| sharon vs. the world all-star game august 15, 2004 ass clown outdoor arena THE WORLD 15 SHARON 13 in a game that drove wedges between teammates to the point where friends and double bluffs nate tomko and matt mcclelland nearly came to blows by the third innning, the deciding factor in the game came from the most unlikely of sources. mikey moroco, the last selection for the world team in the game, turned out to be the hero as his 8th inning leadoff grand slam brought the world team back from a defecit it had sat in for much of the game, earning moroco the all-star mvp award in his first appearance in the game. after jumping out to a 4-1 lead after a first innning commanded by the hitting of dennis lackey, the world watched their lead morph into a 1-run defecit by the end of the second inning as sharon finally got their shit together. in the 5-run second stanza, sharon got 5 consecutive hits, including back-to-back-to-back 3-baggers by shelly goodpastor, nate tomko and billy weisberg. in the early stages of the game, tomko and mcclelland exchanged words a number of times, possibly resulting from their battle hours prior in the finals of the scrum tournament. things began to look ugly when mcclelland, after reaching base on a double, was shoved by tomko and a shouting match escalated to the point where nearly everyone in the area was left either speechless of fleeing for cover. it turned out to be a ruse, however, as the two bluffs open-mouth kissed just as the tension was about to boil over. ted ate another cheeseburger, and the contest continued. sharon padded their bulge in the middle innings when 2-time all-star mvp jon olsavsky entered the fray. paced by olsavsky's leadoff single then base-clearing homerun, sharon crossed the plate 4 times in the fifth to expand their lead to 11-5. the world wasn't done, and answered with 2 runs in the 6th as moroco and jon biddle each tallied run-scoring extra-base hits. unfortunately, sharon got their 6-run lead right back in the home half of the inningon the strength of shelly goodpastor's 2-out, 2-run triple. by the time moroco stepped up...or back, if you will... for his game-altering shot, sharon looked to be on cruise control, coasting to the finish with a 4-run lead and about to re-enter it's starters into the mix. suddenly, the game course changed, but sharon was unable to answer in the eight as knight and corbett missed singles and tomko's grand slam attempt went in-and-out. in the top of the ninth, the world stayed red-hot as moroco, frankovich and mcclelland rattled of three straight hits to build a 15-13 lead before a tomko double play ended the scoring. in the bottom half of the inning, olsavsky led off with a single, but knight andf corbett again went down in succession, the latter resulting in a biddle doube play to end the game with tomko, the reigning homerun derby champ, on deck with a chance to win or tie the game. moroco finished 4 for 5 with a homer, 5 rbi and a double play. world captain jon biddle hit 6 of 9 shots, tho none were outside of the double range, and tapped in 4 double plays. dennis lackey finished with a 5 for 9, 4 rbi performance. sharon was led by olsavsky's 4 for 5 outing with a pair of rbi. tomko hit on 4 of 5 with 2 rbi and 3 double plays, while billy weisberg went 3 for 8 and drove in 4. world all-star pat lackey became the first player in all-star history to fail to register a stat after going 0-for-5. good job, pat! ALL-STAR FESTIVITIES HOME |