The Empire Professional Baseball League held its all-star game and home run derby at the Petrova Avenue field, and players on the host team – the Saranac Lake Surge – who took part in the event had quite a successful day.

The home run derby kicked off the afternoon of fun on a fine day in front of a crowd of more than 200 baseball fans, as well as the dozens of youngsters who were admitted to the event for free. The all-star game pitted the North Country division against the South Caribe division, with eight members of the Surge competing for the North Country team.

When the diamond dust settled, Surge players Taran Tani and Stephen Octave were the heroes of the day. Tani, an infielder from Hawaii, was named the all-star game’s most valuable player after leading the North Country to an exciting come-from behind 6-5 victory. He rapped out a pair of singles, stole three bases, scored twice and had one RBI.

“My whole thing is whenever I play, I always want to play hard,” Tani said. “Whether it’s an all-star game or Sunday league. Just to come out here and continue to have a good season, see the ball well and just do what I can do, that’s great. Being a part of the all-star game is just an honor.

Stephen Octave of the Saranac Lake Surge celebrates his title in Sunday’s home run derby. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

“My goal, as is the goal of all these guys, is to get moved up, and I knew that one of the ways to do that is to be part of the all-star game,” Tani added. “That was the first goal I had, the short-term goal to get more exposure, and I did that. I came out here, tried to play as hard as I could and have fun. It was great playing with these guys, there’s so much talent. It was a fun day.”

The North Country team consisted of players from the Surge, the Plattsburgh Thunderbirds and the New York Bucks, and the South Caribe team was made up of members of the Puerto Rico Islanders, the Road City Explorers and the New Hampshire Wild.

The South Caribe team got off to a great start in the game, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning with a home run from Leo Cabrera of the Explorers, and upping to the advantage to 4-0 with a three-run, fourth inning. Tani and the North Country then started to chip away at the deficit, and eventually tied the contest at 4-4 in the seventh inning.

Tani, a 26-year-old, scored the North Country division squad’s first two runs. He put the his team’s first run on the board in the bottom of the fourth, reaching on a single, stealing second and moving to third on a defensive interference call, and then crossing the plate on an RBI single from Octave. The native of Hawaii singled again in the bottom of the sixth and came around to score as the the North Country was back in the game trailing 4-2.

The dramatics then really started to heat up. The North Country sent two runners across the plate in the bottom of the seventh to deadlock the score, the South Caribe squad regained the lead at 5-4 with a single run in the top of the eighth, and the North Country surged ahead for good in a wild bottom of the eighth inning.

Taran Tani of the North Country division all-star team and the Saranac Lake Surge dives back to second base while South Caribe all-start Abraham Longa can’t handle the ball during Sunday’s game at Petrova Avenue. (Enterprise photos — Lou Reuter)

Tyler Hill of the Surge led off the eighth with a single and moved to second on a passed ball after Tony Holton, a 26-year-old from the Bucks, had stepped up to the plate. Holton then launched a triple to center to send Hill home with the tying run. Kyle Robinson, an outfielder from the Surge, was next in the order and ripped a hard ground ball to the right side of the infield. Holton sprinted home and slid safely across the plate with what proved to be the winning run.

Holton was hurt on the play with what appeared to be a gruesome injury to his hand. The Saranac Lake rescue squad was called to the game, and after being treated at the hospital, Holton had sustained a dislocation. EPBL president Eddie Gonzalez said that thankfully, the big Explorers outfielder from Stratham, Georgia, should be back in action in about a week.

With his team leading 6-5, Surge pitcher Austin Steinfort closed out the game in the top of the ninth by holding the South Caribe team scoreless.

“In general, the all-star game is all about having fun,” said Hill, who alternates at catcher with Octave. “There should be no nerves ever. I didn’t feel any today, but to win this on our home field in our first year in Saranac Lake is pretty big for us, and I think it’s even bigger for the community in future years to come. Our being here, I think it’s going to bring more support for the next few weeks until we leave.”

Also throwing one inning each for the Surge in the all-star game were pitchers Ricky Schafer, Alexander Wynacht and Chikira Igami.

Surge’s Octave wins

home run derby

Although Octave did have one RBI during the all-star game, the 23-year-old’s big heroics came earlier in the day when he slugged his way to the home run derby title. The competition started with one player from each of the EPBL’s six teams, and Octave, along with Plattsburgh Thunderbird first baseman Simon Palenchar, met up in the final round.

Palenchar, a left-handed hitter, held the upper hand in the earlier rounds when he rocketed several pitches over the right field fence, even landing one blast on the LaPan Highway. Octave, a righty, went the other way, belting a number of shots over the heads of the dozens of youngsters shagging balls and into the high school football bleachers. During the competition, Octave knocked three blasts off the Wilson Raymond Field press box, and sent another shot caroming off the bleachers and onto Canaras Avenue.

Palenchar may have run out of gas in the final round, stepping away from the plate without a home run and opening the door for his friend, Stephen Octave. Only needing to put one pitch over the fence, Octave got the job done early, and was immediately surrounded by his happy teammates.

“This is my first official home run derby,” Octave said. “I always did it playing around in my backyard when I was young but nothing as serious as this. I choked a lot back then. This was fun. You don’t really realize how big this field is until you try to hit home runs. There was no wind today so it worked out. It’s an honor to win.

“Simon and I are friends, and it’s funny that we were in the finals because a week before we came to the camp we were hitting together at my house,” Octave continued. “It was just a really cool event.”

“This was my second year in a row losing in the finals, but I still had fun and still got to go against Steve, so no regrets,” said Palenchar, a 22-year-old from Maryland. “I was just trying to give it my all and fell short at the end. I had a lot of fun doing it.”