MUSKEGON — Reeths Puffer’s Kaden Edwards was a star among stars in the annual baseball extravaganza played Wednesday night at historic Marsh Field.
Edwards collected three hits and drove in three runs as his farewell gift to Reeths-Puffer coach Butch Attig, who guided their Red team to a 7-2 victory over the Blue squad in the Greater Muskegon High School Baseball All-Star Game.
It was the final game in the longtime coaching career of Ravenna’s Paul Herremans, who led the Blue team. Herremans, a Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer, amassed more than 500 victories in his 32 seasons as a head varsity coach.
The annual all-star game featured 18 players on each team, all seniors from the lakeshore area hailing from as far south as Grand Haven to as far north as Ludington.
Check out the photo gallery above, followed by the highlights and notes below as well as a video from the event:
The Blue team made a final bid in the top of the sixth, when it trailed 4-2. Aidan Buchberger led off with a single and he raced to third on an errant pickoff attempt. That would be as far as he’d get, however, as Fruitport’s Gavin Reames and Montague’s Colton Blankstrom combined to strike out the next three Blue team batters to end what proved to be that squad’s final threat.
The Red team blew it open in the bottom of the sixth with a three-run inning. Shelby’s Joseph Hayes reached on an error to lead off the inning and eventually scored on a single by Mona Shores’ Mark Konecny. Mona Shores teammate Diego Pena and Reames also contributed run-scoring singles in the big inning. When the smoke cleared, the Red team had put the game out of reach en route to the 7-2 final.
Pena finished with two hits, an RBI and run scored for the Red team.
Reames collected a pair of hits, an RBI and a run scored for the Red squad.
Leading the Blue team was Western Michigan Christian’s Sam Liggett, who singled, doubled and drove in a run.
Reeths-Puffer’s Brody Panozzo, Mona Shores’ Jason Anderson and Muskegon Catholic Central’s Sam Convertini each had hits for the Blue team.