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McCook players selected for state all-star baseball game
A pair of McCook National Bank Seniors will get a couple more at-bats before the summer Legion baseball season comes to a close.
Cody Broomfield and Shane Wallen have been selected to play for the South squad in the eighth annual Wahoo Area Kiwanis All-Star Classic. The Legion baseball all-star contest is scheduled Saturday, Aug. 7, at Sam Crawford Field in Wahoo, a small community located about a half-hour north of Lincoln.
The Kiwanis All-Star game matches top Legion players from the state's Class B and Class C ranks. Players were nominated by their respective coaches, then 36 players were selected to compete on North and South All-Star squads.
Players will report in Wahoo early Saturday afternoon for a short practice session before the special Hitting Challenge starting at 4 p.m. First pitch in the nine-inning all-star contest will go at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Only Legion players who have graduated from high school are eligible to participate in Saturday's event. Broomfield and Wallen both graduated from McCook High School last spring, but Broomfield still has one more year of Legion baseball eligibility left next summer.
McCook Seniors Legion coach Mike Broomfield said his son has the chance to become the third player in Wahoo Kiwanis All-Star history to be selected to the game two consecutive years if he can make it again next summer.
League all-star game
The McCook players are no strangers to all-star action. Broomfield and Wallen both participated in the Mid-Nebraska League All-Star Game in Kearney earlier this summer. Both are honored to have been selected for Saturday's state-wide contest,and both are looking forward to the experience.
"My last all-star game this year (at Kearney), that was my most fun game of the year," Broomfield said.
Shane said will be be fun to play with and against a group of very talented players Saturday.
"I'm very excited, because the Kearney game was one of the most fun games so far," Wallen said. "It was kind of strange, when you get that many good players, how intense the game was. It was just a lot more up-tempo compared to most of our games."
Wallen also said he's looking at Saturday's event as a reward for all the hard work he has put in playing baseball throughout his Midget Baseball and Legion career.
The all-star teams are divided into North and South teams, with the Platte River the dividing line. Coach Broomfield wasn't sure about any other players who were selected, and there were no rosters available online.
The McCook coach said the all-star games have been very competitive, especially the last two years.
Broomfield said the 2008 game went into extra innings, and last year's contest was won in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Cody and Shane have both played on the Sam Crawford turf, when they competed in a Legion Juniors tournament in Wahoo several years ago.
Special game awards
Several special awards will be presented Saturday, including a trophy for the Hitting Challenge champion, Most Valuable Players for both teams, and the special Sam Crawford Trophy.
The Crawford award will be presented to the individual player who hits the most triples and inside-the-park home runs in the all-star game.
According to the website Wikipedia, Samuel Earl Crawford was one of the top hitters in Major League history.
"Wahoo" Sam Crawford was born in Wahoo, Nebraska April 18, 1880. He spent his childhood in the small Nebraska town before joining the professional baseball ranks. He starred in the outfield for the Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers in the early 1900s. Crawford was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1957.
Crawford's 309 career triples is still a Major League record,and he also holds the Major League for inside-the-park homers in a single season with 12. His 51 career inside-the-park home runs in second in Major League history.