Illinois holds on to defeat Missouri in 12th Annual All-Star Game – hannibal.net

Published 8:17 pm Sunday, July 12, 2026

HANNIBAL — The 12th Annual Missouri vs. Illinois All-Star Game gave graduating seniors one last chance to play the game they love on Saturday evening at Veterans Baseball Field.
A large crowd came out to the Vet to watch 44 players from 19 different schools play in the Missouri vs. Illinois All-Star Game.
Illinois dominated early before Missouri threatened their lead late, but the Land of Lincoln prevailed with an 8-7 win.
Pittsfield’s Hayden Gratton and Quincy’s Cameron Lawson split the Team Illinois MVP.
Gratton had three hits, three runs and three RBIs, including a triple to help spark the Land of Lincoln’s offense.
Lawson had two hits, a double, run, stolen base and two RBIs at the plate, while pitching 2.1 innings of solid relief.
The Show-Me State also split its MVP award between Centralia’s Luke Waltemate and North Shelby’s Cole Browning.
Palmyra’s Raeson Miller and Illini West’s Ethan Carlisle were the starting pitchers.
The Land of Lincoln struck in the first inning when Lawson doubled home Gratton, and Wes Robertston hit a sac fly RBI to drive in Lawson to give Illinois an early 2-0 lead.
Illinois struck for three more runs in the fourth inning, with Gratton tripling home two runs and Lawson singling home Gratton.
Gratton and Robertson each had an RBI single in the top of the sixth inning, with Illinois increasing its lead to 8-0.
The game was far from over, with Missouri sending 10 batters to the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning for a six-run frame aided by five walks. The Show-Me State also had an RBI double by Cole Higginson and a single by Browning.
Missouri narrowed the Land of Lincoln’s lead to just one run in the seventh inning after Waltemate singled home a run. The Show-Me State would strand the game-tying runner at third base, Browning.