Season 4 :1956 Strat Opening Day SUFFOLK SUNS SIZZLE, SPANK KELLY LEAK ALL-STARS, 5-1

A.J. Carter's boys from Suffolk shone bright under Tuesday’s afternoon sun, as the 1956 Suffolk Suns socked it to the Kelly Leak All-Stars, 5 to 1, in a crisp contest that saw fine fielding, timely hitting, and a vintage mound masterpiece from the left-handed wizard, Warren Spahn.

The All-Stars, managed by the ever-colorful Steve Albeck, drew first blood in the second inning when Lee Walls worked a bases-loaded walk, plating a run the hard way. But that would be all for the Leakmen, who ran into a buzzsaw in the form of Mr. Spahn.

The veteran hurler was all business, scattering five safeties across nine stout innings. He fanned seven, walked four, and kept the basepaths mostly barren after that early hiccup.

The Suns came alive in the third, flipping the script and then some. Willie Mays, the Say Hey Kid himself, laced a liner down the left field line to knot the score. Eddie Mathews followed with a towering sacrifice fly to put Suffolk ahead, and Sherm Lollar roped a two-bagger to center to give Spahn some breathing room.

By the eighth, the Suns were shining again. Mathews flexed his muscles with a moonshot to dead center, and little Luis Aparicio slapped a double that chased home another run to put the game out of reach.

Mathews and Aparicio were among the hitting heroes, with Mays chiming in for good measure with a pair of knocks. All told, the Suffolk nine rapped out nine hits and played a clean game in the field, with Stan “The Man” Musial anchoring the defense with eight flawless chances.

Tom Brewer went the distance for the All-Stars, gamely toiling through nine frames, but the Suns' bats were simply too much. Walls, McMillan, Diering, Crowe, and Wilson each scratched out hits, but the All-Stars left their rally caps in the dugout after the second.