An All-Star game at the local Recreation Department is something worth savoring. The laughter in the air, the cracks of the bat, and the giddy camera strikes by anxious grandmothers is something to cherish — and is priceless.

The Baldwin County 14 and under All-Stars began their “best of three” series with the Washington County 14 and under boys Monday evening. The WaCo team immediately stood out with an obvious height, weight and probably age advantage — and the Baldwin All-Stars only had three days to prepare for the best of three series.

Baldwin’s All-Stars dropped the first game 19-3, but it wasn’t without its highlights and fun.

In the third inning, scrappy Chad Charping took the mound and the team began to settle down a bit after getting down in the contest 10-0. After outfielder Brandon Panfil made two spectacular catches to prevent WaCo from adding more runs, the team began to build some momentum for their half of the inning.

Baldwin’s Billy Whitlock started off the inning with a driving double, and then starting pitcher Corey Dunn came up and smacked an infield hit to advance Whitlock to third.

Panfil then helped his team cut into WaCo’s lead by getting a tough hit to knock in Whitlock and Dunn, making the score 10-2. Drew Colwell would then walk before teammate Charping reached first on a hit. Baldwin’s Hunter Harding then sliced a hit into the outfield to score Colwell. Baldwin would fail to score during the remainder of the game, and WaCo found ways to build their lead as the game progressed.

The best of three series set up a critical game two Tuesday afternoon and the Baldwin All-Stars were looking for an upset.

Game two was much more exciting as Baldwin pushed the Washington County All-Stars to the brink halfway through the ballgame.

WaCo built an early 3-0 lead before Baldwin was able to contain them in the first inning. Highland Braddy took the mound for Baldwin and was throwing some nice pitches to keep WaCo on alert.

In the third inning WaCo would add one more run, but the Baldwin All-Stars would have something left in their bag of tricks in their bottom half. After Jordon Willis walked, Colwell stepped up with a timely infield hit to score Willis and put his team on the board 4-1. Dunn would then provide another big hit and bag second. Daniel Amerson then came to the plate with two on, but a balk by WaCo’s pitcher would load the bases, preventing another big RBI single.

WaCo would add another run in the fourth inning to increase their lead to 5-2.

The fourth inning would also prove pivotal for the Baldwin All-Stars as they found a way to tighten the game, and put WaCo on their heels late.

After Charping reached on a walk, Baldwin All-Star reserve Trent Theil then demonstrated his importance at the plate by knocking in Charping to bring Baldwin to within two, 5-3. After Willis walked to load the bases, Drew then stepped up and released a graceful swing to knock home two big runs to give the Baldwin All-Stars a 5-5 tie.

Panfil then showed why his future is bright, delivering with a titanic shot to give his team their first lead of the series, 6-5. A sacrifice by Dunn would then give Baldwin a 7-5 advantage before the inning ended on a pop-up. But WaCo would soon come back to recapture the lead in the fifth inning, 9-7, putting Baldwin in a tough two run hole as the game’s final innings trickled away.

Baldwin would come back in the sixth inning and get one more run on a sacrifice hit that scored Colwell, but it wasn’t enough. WaCo would tack on a few more runs late to finish with a 14-8 victory to capture the series.

Baldwin 14 and under All-Stars coach Ross Couch was happy with the way his team battled back in game two despite having only three days of practice to prepare for the best of three series.

“Our regular season ended last Monday. We had three days of practice together. The kids know each other, but having only three days makes it tough to get any sort of continuity going,” said Couch. “But I’m proud of the kids. They did a good job coming back from yesterday. The kids didn’t give up and they battle hard to the very end.”

Couch was also happy with the clutch hits by some his All-Stars Tuesday night.

“Trent did a good job for us coming in as a reserve. He got a big hit,” said Couch. “Drew (Colwell) had been struggling his last few weeks of rec. ball. But he came up today and got a big RBI single and a triple to the gap — which is the best ball I’ve seen him hit all year. He’ll be a freshman next year at GMC, and he’s going to be a solid ballplayer.”