A pair of runs in the top of the ninth inning broke up a tie ball game and lifted the visiting National League to a 5-3 win over the American League, in the POWER SHOWCASE 2024 High School Classic at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

California’s Trevor Hoff accounted for both runs to help lead his team to victory. The junior from Escondido earned the Dove Tail Bats MVP award, after going 2-for-3, with a double, an RBI, and two runs.

“This feels amazing. We had a bunch of dudes out here and I was honored to win that award,” Hoff said.

Hoff also accounted for the first run of the game, when he scored to put the NL up 1-0 in the top of the first inning. After leading off with a single to right field against Japanese starter Hiroto Kimura, California’s Michael Mendoza rolled an RBI single up the middle to drive Hoff in.

Those were the only hits allowed by Kimura, who set the tone on the mound by striking out the side in all three of his innings of work. Kimura’s nine strikeouts overall included seven straight to finish his outing, as he went 1-2-3 in both the second and third.

Although the POWER SHOWCASE is an event focused on hitting prowess, the overall pitching in the High School Classic was incredibly dominant. This just helped to highlight any success that the hitters found, as they truly had to earn it.

The American League answered right back to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first. Newly-crowned Underclassman World Champion Cooper Holmes led off by drawing a walk and then stealing second base, and three-time showcase champion Hogan Nelson followed by also working a free pass. Texas’ Easton Autrey put the ball in play, and reached on a throwing error that allowed both base runners to score.

The AL added another run to increase its lead in the bottom of the third. Arizona’s Adolfo Pacheco singled to center to start the frame, and South Carolina’s Samuel Schwamb and Puerto Rico’s Yahir Alejandro Pagan both walked to load the bases. Oklahoma’s Joey McLaughlin then drove Pacheco in with an RBI single.

The NL tied things back up with a pair of runs in the fifth. New Mexico’s Braiden Reynolds reached with a single to third base to get things started, and Alabama’s Chris Fitts lined an RBI double to left field to drive Reynolds home.

California’s Carter Rivera then reached base twice, in an anomaly specific to the event format. In the game layout, after the entire batting order has gone, it then snakes back in reverse order to the beginning again. So players at the end, such as Rivera, get back-to-back trips to the plate when their turns arrive.

This also meant that Fitts then came back to bat after Rivera walked, was replaced on the bases with a pinch-runner so he could hit again, and then reached on a fielder’s choice that loaded the bases. Fitts was then also replaced with a pinch runner at third, so he could get his second at bat, and he reached on an error that drove his replacement in to score for himself.

Fitts earned the ProSway Offensive MVP Award, finishing 1-for-2, with a double, an RBI and a run, while reaching base twice.

That same anomaly was significant in the deciding inning as well. With one out in the top of the ninth, Hoff reached on an infield error, but then had to be replaced with a pinch runner so he could go back to hit again at the start of the batting order. He then smacked an RBI double that drove in the winning run, a run he would have scored himself had he not been at the plate hitting the ball instead.

“It’s crazy, because in the game of baseball you don’t get two at bats back-to-back,” Hoff said. “So it’s awesome that I got to do that, and score myself. It’s not every day that you get to do that.”

The chance to smack an extra-base hit, round first base and slide into the second-base bag is one of those moments you dream about in an MLB cathedral like Globe Life Field. But Hoff admitted he was so excited he nearly tripped over himself getting going.

“I’m wearing turfs right now, so it’s a little slippery out there. When I first got out of the box I almost slipped,” Hoff laughed. “But it is awesome out here. You don’t expect to wake up one day be able to play in an MLB stadium when you’re sixteen. So running these bases is a true honor.”

Hoff was one of the last guys to enjoy that thrill, as the pitching took control to close out the contest. Texas’ Kullin Tavarez took over for the last three innings for the AL team, and he recorded eight strikeouts while allowing one walk in three scoreless frames. Indiana’s Dillon Stewart then lit up the radar gun for the NL team’s final three innings, as he reached up to 90 MPH and struck out seven in three shutout innings that clinched the victory.