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If the 71st annual Texas League All-Star Game ended in a tie after 10 innings of play, the South Division would be declared the official winner because the team's starting second baseman, the Frisco RoughRiders' German Duran, won the pre-game exhibition Home Run Derby.

But Duran's mid-game replacement, Jonny Ash, made sure that it would not come down to that.

With runners at the corners, no one out in the bottom of the 10th and the score knotted, 4-4, Ash scorched a line drive to center field to bring home Casey Benjamin from third with the winning run to give the South the 5-4 victory.

Ash, the starting second baseman for the host Corpus Christi Hooks (Astros), knew the score when he stepped in against Ryan Mattheus of the Tulsa Drillers (Rockies).

The North had taken a 4-3 lead in the top of the 10th, but the South's first batter of the inning, San Antonio Missions (Padres) outfielder Will Venable, crushed a leadoff homer to left field to knot the score.

That, in effect, sealed the victory for the South. No matter what happened, they would go down in the books as the winner. But that wasn't enough for Ash and company.

"We definitely knew we had to win it on the field the right way," said Ash, a Stanford University product who hit .288 with three homers and 25 RBIs in the first half. "Once Venable hit that home run, it seemed to wake us up in the dugout and give us momentum going into those last few hitters."

Benjamin, Duran's double-play partner for the RoughRiders, followed Venable's at-bat by drawing a walk, and Corpus Christi first baseman Todd Self moved him to third with a clean single to center to set up Ash's heroics.

"I knew if I stayed with my approach, good things would happen," Ash said. "I saw a few pitches and luckily I saw something I could handle and deliver."

Ash deservedly received the nod as the game's MVP, though a few other players deserved mention for the South. Venable also singled, stole a base and scored a run in an earlier at-bat, and Hooks outfielder Noochie Varner was 3-for-4 on the night.

Midland RockHounds (Athletics) right fielder Richie Robnett got the offensive fireworks started in the bottom of the second when he launched a two-run homer to left field, giving the hosts an early 2-0 lead.

The North erased that margin with a homer by Arkansas Travelers (Angels) infielder Adam Morrissey in the third and a run scored on a wild pitch in the fourth.

The teams traded runs again with the South moving ahead in the fifth as Self singled home Venable before the North charged back in the seventh as Wichita Wranglers (Royals) first baseman Mike Stodolka blooped an RBI single to left field.

In the top of the 10th, Travelers shortstop Sean Rodriguez ignited a rally with a leadoff double, moving to third on a fly out. Springfield Cardinals outfielder Sean Danielson then delivered an RBI single to right to give the North its first lead of the night.

But it was short-lived, and the jubilation of the 8,000-plus home fans rivaled the post-game fireworks.

Lisa Winston is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.

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