STARK — For the fourth time across the last six meetings, the All-Star game between the Tomahawk East League and the Corn Belt League went into extra innings. This time it was a balk that scored the final run, sending Courtland’s Nolan Drill home for a 6-5 TEL win in the 12th Friday night.

The game, lasting nearly 3 1/2 hours, featured plenty of pitching with some power mixed in, as six runs between the two teams coming from three separate home runs. Marshall’s Connor Neubeck and Bird Island’s James Woefel both had solo homers for the Corn Belt League, while Drill sent a grand slam over the center field fence for the TEL. Drill earned his second All-Star Game MVP with his 2-for-6, four-RBI performance after winning the award in 2023, where he also hit a home run.

Neubeck was one of four Marshall A’s to participate in the game, along with Mitchell Bouwman, Josh Kraft and Talan Plante.

“It’s really cool to have four guys, most teams get like two, maybe three,” Neubeck said, adding that it’s always fun to interact with the players from the other teams who they don’t see as often. “I felt really lucky to be a part of that game. It was probably one of the best games I’ve ever been a part of.”

While Bouwman and Neubeck were making their third and second appearances, respectively, Kraft and Plante were making their All-Star debuts.

“It just shows all the work that you put in is paying off at this point,” Kraft said of getting the nod. “It feels really good to get to that point in my game.”

Stark’s Zach Haala also had a hit and an RBI for the TEL. Starting the game for the TEL was Leavenworth’s Mark Anderson, who struck out two and allowed one run on one hit. Searles’ Mark Schommer pitched two innings, striking out four and allowing no hits. Leavenworth’s Jackson Ludewig earned the win for the TEL, pitching one hitless inning with two strikeouts.

Milroy’s Brock Schultz had a hit and two RBIs in the game, while Raymond’s Mike Jeseritz had a hit and an RBI. Marshall’s Mitchell Bouwman made the start, striking out four while allowing five runs on three hits in two innings. Granite Falls’ Bryce Sneller took the loss, striking out two and allowing one run on one hit in 1 1/3 innings.

After both teams went down in order in the first inning, Neubeck got the scoring going with a solo homer in the second. The TEL responded in the third, with Leavenworth’s Caden Evers and Searles’ Isaiah Rieser drawing walks and Gibbon’s Dominic Rose singling before a hit by Haala scored Evers. Drill stepped up to the plate and hit a no-doubt home run to put the TEL up 5-1.

The Corn Belt League got two runs back in the third, starting with Woefel’s homer and followed by a walk from Neubeck that was capitalized on with a single from Jeseritz to score a run. After a scoreless sixth, Schultz tied the game with a single that scored Raymond’s Eli Nelson and Wabasso’s Joe Liebl, knotting the game at 5-5.

Neither team saw much success on offense over the next several innings, with the Corn Belt League striking out six consecutive times from the eighth to the 10th inning, with Schommer collecting four of the outs and Courtland’s Carter Lang striking out the other two.

Kraft nearly hit the game’s fourth home run with two outs in the eighth, but New Ulm’s JT Hoffmann in center field was able to track it down just before the fence.

Drill was able to single to lead off the bottom of the 12th inning, the only TEL player to record more than one hit. Drill stole second and then took third on an error. Finally, a balk plated Drill for a TEL win.

-Jake McNeill contributed to the report with quotes.

Photo by Ari Selvey: Marshall’s Connor Neubeck celebrates a solo home run during the Corn Belt/Tomahawk East League All-Star Game Friday at Stark ballpark.