9 Orange Belters lead East All-Stars

They’ve dominated the competition at the local league levels.

Now, the Orange Belt’s brightest baseball stars will see how they stack up against All-Stars like themselves.

Though 11 players were selected from among Porterville, Monache, Granite Hills, Lindsay and Exeter, nine are expected to play in Saturday’s East-West All-Star game at Lions Field in Exeter at 7 p.m.

“This is just an enjoyable experience for the kids out there,” said Tulare Union coach Kevin Brown, who will be assisting Tulare Western coach Ken Searcy as the East’s head coach. “It’s the last game for a lot of these guys and it’s good to be part of that whole experience.”

Porterville pitcher Joe Tuttle and Monache catcher Dylan Rogers will be tending to other obligations.

But the 2009 East team will have no shortage of talent on hand.

Porterville shortstop Phillip Carganilla will be joined by teammate second baseman Daniel Rueger to anchor the infield defense. They’ll also get help from infielders Gabe Malandrini (Granite), Angel Diaz (Lindsay) and Cesar Lemus (Lindsay).

Monache outfielder Micah McCrillis will team up with Exeter’s Tyler Edwards while pitchers Jason Tredway (Granite) and Dakota Kirkman (Exeter) will share time at the mound in the extended, nine-inning contest.

“It’s nice to be able to get in a situation with people you played against all season,” said Brown, who once played in the same game during his senior year of high school before getting drafted by the Angels the following year.

Rivals will have to set aside their differences as they take the field together against a tough West team mostly made up of Visalia’s finest. After one of the five practices held this week, the Marauders’ McCrillis and the Panthers’ Carganilla were found walking off the diamond as familiar foes.

“It’s pretty cool,” McCrillis said of playing alongside opponents opposite his own dugout. “The competition’s a little tougher here.”

Added Carganilla, “That’s what’s good about it — we’re playing with guys who know what they’re doing.”

Carganilla said the practices have been pretty tame, “basically just hitting and fielding a couple of ground balls.”

But at the All-Star level, what else is there to learn?

“There’s nothing, really, to teach them,” Brown said. “(Practices are) more about trying to balance guys. You have 20 guys you’re trying to get in nine innings. We try to find out what other guys can do if we need them to step in in different positions.”

Brown added the coaches’ jobs are to simply get the players acclimated with one another.

“The last thing you want is a pop-up hit to your outfielders and it gets dropped because of a lack of communication,” said Brown, who will be bringing two of his own Redskin players — James Guerrero and Daniel Baker.

Carganilla, who said the coaches hadn’t yet decided on a starting lineup, isn’t concerned about the pressures of winning.

“(Brown) just told us to have fun, relax and enjoy the game,” he said.