The North won the sixth annual Sun Conference All-Star Game 14-10. The offensive standouts for the south were 3B Eric Santamaria of Saint Thomas and C Carlos Contreras of Northwood (FL). Both went 3-for-3; Santamaria had three RBI, and Contreras had two. For the North, Dylan Heiring of Warner and RHP Sean Stanislawski of Webber International both struck out all three batters they faced. (All of the pitchers in the game pitched one inning.) Story

Conference play has already started in the Golden State Athletic Conference, with all eight teams in action. And, the two teams predicted to be the best in the conference, Concordia-Irvine and The Master's, played each other, at Irvine. Concordia won the first two games, 7-5 and 10-0, and The Master's won the third, 4-2. 1B Daniel Shine singled in the winning run in the first game. He also stole a base, and scored two runs. Story He went 2-4 with four RBI in the second game. Colin Orellana and Garrett Kraemer combined for the shutout; Kraemer allowed only two hits over the last four innings. In the third game, CF-RHP Steve Karkenny picked up from where he left off last year. He drew a walk and scored the winning run (on a double by 1B Collin Nyenhuis) in the top of the sixth, then moved to the mound in the bottom of the sixth, retired all five batters he faced, and got a save. Nyenhuis went 2-for-3 with a home run, a double, and two RBI. Story

Concordia hosts Arizona Christian Jan. 30-31 (video) and The Master's hosts Biola Jan. 30-31 (video). #5 Faulkner opens their season hosting LSU-Alexandria Jan. 30-31, and Northwood (FL) Jan. 31-Feb. 1. #6 Georgia Gwinnett host Blue Mountain Jan. 31-Feb. 1 (video). #9 Missouri Baptist visits William Carey Jan. 30; the Spartans were ranked #1 by Perfect Game (click here for their rankings).

Industriales built up a 5-0 lead over the first five innings, let it get away in the top of the sixth, then put it away with a big bottom of the seventh, in a game characterized by sloppy pitching.

Industriales open the scoring with a double by RF Dairon Blanco and an RBI single by CF Carlos Alberto before the first out was recorded in the bottom of the first. Alberto moved from first to third on a passed ball that C Franklin Aballe had trouble finding, then scored on a sacrifice fly by SS Lourdes Gourriel. They added a home run by 1B Alexander Malleta in the third. In the bottom of the fifth, Industriales benefited from two walks with two out by Holguin starter LHP Lander Moreira. Moreira was replaced by Maikel Sainz, who proceed to hit the first batter he faced, loading the bases. The next batter, DH Lisban Correa, hit a two-RBI single, and Industriales led 5-0. Sainz was replaced by Carlos A. Leon after facing only two batters.

A near-capacity crowd at Estadio Màrtires de Barbados in Bayamo got to see an excellent ball game.

Pinar del Rio was in control of this game for the first eight innings. They got two runs in the top of the first on an RBI double by DH Donal Duarte, and an RBI single by  1B Ramon Lunar. They added a run in the fourth inning with a sacrifice fly by 3B Osniel Madera.

It looked for a long time like these three runs would be enough. Pinar del Rio got an excellent start from Erlis Casanova, who held Granma scoreless for five innings. Both he and reliever Livan Moinelo got some key strikeouts, and were also helped by double plays in the bottom of the first and fifth innings, a strikeout followed by a throw-out at second to end the second inning, and a good play by SS Yanciel Ajete to end the fourth inning with two runners left on base. Granma started the sixth inning with a base hit by SS Adrian Moreno, and Casanova turned the ball over to Moinelo. A long at-bat by LF Guillermo Jose Aviles resulted in a ground ball and Moreno out at second.

My first visit to a baseball game in Cuba was stopped by the mercy rule (“regla chili” in Spanish) after 6 1/2 innings.

Granma loaded the bases in each of the first three innings. In the first inning, they got a run on an RBI double by 1B Guillermo Jose, a two-RBI double by RF Urmani Guerra, and another RBI double by 3B Lazaro Alfredo. They left the bases loaded in the second inning, but in the third inning, they loaded the bases on singles by Guerrai and C Yulexis La Rosa, and an intentional walk, then SS Adrian Moreno hit a grand slam. It was 8-0 after three innings. Granma made it 12-0 in the fifth, with a sacrifice fly by Jose, a two-RBI single by 1B Yordanis Samon, and an RBI single by Guerra.

Granma starter Lazaro Blanco had a shutout with two out in the bottom of the sixth. He should have gotten out of the inning with a double play, but a suspect call at first kept the inning going. On the next play, the shortstop lost the handle on a routine ground ball. DH Alberto Toledo ended the shutout with an RBI single, and RF Lazaro D. Perez hit a shallow single that scored another run. Blanco left the game after that with six hits (three of them in the sixth inning, and two more by CF Robersis Ramos), zero earned runs, and 3 strikeouts.

Defending champion Cumberland starts the 2015 season ranked #1.

First place votes: Cumberland 19, Oklahoma Wesleyan 1

Northwood (FL) C Carlos Contreras and British Columbia LHP Conor Lillis-White are the headliners of the 2015 NAIA Preseason All-America Team.

Contreras transfered from Northwood (TX), which shut down their athletic program. He hit .453 there, with a slugging percentage of .753, fourth-highest in the NAIA.

Lillis-White had the lowest ERA in the NAIA last season, 0.46. He is already 2-0, 0.82 ERA this season.

The Diablos Rojos (Red Devils) of Mexico City and the Rieleros (Railroaders) of Aguascalientes split a double header (two seven-inning games) before a good crowd in Aguascalientes.

First game: This was a good one. The Diablos led the game until the bottom of the seventh. RF Doug Clark got the Diablos on the board with a two-run home run in top of the first inning. They added two more runs in the second inning. LF Ivan Terrazas hit a single, and C Gabriel Gutierrez hit a double. Terrazas scored when SS Juan Carlos Gamboa reached on a fielder's choice.

CF Rubén Rivera made a good catch in center field on a ball hit by 1B Japhet Amador in the top of the third inning. The Rieleros got two runs in the bottom of the third. RF Carlos Peñuelas hit a leadoff single, and scored on a double by LF Oscar Lemus. 2B Ivan Bellazetin hit a bunt single, moving Lemus to third. Lemus scored on a single by 3B Jesse Castillo. The Rieleros added another run in the bottom of the fourth when Peñuelas hit a slash bunt to score Rivera, who had reached on a single. So, the Diablos led 4-3 after four innings.

The Diablos Rojos (Red Devils) of Mexico City lead the North Division of the Mexican League by nine games, with a 62-35 record going into this game. The Rieleros (Railroaders) of Aguascalientes are in seventh place in the North Division, with a 44-52 record, and they will miss the playoffs. Tonight, however, belonged to the Rieleros.

The Diablos took the early lead in the top of the second, with a solo home run by 3B Emmanuel Ávila, and an RBI single by CF Carlos Figueroa. Figueroa bounced a line drive off Rieleros starter RHP Oswaldo Pacheco. (Pacheco got in the way of another line drive in the sixth inning, but was able to recover, pick up the ball, and get the out at first.)

The Rieleros answered with a solo home run by CF Rubén Rivera in the bottom of the second. It was his 20th HR of the season. C Oscar Lemus hit a ground rule double with two out, but a strikeout by Diablos starter LHP Marion Arias ended the inning.

Rivera made a good play in center field in the top of the third, taking away a home run from 1B Japhet Amador. The Rieleros tied the game 2-2 in the bottom of the third on an RBI double by SS Carlos Orrantia. Orrantia went to third on a wild pitch, then scored to put the Rieleros ahead for good on a fielder's choice by 3B Jesse Castillo.

Matt Parker is the Head Coach at Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville.

Bob Broughton, courtesyrunner.com: You've been the Head Coach at Oklahoma Wesleyan for three years, and have had a winning record all three years. You took the Eagles for their first trip to the Baseball National Championship. What were the big factors in turning things around?
Matt Parker: I think the biggest thing for us in the process has been recruiting guys who fit our program and our University. Our coaching staff has really focused on finding those tough, gritty kind of players who fit our style of play. The other factor has been getting guys who buy into and believe in our program and the direction it is headed.

BB: Your team certainly got their money's worth in Lewiston: a ten-inning loss to eventual champion Cumberland, a 12-inning win over Tabor, and an 11-inning win over #1 Oklahoma Baptist. Let's talk about that Cumberland game first. How often does anyone come up against a ten-inning relief appearance?
MP: We definitely got all we bargained for in Lewiston. The relief appearance by the guy from Cumberland [RHP Clint Meadows] was tremendous! If you are going to win a National Championship, you need someone to step up and do something out of the ordinary, and he certainly did that. He really saved their bullpen that night. I thought we did a good job swinging the bat against him. I think we scored 7 runs that game, but he was good at dodging the big inning and keeping it small for them.

BB: And you missed a chance to win it in the ninth with a baserunning mistake. What happened there?
MP: We did have a chance. To be honest, I’m not exactly sure what happened on the play. I know that Jose Ruiz drove the ball down the right field line with Jeff Butler on first. Jeff is a tremendous base runner, but I think got deked a little bit by the ball. I guess he lost the ball in the lights and turned around to see the outfielder catch it off the bounce. Jeff thought he had caught it in the air and began to return to first to tag up. By the time he and Jose saw each other, it was too late and they had passed one another.

Southern Polytechnic State University, in Marietta, GA, announced that they are discontinuing all athletic programs, effective July 1, 2014. The decision was fallout from Southern Polytechnic's merger with Kennesaw State. Press release

This is the loss of a successful baseball program. The Hornets made three trips to the Baseball National Championship. The most recent one was this season, where they got a win over Georgetown College before being taken out by Lewis-Clark State. They were ranked #8 at the end of the season. They got into the Opening Round by winning the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament.

The Hornets has a record of 350 wins and 137 losses since 2007. They won four other conference tournaments.

Also, Virginia Intermont College in Bristol closed its doors in May. The Cobras were 29-18 in 2013, and and 21-30 in 2014.