Zookeepers trio recount fun week as All-Stars

LEXINGTON COUNTY, S.C. — A light-hearted two-night event that included baseball-related contests was highlighted by the 2023 Coastal Plain League All-Star Game held last week at the home of the Lexington County Blowfish.

The East All-Stars recorded a 10-inning, 8-6 victory over the West All-Stars, which featured Asheboro ZooKeepers Tyler McPeak, Jacob Dienes and Win Scott.

McPeak was 1-for-3 in the contest, while Scott hurled the second inning, giving up one hit and three groundball outs. Dienes pitched the 10th, when errors and miscues allowed the East to score three runs.

“Man, it was a ton of fun,” Scott said. “It was pretty cool to compete against the other guys, but fun and lighthearted. 

“When you see these guys during the season, you’re always in attack mode. This was a cool way to create a bond. It was a cool experience with other guys from the CPL.”

Scott competed in the pitching portion of the skills challenge, which saw bats being placed on a platform near home plate. Pitchers had to throw from the mound and knock as many bats down as possible. Scott nailed three out of six, the second-best performance.

In the game, he surrendered a bloop single but had no other troubles in a scoreless second inning.

“A little less worried about the results of it,” Scott said. “You do want to do well and you want your team to win. You give him your best stuff and he puts his best swing on it and whatever happens happens.”

It was McPeak’s two-out RBI single in the ninth inning that tied the game for the West and sent the game into extra innings.

“It was a ton of fun getting to meet a lot of guys who I was familiar with from playing against and then getting to meet them and getting to know them was a lot of fun,” McPeak said. 

“We spent almost two full days and kind of built a relationship with some of them. We got to meet some new people.”

The event began last Tuesday with an autograph session for fans, and a CPL All-Star Skills Challenge, which featured bunting, pitching and a home run derby. The East squad won the overall skills competition, including the home run derby, which was highlighted by former CPL and MLB slugger Mark Reynolds hitting for both the East and West squads. Reynolds, who hit 298 career home runs with Arizona, Baltimore, Cleveland, New York Yankees, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Colorado and Washington, hit for 90 seconds for the East and 90 seconds for the West. He managed one home run for the East and two for the West.

“It was awesome to sit on the field and watch them put on a show,” McPeak said. “There were some really good hitters there. I was kinda speechless watching them hit some balls into the Lexington night.”