MODESTO — On Saturday, visitors of John Thurman Field purchased programs that read the 2010 Modesto Sunrise Rotary Baseball Classic: 21st Annual High School All-Star Baseball Game. The purpose of the game was to gather all the best high school juniors and seniors from cities such as Turlock, Waterford, Modesto and Denair. Usually, the games aren't meant to be serious.

Not this year.

On Saturday, spectators witnessed two competitive games from small-school and large-school athletes, with a good chunk of them being area kids.

In the end, the East Large-School Team had to rally from six runs to win 9-7 over a West Large-School Team consisting of Turlock High's Kevin Kramer, Vince Wheeland, Ryan Brown and Ryan Flood and Pitman's Hayden Baldwin, Colton Risley and Clay Cozzitorto.

In the small-school game, which was played during the early afternoon first, no winner was declared. That's because after eight innings and a 10-10 tie, officials ended it prematurely — after it had been running for three hours — to give the large-school players enough time to warm up.

In that game, Denair's Brett Arnold, Brian Willis and Craig Miller and Turlock Christian's Robbie Smallwood, Trevor Starn and Cody Alldrin represented for the West Small-School All-Stars.

Also, Turlock's Mark de la Motte and Turlock Christian's Jon Valenti coached the large-school and small-school all-stars, respectively.

“It's a fun experience,” said Pitman's Baldwin. “You get one last game after high school is over. You know, you play against all these guys through high school. Here, you get to know some of these guys better.”

To contact Chhun Sun, e-mail csun@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2041.