OSHKOSH – Opening night of the 26th annual Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association All-Star Classic got underway Friday night at E.J. Schneider Field on the campus of Oshkosh North High School Friday night and featured some of the top senior baseball talent in the state.

With four teams covering the quadrants of the state, two games started the celebration of the sport.

The highlights of the night included a couple diving outfield catches – athletic ability helps some players recover from playing a position they’ve never played before which leads to some great plays.

The first two of six games also saw the first home run of the Classic, which was hit by Wausau East’s Michael Parmann in the second inning of the nightcap.

The information on the games are below:

North 4, South 2

The North squad scored a pair of runs in the first and fourth innings and Little Chute’s Zach Coenen withstood a bottom of the seventh rally from the South to close out the victory.

Stoughton’s Sean Garber came to the plate as the winning run in the bottom of the seventh, but Coenen got him to fly out with runners on first and second base after giving up three hits in the inning.

“You just have to try to get through the inning in games like this,” said Coenen, who will attend UW-Oshkosh and play baseball in the fall, of facing the bottom of the South All-Star roster. “Usually when you face the bottom of an order, it’s a bit easier, but when you play here, it was rather difficult.

“During the high school season I didn’t have my curve ball working. During this offeseason, I’ve been working on those quite a bit and it looks pretty good now and that helps a lot.”

Appleton East’s Brett Young was the lone North player with multiple hits, going 2 for 3 with a pair of doubles, two RBI in the fourth and a run scored.

Nekoosa’s Dan Britts went 2 for 2 with an RBI for the South, while Lake Mills star Travis Meyers went 2 for 2 with a double and a pair of stolen bases.

Madison West’s Josh Minkoff came on to pitch in the fifth and was perfect, with three strikeouts for the South.

NORTH…..200 200 0—4 6 1

SOUTH……100 000 1—2 9 2

Pitching: NORTH—Luke Cismoski (W) 4 IP, 3 K, BB, 5 H, R, 0 ER; Zach Coenen (S) 3 IP, 2 K, 4 H, R, ER. SOUTH—Brett Fredericks (L) 3.1 IP, 5 K, 2 BB, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER; Josh Minkoff 3.2 IP, 3 K.

Leading hitters: NORTH—Brett Young 2-3, 2 RBI, R. SOUTH—Dan Britts 2-2, RBI; Travis Meyers 2-2, 2B, 2 SB.

East 7, West 4

Each time the West squad put runs on the board, the East answered and in the fifth took advantage of four errors to plate five runs and put the game out of reach.

After giving up three runs on the mound, Wilmot star Travis Sindles delivered the final blow to the West squad with a two-run single – one of just two hits in the five-run inning – to help himself.

“I think he threw a change up to me, which surprised me because I was really behind the fastball,” said Sindles of his two-run hit. “I haven’t really been hitting all year, but I really clutched up there.”

Sindles attributed the rough fourth inning with the time he took off from throwing after helping lead Wilmot into the WIAA Division 1 state title game.

“After the state tournament, I took this week off from throwing and this got me back in the groove,”  Sindles said. “I should have thrown Tuesday or Wednesday to be ready.”

When he came back out on the mound, he allowed just two hits over the final three innings to salt the game away.

No player had multiple hits in the game, but Michael did blast the Classic’s lone home run thus far in the second inning to put the West on the board. It was the lone hit Oak Creek pitcher Eric Semmelhack gave up in his three innings of work.

The East sent 10 batters to the plate in the fifth inning, and six straight reached with two outs.

EAST…..002 050 0—7 6 2

WEST….010 300 0—4 4 4

Pitching: EAST—Eric Semmelhack 3 IP, 2 BB, H, R, ER; Travis Sindles (W) 4 IP, 3 K, 4 BB, HB, 2 H, 3 R, ER.

WEST—Joel Effertz 3 IP, 2 K, BB, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER; Lucas Warren (L) 4 IP, 2 K, 2 BB, 2 H, 5 R, 2 ER.

Leading hitters: EAST—Jordan Stephans 1-2, RBI; Travis Sindles 1-1, 2 RBI. WEST—Bobby Kachel 1-2, R; Michael Parman 1-2 RBI, R, HR.

Be sure to check out tomorrow’s schedule, here.

Aaron will be back for Day 2 Saturday at E.J. Schneider Field. Be sure to check back Saturday night for full recaps off each game.