Those lazy, hazy days of summer have just begun for students in the Riverbank area, but a pair of local high school varsity baseball players were part of a special baseball game that hung on, just for an evening, to those high school days.

Two 24-man squads played this past Saturday evening, June 9, in the Modesto Sunrise Rotary High School All-Star Baseball Classic. The game was played under the lights on the Warrior diamond on the Stanislaus State University campus in Turlock.

The former Bruins, recent 2018 graduates shortstop Nik Mayfield and catcher Carlos Villapudua, were part of the Blue team, the North All-Stars, that also included players from Big Valley Christian, Modesto, Modesto Christian, Central Catholic, Downey and Enochs high schools in Modesto, Pitman in Turlock, Central Valley in Ceres, and Orestimba High School in Newman.

Villapudua had an RBI and scored a run; Mayfield scored a run in the game as well.

On the Gold team, the South All-Stars, featured players from Beyer, Gregori, and Johansen high schools in Modesto, as well as Turlock High and Turlock Christian, Oakdale, Ceres, Patterson, Hughson and Waterford.

Gold coaches were from Waterford and Hughson while Blue coaches were from Modesto High and Downey. Riverbank varsity coaches Scott Chambers and Bruce Gong helped out the Blue team.

Where most high school baseball games see two umpires on the field, one behind the plate and one on the bases, Saturday’s all-star game had umpires at all four corners.

The players rotated in and out of the game so that most got about the same amount of playing time, a couple of innings each and the all-star contest was played before grandstands full of family and friends.

After fighting to a 3-3 tie by the third inning, the South team (Gold) ultimately came out on top of the 11-5, nine inning contest.