UTICA >> While the outcome wasn’t going to carry the weight of a spring postseason win or loss, make no mistake, plenty of OAA players wanted to win Tuesday evening’s all-star game at Jimmy John’s Field against the MAC.

Clearly the other side did as well, as the MAC came from behind two runs in the bottom of the ninth and left with an 8-7 victory thanks to a a game-winning two-out single by Grosse Pointe South’s Andrew DiLodovico.

It was a turning of the tables after the OAA trailed by a run going into the bottom of the ninth of last year’s game and defeated the MAC 6-5 for the league’s first victory over the Macomb-based squad, which picked up its third victory in Tuesday’s fifth edition of the contest.

“We wanted it bad,” Dakota’s Jadon Ford said. “All the guys, we were all talking about (how) we’re going to get it in the ninth, and we did.”

After nicking a run off the OAA’s three-run lead in the eighth, Cooper Letson and Luke Kavalick delivered run-scoring singles for the MAC in the bottom of the ninth. It looked as if the game might be headed for its second tie when a throw to the plate beat a MAC runner out for the second out, but DiLodovico was able to cash in with runners at the corners.

“I can speak for about any guy in here, we wanted to win this more than them, but, you know, stuff happens,” said Clarkston’s Lucas DeBell.

He was one of several players from the Wolves who powered the OAA offense. DeBell drove a double down the left-field line in the top of the sixth to put his team up 3-2, then was scored to make it a two-run lead on a sacrifice grounder by Oxford’s Nolan Mauser.

Camden Townsend and Brennan Owsley helped the MAC knot it back up in the bottom of that inning, but the OAA instantly recaptured the lead when a one-out, two-run triple by Clarkston’s Richard Westerman scored Steven Fountain (West Bloomfield) and Dylan Johnson, also from Clarkston, making it 6-4.

“I was just looking for something to hit a fastball, and that’s what I got,” Westerman said. “I got in front of it, and I like to hit opposite way … I didn’t really know if I was gonna go three or two (bases), but just decided to turn on the wheels and go three.”

On what it meant to play with his Clarkston teammates for a last time, DeBell, headed to Quincy University, said, “It means more than anything I could ask for, you know? After we our loss in the playoffs, it was hard on me, leaving my guys, but being able to come out here and play with them again one more time, it’s like a dream come true to me.”

Troy’s Trevor Marshall delivered a scoreless third inning and talked about why winning mattered to the OAA squad.

“I think you see the MAC Red, and they’re probably the best baseball conference in the state,” said Marshall, who will play at Western Michigan. “They’re talented, from Dakota, who just went to the state championship, and Romeo, other teams. And, it’s just, we’re natural competitors. You don’t want to come out here and lose, get your butt beat. It’s not who we’re playing — like, yeah, we want to show we’re the better conference and league — but at the end of the day, we’re competitors and we just want to go out and win a baseball game. You have your name on the back, but you’re playing for the team whose name is on the front of the jersey, and I think that’s what really matters.”

Trailing the MAC 2-0 going into the bottom of the first, West Bloomfield’s Slade Moore hit an infield single that scored Sean Fox (Rochester), then Troy Athens’ Sam Link came across on a passed ball to make it 2-2.

That score held for a while thanks to a few scoreless frames of mound work from the likes of Oxford’s Dean Rice and West Bloomfield’s Brady Scheidt.

“The fastball felt really good and it was really exciting to go out and throw in an all-star game like this,” said Scheidt, who is headed to New York University to continue his career. “I’m glad I got a chance to do this and just having a good time. I played with these guys for three or four years on the varsity team, played with Coach Josh (Birnberg) for the past three years, and we’ve built a really strong relationship, so it’s just awesome to have one last chance to get to play together.”

Scheidt’s teammate, Brody Pikur, drove in Westerman for that final run that gave the OAA a 7-4 lead in the seventh.

In addition to his RBI double, DeBell also had an infield hit in the second and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player for the OAA.