By Thomas Jones, Sports Editor

A couple of close calls couldn’t dampen Adriana Martinez’ enthusiasm in her last appearance representing Westlake High School.

Martinez, one of 49 senior softball players in Wednesday’s 10^th annual Austin Area Softball All-Star Game at Westlake, started in center field for the South squad, which fell 5-3 to the North All-Stars in a scheduled nine-inning contest.  The 2009 Westlake graduate went 0-for-1 in two plate appearances and was called out on a steal attempt after drawing a walk.

Her first out came on an inside fastball from North starter Sara Rabaey of Round Rock High that drew a called third strike. In the third inning, Martinez appeared to steal second base but received the hook.

“The game was both fun and competitive, even though I got a little upset,” Martinez said. “I thought I was safe, they called me out, and I didn’t think that was a strike. But it was all fun.”

That fun transcended the rivalries of area schools. Many of the athletes in the contest have spent their childhoods competing on the same diamond with the other all-stars, and Wednesday’s game provided a reunion of sorts before the players scatter to various colleges across the country.

That friendship extended to District 25-5A, where Martinez suited up alongside Bowie’s Blaire Luna and Whitney Bailey.

Bowie has tormented the Chaps in recent years with four consecutive district titles and a blowout win over Westlake in a regional quarterfinal playoff contest last month, but the competitiveness took a back seat to camaraderie Wednesday.

“I actually played with Blaire when I was younger, and I know Whitney, so it was cool,” Martinez said. “We had a good time out there.”

The North had a good time despite entering the contest as a decided underdog against a South squad led by pitchers Luna and Bailey Watts of Class 5A champion Smithson Valley. The North team tallied five hits, including a two-run home run in the seventh inning by Ashley Kirk that raced over the left-field wall despite a stiff win blowing in from the south.

The blast broke a 2-2 tie, and it helped Kirk earn the North’s Most Valuable Player award. Kirk, a Round Rock Stony Point graduate committed to the University of North Texas, also pitched the final three innings to earn the save. She had five consecutive strikeouts to close the contest.

Dripping Springs’ Katie Wood received the MVP nod for the South. She went 1-for-2 with a game-tying double in the fourth inning that drove in San Marcos’ Sarah Perez and New Braunfels’ Maddie Lock. Wood also allowed one hit and one run in one inning in the circle.

The North opened the scoring in the second inning when Round Rock infielder Amanda Wilhelm smacked a triple down the right-field line off Luna. The hit scored Westwood’s Emily Prehoda, and Wilhelm crossed home plate on an errant throw to third base.

After Kirk’s seventh-inning homer gave the North a 4-2 lead, the South cut that deficit in half in the bottom of the inning. Anna Hernandez of Hays led off the stanza with a walk and rounded the bags on three wild pitches from Kirk.

Round Rock’s Brianna Hope added an insurance run for the North in the top of the ninth inning. She reached base on a single and stole second and third base before scoring on a wild pitch.

Haley Parks of Vista Ridge recorded the win after working two innings without allowing a run.