Cole Barr's Sixth-Inning Triple Leads Team Red to All-Star Victory
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — There wasn’t much happening for the Red Team in Thursday night’s College Summer League All-Star Game at Victory Field.
They were trailing 1-0 to the Blue Team heading into the bottom of the sixth, and had very little going on with their bats. But then everything changed.
Two hits and a walk loaded the bases for Indiana senior Cole Barr. There were no outs when he stepped up to the plate, and on the second pitch, Barr corked one into right-center field for a three-run triple to propel his team to a 3-1 lead.
“I was just looking for one down, hoping to get in the zone and put a good swing on it,” Barr said. “And I hit one to right-center.”
Barr had struck out in his first two at-bats, but he didn’t let that deter him when he walked up to the plate in the sixth.
“I didn’t change anything,” Barr said. “It’s baseball. It happens. They've got some really good pitchers and they threw some breaking balls that got me. But I try to keep the same approach, and it panned out for me.”
Indiana pitcher Zach Behrmann then came on the mound to try to get the Blue Team out of the inning. Barr was on third with one out, and was able to score on a passed ball after a third-strike pitch from Berhmann. Barr's run gave the Red Team a 4-1 lead.
The Red Team then had no trouble closing the game out, winning the contest 4-2.
There were 10 Hoosiers who competed in the game, the most players representing one collegiate team during the All-Star event.
Every player saw action except for Grant Richardson and Ethan Vecrumba, who were both wearing shorts during warmups.
Indiana's Cole Barr makes a play at third base during the College Summer League All-Star at Victory Field in Indianapolis (Photos by Anna Tiplick for Sports Illustrated Indiana)
Anna Tiplick
Barr made his mark on the game more than any other Hoosier, largely due to his triple in the sixth, but he also made several big defensive plays. When Hoosier Braydon Tucker came in to pitch during the top of the fifth, teammate Cooper Trinkle got a base hit off of him. But then the next batter hit into a 6-4-3 double play, which was started by Barr, to get Tucker out of the inning unscathed.
In the top of the eighth, some good hustle by Kip Fougerousse after he hit a ground ball led to an errant throw to first base, which allowed the Blue Team to get their second run of the game.
The Red Team, which only featured three Indiana players, really caught fire toward the end of the game, which led to their victory. They had seven total hits for the game as opposed to the Blue Team’s four.
The Blue Team had runners at the corners with two outs in the top of the ninth, but in the end, it didn’t muster to anything.
There are about 18 games left in the season for the 12 teams in the league, which plays its games at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind., just north of Indianapolis. There are a total of 17 IU players in the league.
As for Barr, Thursday night was his night in front of the biggest crowd they’ve played at this summer at Victory Field. Barr was all smiles after the game knowing he was the one to beat seven of his IU teammates, as well as other players across the state he’s close with.
“Hitting off guys I’m really good friends with — it’s fun playing with people you haven’t really played with before, and you’re good friends with, so that’s pretty cool," Barr said.
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