STOCKTON — As with most all-star games, longtime rivals develop into fast friends.
Such was the case in Friday's 29th annual All-Star Classic honoring the memory of umpire Timothy Allen Altheide held at Delta College.
The South coached by Brian Goulart of East Union defeated the North, 9-6.
"This was a great group," he said. "Many have played against each other over the years and just found out they have a lot in common."
Lexy Webb, Oakdale's standout player who is bound for Fresno State, can attest to that.
"It fun a time. I enjoyed the East Union girls," said Webb, who pitched the first three innings before yielding to the Lancers' Hayley Leonard.
Leonard, the reigning All-Valley Oak League Pitcher of the Year, was solid in her three innings of work, retiring the first nine batters she faced.
Bear Creek's Ashley Honorio — she and Tracy's Emily Yanke were the scholarship winners for the United Way of San Joaquin event — broke the streak with a lead-off triple in the seventh inning.
At that point, the South led, 4-1.
The North jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first, scoring an unearned run.
The South knotted things up at 1-1 in the second, loading the bases.
Lathrop High's Karina Lopez eked out an infield hit, plating Yanke in the process.
Later in the game, she made a running catch in left field, snagging the ball right before the foul line to steal hit away from the North.
"We all got along so great during practices," said Lopez, who also enjoyed her time with her fellow all-stars that also consisted of Spartan teammates Jailyn Annese and Joselyn Hurtado.
The South surged ahead in the fourth thanks to a two-out RBI single by Sonora's Paige Houck, who plated courtesy runner Danyelle Godoy of East Union.
Millennium's twin sisters, Katie and Megan Chambers, delivered a one-two punch in the fifth with some help from Yanke, who came through with a run-scoring double to add to the South's lead, 4-1.
Katie Chamber singled to lead off the frame and, two batters later, Megan Chamber delivered an RBI triple.
Honorio had the big hit for the North in the seventh, scoring on a mental error by the South.
Ahead 4-2, the South scored three in the home half of the seventh led by the East Union trio of Shelby Cefalu, Godoy and Leonard — they had consecutive hits with one out.
The South made it 9-2 in the eighth. Webb delivered the big hit with an RBI double.
The North made it interesting by rallying for four runs in the ninth highlighted by a solo blast by Lodi's Danielle Pfennig.
Webb re-entered the game, taking over the pitching duties from Weston Ranch's Stephanie Barba and retiring the final two batters while securing victory for the South.