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Guy Lemmon of the Ryan Lemmon Foundation talks to North all-stars after their practice on Sunday at Irvine Valley College. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
Members of the North and South teams had separate practices Sunday at Irvine Valley College in preparation for Wednesday’s 57th annual Orange County All-Star Baseball game at the Great Park.
The game, sponsored by the Ryan Lemmon Foundation, starts at 6:30 p.m.
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
Guy Lemmon, chairman of the Ryan Lemmon Foundation, welcomed players from both teams and wished them well in the game. Players got T-shirts listened to talks from South Coach Burt Call (Villa Park) and North coach Mike Caira (Pacifica).
Irvine Valley College coach Kent Madole also welcomed the players and talked about the major improvements to the Lasers’ home field.
Lemmon was on the phone Sunday morning with CIF officials getting clarification on status of players from Fountain Valley, Villa Park and Santa Margarita, who were all selected for the game.
The three teams were selected for the CIF So Cal regionals that begin Tuesday.
“I talked to CIF (Southern Section official) and they’re allowed to practice as long as their coach isn’t here,” Lemmon said. “On Sundays, coach and player can not have interaction if they’re still playing. Most everybody here is no longer a CIF athlete, the season is over.
“But anybody who is playing Tuesday or Thursday and if they’re lucky enough to continue on (to Saturday), then they cannot play in the game. They can come, they can interact, they just can’t play in the game. But today, the players can be here or the coach can be here, but coach and player can’t talk to each other if they’re still playing high school baseball.”
Lemmon added that if Villa Park wins Tuesday and the Spartans move on to Thursday’s second round, Call would be able to coach the South but South all-star Shawn Romero and Nate Lewis would not be allowed to compete in the all-star game.
Lemmon, who runs the game with Dick Owens and Rex Lyon, said he was pleased with how Sunday’s practices went.
“Some of these guys know each other, some of these guys don’t, I didn’t realize virtually every one of these kids has not been to a previous North-South all-star game,” Lemmon said. “We can’t change the game, but we want to make it as big league as possible and at the very least, the day of is meant to replicate a college experience. They show up and they’re here for six hours. Three hours before they go through a full pre-game, full on field batting, then we have a Major League scout talking to the boys and then we just have fun for nine innings.”
All proceeds go to the Ryan Lemmon Foundation and there is ample parking at the stadium. There will not be a charge for parking.
Check back this week for more features and Wednesday for full coverage of the game.
For video clips, go to X @ocsportszone
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com