By Josh Boyd

June 17, 2001

St. Lucie's Prentice Redman Photo: Robert Gurganus

Boxscore

Fort Myers, Fla.--St. Lucie's Prentice Redman knocked one out of the yard, while Daytona's Nic Jackson brought one back over the fence in the Eastern Division's 4-3 win in Saturday night's Florida State League all-star game.

Redman, 21, entered the game with a .271 average and three home runs, but the wiry 6-foot-3, 185-pound left fielder turned around a Ronnie Corona 92 mph fastball in the sixth inning, which proved to be the deciding factor.

"I got a high fastball up in the zone," Redman said. "He had two strikes on me and tried to get it by me, but I saw it pretty good and fortunately I hit it. I am just happy to be here; it's icing on the cake."

While Redman was awarded the game's Star of Stars award for his heroics at the plate, Jackson's acrobatic catch in right field was worthy of Web Gem consideration. In the third inning, Clearwater second baseman Chase Utley connected for a deep drive against Vero Beach reliever Ricardo Rodriguez that appeared to be headed over the wall in right, but Jackson came racing over and timed his leap perfectly to snag it for a long out.

Thanks to Jackson's defensive wizardry, the hard-throwing Rodriguez pitched a perfect third and picked up the win. Jackson, 21, hit .290-6-36 in the first half, and went 0-3 at the plate for the Eastern all-stars.

Charlotte's Nick Regilio matched up with Vero's Scott Proctor in the FSL's version of the mid-summer's classic. Brevard County's Josh Beckett was the circuit's most dominant pitcher in the first half, going 6-0, 1.23, but he was promoted and made his Double-A debut in Portland Saturday.

Regilio, who tossed the fifth perfect game in league history June 10, received word before the weekend that the FSL all-star game would be his last in Class A as he had his ticket punched for Double-A Tulsa. The 22-year-old righthanded Rangers prospect didn't allow a hit, but he wasn't perfect, walking two in his one-inning start. Proctor set down the three hitters he faced in order, setting the tone for the East.

The Western division got on the board in the second inning, scoring a pair of runs against 2000 first-rounder Billy Traber. The up-and-coming lefty struggled with his control and walked Tampa's Mitch Jones, and proceeded to surrender back-to-back hits, including a double off the top of the center field wall by Sarasota slugger Luis Garcia.

After answering with a run on a run-scoring double by Daytona shortstop James Deschaine, who won the pre-game home run derby with an impressive power display, the East scored two unearned runs in the fourth. The muscular middle-infielder is not known for his power, though he entered the contest with eight jacks to go with his .314 average.

Deschaine, 23, livened up an otherwise lackluster home run derby with seven home runs in the final round, including several blasts that cleared the palm trees beyond the left field wall. The unheralded Cubs prospect even surprised himself, with his parents on hand from Bristol, Conn.

"I wasn't even loose, nobody was loose," he said, after taking batting practice two hours earlier. "It felt good, I am excited. Everybody comes out to see home runs."

Last year's Midwest League all-star game MVP and Brevard County DH, Matt Padgett, led off the fourth with a double down the right field line for the East. He came around to score, along with Daytona catcher Ryan Jorgensen, thanks to Garcia's throwing error.

Garica made up for his fielding miscue by driving in a run in the sixth, finishing the game as the only all-star with more than one hit. But it wouldn't be enough. Four Eastern relievers combined to shut out the West over the last 3 2/3, including Lakeland's Stephen Bess, who notched the save with a game-ending punch out of Anderson Machado.

The Western bullpen tried to match its counterpart by firing 3 1/3 perfect innings of relief after serving up the bomb to Redman. Juan Padilla, Greg Runser and Oscar Martinez each hurled one, two, three innings combining for four strikeouts, but it was too little too late.