Adam Clark said he didn't feel any pressure when he stood on the pitching mound for the Georgia All-Stars against their Tennessee counterparts Monday night.

"I just wanted to throw strikes and try to get people out," said Clark, who was named Georgia's Most Valuable Player after the game, won by Tennessee. "I had played with most of the players on my team and was confident they'd get them out and give me some run support."

That's how it played out, too, as the former Cartersville Purple Hurricane faced 11 batters in three innings, striking out two, surrendering one hit and one walk while dishing out a fairly toxic mixture of fast balls and sliders that kept Tennessee's batters off balance enough that they couldn't push any runners across the plate.

His fellow Georgia All-Stars did their part at the plate, too, grabbing a 5-0 lead by the time Clark was pulled to allow another all-star pitcher to play.

That lead, however, didn't hold up as Tennessee came back to win 12-8, in the ninth annual Tennessee-Georgia All-Star Classic, played at AT&T Field, home of the minor league Chattanooga Lookouts.

Ooltewah's Brady Reed was named the Tennessee MVP after accounting for two hits and putting his team in the lead to stay with a two-run double in the seventh inning.

Clark was honored as his team's best player.

Clark said the post-game honor is the first he remembers receiving throughout his career.

"I was surprised but I was happy to be selected," he said.

Clark said, though, that he would liked to have had a Georgia win.

"I took the loss hard," he admitted. "I never want to lose a game I'm playing in, but this was a great opportunity to play in the stadium.

"I felt comfortable with what I did (on the mound). Win or lose, I played my best."

He said his parents were able to attend the game and a number of his friends also made the trip, so that made the game even nicer.

Even if there was no pressure, Clark still took the game seriously, just as he did the batters he faced and tried to get out.

"On that hit, I just left my fast ball over the plate a little too much," he said.

He said even though Georgia had a good lead when he left the game, he was not convinced enough runs had already crossed the plate to ensure a win for his team.

"I didn't know a lot about our pitchers," he admitted.

Clark said he was pleased to get a good lead during the game but added he was confident the all-stars would get on the scoreboard for him.

"I've played against most of them the past few years," he said.

He added he is somewhat accustomed to teammates staking him to a lead.

"My teammates at Cartersville did that a lot, too," he said.

Clark, who was 9-2 this past season with the Canes, has signed to play college ball at Northwest Florida State College, where he will rejoin former Canes Garison Boston and Ben Bridges.