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Baltimore Orioles: Aberdeen Ironbirds Compete In All-Star Game

By Chuck Boemmel

BALTIMORE, MD - MARCH 29: Fans enter the ballpark before the Minnesota Twins play the Baltimore Orioles in their Open Day game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on March 29, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD - MARCH 29: Fans enter the ballpark before the Minnesota Twins play the Baltimore Orioles in their Open Day game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on March 29, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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The New York-Penn League held their All-Star Game on Wednesday in New York.  Six Baltimore Orioles prospects from the Aberdeen Ironbirds participated in the game and it’s worth a look at how they performed.

Wednesday night in New York, the New York-Penn League held its’ All-Star Game at Richmond County Bank Ballpark, the home of the Staten Island Yankees (New York affiliate).  The Blue All-Stars, featuring players from Batavia, Brooklyn, Lowell, Mahoning Valley, Tri-City, West Virginia and Williamsport, defeated the Red All-Stars by a score of 7-4.

The game’s MVP was catcher Nathan Perry of the Tri-City Valley Cats (Houston affiliate), who hit a solo home run in his only at-bat in the sixth inning.

Six players from the Aberdeen Ironbirds were named to the Red All-Star team and all of them saw game action.  The Ironbirds participating in the game were pitcher Ryan Conroy, infielder Andrew Fregia, outfielder Dalton Hoiles, pitcher Leonardo Rodriguez, outfielder Kyle Stowers and infielder Toby Welk.

None of the Aberdeen players started the game; the all entered as either relief pitchers or as pinch hitters.

Conroy entered in the second inning and faced six batters in one inning of work.  He allowed two runs on four hits (two singles and two doubles) and allowed both runs after inducing Jared Triolo (West Virginia) to ground into a double play.  He also left one runner stranded.

Fregia entered that game in the 5th inning and played second base.  He finished the day 1 for 3 (a 5th inning single) with one strikeout.

Hoiles, who entered the game in the 7th inning, finished in right field and went 0 for 2 with one strikeout.

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Rodriguez pitched a clean 5th inning for the Red All-Stars and struck out two, one swinging and one looking.

Stowers, who entered in the 5th inning, was the offensive star among the Ironbirds players.  He played left field and went 1 for 2 ( an 8th inning home run) with one run scored, one RBI and 1 strikeout.  His home run went to the deepest part of the ballpark in left-center field.

In an interview with MiLB.com after the game, he said this of his home run, “Generally in the All-Star Game you get a lot of fastballs and stuff like that, but I got three off-speed pitches my first at-bat and I just told myself to stay on that approach.  I got something early in the count that I didn’t really take advantage of, but I got another one and put good barrel on it.”

Welk, who has had a solid season in Aberdeen, entered in the 5th inning as well and finished 0 for 2 while playing third base.  Following his All-Star appearance, Welk was promoted to Delmarva (A-Low).

Despite a mixed bag of results, the NYPL All-Star Game provided Baltimore Orioles fans with a glimpse of the future; good things are going on in the lower levels of the farm system.

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