The 28th Annual Howard E. Deppe All-Star Baseball Classic was played Saturday at Limeport Stadium, with a team comprised primarily of players from the Lehigh Valley Conference (red team) downing a team assembled generally from teams in the Colonial League (blue team) 11-4.

The game raises money for the American Cancer Society and also provides a final high school memory for graduating seniors from area schools. Easton's Nick Beinlich was chosen as the Outstanding Player of the game for the red team as he found ways to contribute throughout the game.

Beinlich drew a walk in the first inning and stole two bases before scoring on an RBI single as the red team grabbed an early 4-0 lead. Later in the game, Beinlich doubled to contribute again to the offense. With his team holding a 4-2 edge, Beinlich came on to pitch two perfect innings, striking out three hitters.

Catasauqua's Zac Edwards picked up two hits, two RBI and a stolen base and was chosen as the Outstanding Player of the Game for the blue squad.

"I was a little surprised, but I'm just grateful to receive the award," said Edwards. "It's great, because it benefits beating cancer and it's great just to come out and get to play against these guys."

William Lopez and Sean Wrobel of Freedom and Nick Vigilanti of Liberty all played in this year's game. In addition, Branden Knipe and Tyler Pieper of Bethlehem Catholic also played in the contest. Becahi's Mike Grasso served as coach of the red team and thought the game was a great setting for seniors to have some fun and give something back to the community.

"It's great when you can combine something you love with a way to help a charity and the kids all had a great time today, they played hard and in the end, we all walk away with a good feeling," explained Grasso. "This wasn't about runs or who won, it's about seeing kids play one last time as high school players and raising money for the Cancer Society."

The event also featured a pregame hitting contest, where contestants were awarded points for how far they were able to hit each of ten pitches. The hitting contest was won by Northwestern's Richard Perry, who got the nod by two points.

"I felt pretty good after my round, but I didn't necessarily expect to win," said Perry. "There were a lot of batters and they're all pretty good, so I'm happy for it."

The game featured a unique way of involving literally every player. The batting order included every player on the roster and they hit in the order of their jersey number. Players were also allowed to be reinserted defensively throughout the game. Because of PIAA rules, players from schools that are involved in the PIAA tournament were ineligible to play, keeping players from Parkland and Salisbury on the sidelines.