High school baseball: Skyline's Nielsen shines during all-star showcase

KEARNS — With 33 of the state's top baseball players on the same diamond, the second annual Marshall Gates Foundation/Deseret News all-star game figured to be closely contested with any of the athletes having a chance of providing the difference in the late innings.

Skyline's Trey Nielsen, however, put the drama away early — and stole the show.

Nielsen hit two three-run home runs to lead the American team to a 15-7 victory over the National team on Tuesday night. Nielsen's first three-run bomb came off Dixie's Chunner Nyberg in the second inning, and he followed it up with a three-run shot off Mountain Crest's Tyler Larsen in the third.

"I guess I got lucky twice," Nielsen said.

Well, not quite. Luck isn't involved when home runs travel as deep as Nielsen's did. He took a curve by Nyberg and a fastball by Larsen deep over the fence at Gates Field. His second home run gave the American team an 8-1 lead.

Nielsen's six RBIs helped put the game out of reach early. American led 15-1 before National made a late charge.

"We crushed them," said Lone Peak's Kade Andrus, who hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning for the American team.

Nielsen, who was the obvious choice for MVP of the game, was a little more diplomatic in his assessment of the contest.

"They're both solid lineups," Nielsen said. "It's just a matter of being on. Maybe some of them weren't swinging as well, maybe our pitching was on. I did expect it to be a close game. I sure didn't expect it to be a (15-7) landslide here."

Pine View's Marcus Littlewood earned MVP consideration after having three hits and making solid plays at shortstop for the American team. The American team was also boosted by Provo's Andy Isom, who had three hits and two RBIs.

Judge Memorial's Keenyn Walker led National's late charge, as he had an RBI single in the seventh and a two-run double in the eighth. Taylorsville's Cody Mullenax hit a two-run home run in the ninth for the National team.

Juan Diego's Steve Cramblitt coached the American team and Cyprus' Bob Fratto coached the National team.

"It was just fun being on the same field with this many great athletes on both sides," Cramblitt said. "It just goes to show you how good Utah baseball is all the way from the north end of the state to the south end. That's the fun part of it."