A pair of North Coast Section alums led the way for the Maryland all-star team in the annual Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League all-star game on Wednesday night, propelling their team to the 12-3 over the DC/Virginia all-star team.
Heritage grad Gio Diaz, who currently plays for Saint Mary's College, was named MVP of the game, also in the midst of a record-setting summer as a member of the Bethesda Big Train. Diaz has already set the team and league records for stolen bases in a summer, even with 10 games remaining in the season, and had a night to remember in the All-Star Game, going 4-for-6 with a home run, two doubles, three runs scored and four RBIs.
“To be honest I really wanted to win the MVP,” Diaz commented after the game to CRCBL website manager Matt Cohen. “I wanted to win it and I wanted to have a really good performance against the best players in the league. My expectation was to have the best game possible and thankfully it happened.”
Diaz was joined in his outstanding performance by Dublin grad Brandon Greim, who currently plays for the University of San Francisco. The fellow infielder is playing this summer for the Gaithersburg Giants, and started his night by driving in Diaz, after Diaz doubled to lead off the bottom of the first. Greim finished the night 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs.
Bethesda sits comfortably in first place for the summer league standings, at 23-6. The Big Train has been led all summer by Diaz, who has 33 stolen bases and 24 RBIs through the first 29 games. Greim is batting .288 with 17 RBIs for the Giants, second on the team in the latter category behind LSU standout Cade Doughty.
