Top baseball players from Baldwin and Mobile teams represented their school one more time last Thursday at the Senior Showdown, Lower Alabama’s inaugural senior baseball all-star game hosted by the Mobile MOBSTERS at McGill-Toolen’s Archbishop Lipscomb Complex.

The Baldwin All-Stars, coached by Fairhope’s Kyle Hunter, Gulf Shores’ Chris Jacks and Bayside Academy’s Matt Limbaugh, earned an 11-6 win to secure bragging rights, for now.

Reminiscent of 69 installments of the East-West All-Star Game that was last played in 2012, the MOBSTERS foresee a new tradition was started Thursday night.

“It's a good thing for the players and the community. It's something we're going to do on a yearly basis,” said Joey Warner with Mobile Baseball Connection. “It means something to the parents because they get to see their kids play against really good competition that they've been playing against for years. For the coaches, it gives them another opportunity to blend in with players they coached against during the season, and now they can use them as their players.”

Baldwin offense a ticking time bomb

Although that cohesion took a while for the Baldwin All-Stars to produce offense, a nine-run explosion took over the final two innings to lead them to victory. Eli Woody from Baldwin County High School and Connor Gehr from Gulf Shores High School delivered two-RBI doubles to pace a seven-run seventh inning which led to a 9-5 lead.

Another Baldwin County Tiger, Jaxen Schuler, capped the highlights with a two-run home run in the eighth inning for his first round-tripper of the season.

“The home run felt great. It was one of those that you just knew as soon as you hit it, it was gone,” Schuler told Warner. “I had an amazing experience at the Senior Showdown getting to meet some pros. Got to play with a bunch of good ball players and good buddies. Thank you for the experience.”

Pitchers share the load

Foley’s Logan Snowden started the game and pitched two innings with one strikeout before six others logged one inning. Mac Anderson (Gulf Shores), Tucker West (Orange Beach), Jay Davidson (Daphne) and Schuler all recorded two strikeouts in their efforts and Landen Walker (Baldwin County) added one strikeout in his frame of work. Jackson Beck (Gulf Shores) was credited with the win on the hill.

One of the leaders of the Baldwin All-Stars said both the staff and players shared a winning sentiment.

"I thought we had a really good turnout for the event with some stud players. I really enjoyed the chemistry of our Baldwin County team and enjoyed watching the players having such a great time together and competing," Gulf Shores’ Coach Jacks told Warner. "I have been part of all-star games in the past where winning and losing didn't have much value. Not this game, both teams truly wanted to win and it made it extremely fun. I look forward to watching this event grow and being a part of this annual event. This game is going to be something the players, parents and coaches in both counties will look forward to annually. A big thanks to the Mobile Mobsters for everything they do and putting together this great event."

It all goes back to the community

The all-star game was designed to involve the entire Lower Alabama community as the $5 admission fee could have been exchanged for a donation of baseball equipment.

“For the community, we collected equipment for an admission charge, and we're going to give back to inner-city schools that are less fortunate, against some of the schools that do have a lot of equipment for their teams,” Warner said.

The MOBSTERS is an organization of former players and coaches that raises funds and collects used equipment to support inner-city baseball. MOBSTERS, which stands for “Mobile Organized Baseball Society Teaching Every Relevant Skill,” also conducts baseball clinics at area schools and recreation parks.

Honorary members recognized

With a schedule conflict against the semifinals of the AHSAA State Baseball Championships, Baldwin representatives from Spanish Fort and Bayshore Christian were relieved for preference to the playoffs.

John Henry Winstead, Ethan Kick, Brayden Cooper, Jack Holley and Hayes Miller from the Toros as well as Braden Preus from the Eagles were recognized as honorary members as they pursued their tickets to the state finals.

Full Baldwin roster

The Baldwin All-Star squad for the inaugural Senior Showdown was made up of four Baldwin County Tigers (Quincy Walters, Woody, Schuler and Walker) and Gulf Shores Dolphins (Joseph Stephens, Gehr, Anderson and Beck), in addition to three Orange Beach Makos (Tripp Carter, Rylan Gober and West).

The roster also included two each from the Robertsdale Golden Bears (Riley Fuller and Chris Weeks) and Daphne Trojans (Tyler Sorrell and Davidson) as well as singular Fairhope Pirates (Gavin Rehorn) and Foley Lions (Snowden).

Follow @GCMSportsAL on social media for more sights from the contest.