Marcus Young (1.21) and Tekwann Whyte (1.46). Young is 9-2 on the mound this season while Lovvorn and Whyte are both 6-2.

West coaches Chan English (Dunwoody) and Pete Bartlewski (Druid Hills) will counter with a line up that features seven players with 20 or more RBI on the season.

Leading the way is a quintet from Columbia in Trent Nash (39), Ronald McGhee (38), Jalen Atterbury (23), Justin Washington (23) and Keishun Clark (20). Decatur sends a pair of run producers in Zak Schulman (4) and Luke Bumgardner (20).

Cedar Grove’s James Hartsfield brings a .479 batting average and speed on the base paths with his 37 stolen bases on the season. Columbia’s Atterbury (35), Clark (20) and Washington (19) are also dangerous running the bases.

The pitching staff has three in the rotation with over 35 innings on the mound and an ERA less than 2.00. Columbia’s Atterbury is 8-2 on the season with a 1.24 ERA while Druid Hills’ Will Bryant is 5-0 with a 1.67 ERA and Dunwoody’s Kevin Smith matches the 1.67 ERA of Bryant with is 5-3 record.

12th Annual Senior All-Star Classic

The longest running annual All-Star game in the county features 36 senior baseball players participating in front of the home fans for the final time in their careers as the West works to even the series at 1-1 after falling in a tight 3-1 game in 2013.

The West head coach for 2014 is 300-game winner Steve Dennis (Columbia) with Chamblee’s Brian Ely assisting.

Dennis and Ely have a roster that includes 15 players with 11 RBI or more led by Cedar Grove’s Deion Sellers. Sellers hit .557 on the season with 26 RBI, including 11 doubles, 3 triples and 1 homerun, and stole 63 bases. Columbia’s Ryan Knox knocked in 21 runs on the season.

Sellers is not the only base stealing threat for the West as both William Belcher of Columbia and Emaeus Thomas of Druid Hills have collected 34 stolen bases each in 2014. Brian Smith of Towers brings 27 more stolen bases to the roster giving the West a wealth of speed and threats on the bases.

Lakeside’s Tyler Povlsen has the most innings pitched for the West pitching staff with 34 2/3 innings with a solid 4-1 record and 2.83 ERA. Dunwoody’s Kyle Smith is 2-0 with an 1.83 ERA in 15 1/3 innings. Lakeside’s Bobby Tippett has 34 strikeouts in 34 innings on the mound with a 2-2 record and 2.47 ERA while Cedar Grove’s Joe Malcolm is 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA.

Stephenson’s Marco Jackson, coming off a Stephenson program-best record of 26-5, heads-up the East All-Stars with Lithonia’s Pierce Jackson assisting.

The East offense has six players with 20 or more RBI on the season led by Redan’s Mile Fore with 24, Daren Osby (Redan) with 23, Southwest DeKalb’s Kevin Wimbish (East Junior MVP in 2013) 22, Stephenson’s Harrison Moore with 21 and Redan’s Corderias Dorsey and Tucker’s Tyler Sampson with 20 RBI each.

The pitching staff is led by the Redan duo of Corderias Dorsey (6-3, 1.72 ERA) and Daren Osby (7-0, 1.79 ERA).  A third Raider, Miles Fore put up a 5-1 record with a 2.92 ERA.