Kansas Stars show NBC World Series what they’ve got in 8-0 victory

Tim Hudson pitched Game 7 of the World Series two years ago. His opponent on Saturday was supposed to be in awe of that, not his similarly credentialed teammates.

“I’m looking around and the first inning I look over. Huddy’s on the mound,” said Kansas Stars teammate Adam LaRoche. “It took me back about 10 or 11 years when I first came up and we got to play together.”

The Stars and their 25 former major-league players debuted in the National Baseball Congress World Series with an 8-0 win over the Sterling (Colo.) Xpress at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.

The Stars were just as wide-eyed as the college players for Sterling, soaking in an experience that recalled their formative years as baseball players.

“We want it to be fun for the guys we’re playing against, too,” Stars designated hitter Pete Orr said. “We all didn’t take rocket ships to the big leagues. We fought our way and played in tournaments like this, and we knew how important it would be to get a chance to do this.”

Hudson, Saturday’s starting pitcher, was also struck by nostalgia. He turned the little attention he received as a minor-leaguer into finishing second in American League Cy Young Award voting in his first full season.

He saw himself in many of the players for the Xpress, who Hudson believes can have careers just like his by finding their niche.

“We all had different roads to get to the big leagues,” Hudson said. “I found out at an early age, once I got drafted and I got into pro ball, that everybody is a lot closer than they think to getting to the big leagues. It’s an opportunity, it’s a little bit of luck, it’s health, it’s figuring something out at the right time.”

About 7,000 fans – a sellout – packed the stadium to see the players who already traveled that road. They stood to watch the Stars players run and play catch before the game in the outfield and hung around for autographs afterward.

It took a while for the Stars to live up to the hype, at least at the plate. They scored two runs in the first inning, but both scored on groundouts following Ryan Langerhans’ walk and J.D. Drew’s double.

The Stars didn’t have another hit against Xpress starter David Mendez until the fourth inning, and they didn’t score another run against Mendez in the next five innings. A handful of walks and singles gave Sterling first baseman Lucas Lingreen his own major-league experience as several Stars chatted him up when they got on base.

“They’re awesome,” Lingreen said. “I didn’t know what to expect, I kind of figured they would be. It was nice to talk to them, though. They just asked me where we were from and if we were having fun. To play against these guys was absolutely a blast.”

Hudson and Beckett made it tough, combining for six hitless innings. Wichitan Nate Robertson, who helped organize the team along with LaRoche, gave up a hit with two outs in the seventh, and the Xpress got two more in the ninth.

The Stars scored five runs in the seventh against Sterling’s bullpen. Orr had a two-run single and Dan Uggla, Brandon Inge and former Wichita State player Koyie Hill each drove in runs.

Inge had three hits, and Uggla and J.D. Drew had two apiece. The statistics, however, were secondary to the feeling of playing baseball again.

“It really is for the love of the game,” said LaRoche, who retired from the White Sox this spring. “Nobody is out here looking to get re-signed or to really show their talents. It’s just to come compete again. When you’re out of the game for a while, you miss that competition. You can only get so much from the golf course or the ping-pong table.

“This whole tournament could be for a gift certificate to Golden Corral, and guys would have flown in just to play for something.”

This story was originally published August 7, 2016 at 1:34 AM with the headline "Kansas Stars show NBC World Series what they’ve got in 8-0 victory."