Portland St. Patrick at Morrice – – First Game of Softball Doubleheader – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 13, 2024 – – by Chuck Krafft

Tonight, your Bleacher Denizen’s continuing travels take him to Morrice, where the Orioles will host the Shamrocks from Portland St. Patrick in a softball doubleheader. (Some day, your Bleacher Denizen will finally identify how to obtain the necessary gravitas that will permit him to refer to his travels as an “odyssey”, but I don’t know that most Greek literature fans would say that I’m at that point yet.)

However, it’s a sunny day in Morrice and I’m not sure that anyone in the stands is worried about my angst about how I refer to my travels.

When I arrived at the game, I learned that Morrice’s best pitcher, Zora Brewer is ill and will not be able to play today.

Here are the starting lineups for Game 1. St. Patrick is the visiting team and will bat first.

ST. PATRICK

Rylee Scheurer 1b

Grace Rockey ss

Addie Scheurer c

Tori Sandborn p

Laynie Meredith cf

Marian Davlin rf

Hannah Weller lf

Naomi Hass 3b

Lily Sandborn 2b

MORRICE

Aubrey Rogers 3b

Ayva Sholty 1b

Shelby Austin ss

Kaylin Brewer 2b

Addison Hart lf

Belle Hoy c

Caitlin Brewer p

Layla Johnson cf

Noa Drent rf

It is now time to review the events of this game through the occasionally observant eyes of an aging Bleacher Denizen whose baseball career never really took off. However, he is proud to have delighted many umpires and opposing catchers with the cooling breezes generated by his flailing bat!

Morrice Pitcher Caitlin Brewer retired the Shamrock leadoff batter in the top of the first inning on a grounder to third base. Grace Rockey singled to left field and stole second base. Grace Rockey advanced to third base on a groundout to third base by Addie Scheurer. Grace Rockey scored on a wild pitch.

Tori Sandborn drew a walk. Eden Zimmerman entered the game as a courtesy runner for Tori Sandborn. Eden Zimmerman advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Laynie Meredith beat out an infield single to drive Eden Zimmerman home from second base. Laynie Meredith took second base on the throw home. Laynie Meredith advanced to third base when Marian Davlin was safe at first base on an error.

Marian Davlin stole second base. Hannah Weller singled to right field to drive in Laynie Meredith and Hannah Weller. Caitlin Brewer retired the next Shamrock batter on a fly to center field to end the inning.

St. Patrick scored four runs in the top of the first inning to take a 4-0 lead.

St. Patrick Pitcher Tori Sandborn retired Morrice’s leadoff batter in the bottom of the first inning on a grounder to third base. Ayva Sholty was safe at first base on a bloop single that fell between three Shamrock infielders. Shelby Austin hit a hot line drive back to the pitcher who was able to double the runner off first to end the inning.

Caitlin Brewer struck out the Shamrock leadoff batter in the top of the second inning. Rylee Scheurer hit a double to left field. The next Shamrock batter was out on a popup to second base. Addie Scheurer singled to right field to drive Rylee Scheurer home. Addie Scheurer stole second base. Tori Sandborn singled to right field to drive in Addie Scheurer. Eden Zimmerman entered the game as a courtesy runner for Tori Sandborn. The next Shamrock hitter was out on a fly to right field.

St. Patrick scored two runs in the top of the second inning to boost their lead to 6-0.

Tori Sandborn struck out the Morrice leadoff batter in the top of the second inning. Addison Hart walked. Addison Hart was out at second base when Belle Hoy was safe on a fielder’s choice grounder to third base. Morrice grounded into a fielder’s choice out to the shortstop for the final out of the inning.

Marian Davlin blasted an inside the park home run to deep right field to lead off the top of the third inning for the Shamrocks. Caitlin Brewer retired the next Shamrock hitter when Oriole Right Fielder Noa Drent made an excellent running catch. Naomi Hass walked and stole second base. Naomi Hass advanced to third base on a groundout to third base by Lily Sandborn. Rylee Scheurer used her fantastic speed to beat out an infield grounder to drive in Naomi Hass.

Rylee Scheuerer stole second base. She went to third base and then scored on two wild pitches. Grace Rockey singled off the shortstop’s glove and stole second base. Addie Scheurer blasted a triple off the right field fence to drive Grace Rockey home. Addie Scheurer scored when Tori Sandborn was safe at first on an error. St. Patrick made the final out of the inning on a fly to center field.

The Shamrocks scored five runs in the top of the third inning to stretch their lead to 11-0.

Layla Johnson walked to lead off the bottom of the third inning for Morrice. The next hitter bounced to Shamrock Pitcher Tori Sandborn, who threw to shortstop Grace Rockey to force the runner at second base; Grace Rockey fired a bullet to first base to complete the double play. Morrice made its third out on a popup to the pitcher.

Marian Davlin singled up the middle to lead off the top of the fourth inning for St. Patrick. Morrice Catcher Belle Hoy made a couple fine throws to second base to prevent the runner from stealing. Marian Davlin advanced to third base on a single up the middle by Hannah Weller. Marian Davlin scored on a wild pitch and Hannah Weller advanced to second base. Hannah Weller moved to third base on another wild pitch. Belle Hoy made a quick play on another potential wild pitch to hold Hannah Weller at third base.

Caitlin Brewer struck out the next Shamrock hitter. Hannah Weller scored on a wild pitch. Caitlin Brewer retired the next St. Patrick batter on a fly to the pitcher. Rylee Scheurer singled up the middle and stole second base; she took third base on an overthrow. Rylee Scheuerer scored when Grace Rockey was safe at second base on an error. The next Shamrock hitter was out on a fly to center field to end the inning.

St. Patrick scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning to push their lead to 14-0.

Eden Zimmerman went in to play second base for St. Patrick.

Tori Sandborn retired the three Morrice hitters in the bottom of the fourth inning on a fly to center field, a popup to the pitcher and a strikeout.

Caitlin Brewer retired the Shamrock leadoff hitter in the top of the fifth inning on a grounder to the pitcher. Laynie Meredith was safe at first base on an error and took second base on a wild pitch. Caitlin Brewer struck out the next Shamrock batter. Pinch Hitter Bella Russman singled to left field to drive in Laynie Meredith. Bella Russman advanced to second base on a throwing error. St. Patrick made its third out of the inning when Pinch Hitter Olivia Rockey was out on a grounder to third base.

St. Patrick scored on run in the top of the fifth inning to extend its lead to 15-0.

Tori Sandborn struck out the Morrice leadoff batter in the bottom of the fifth inning. Belle Hoy walked. Shamrock Catcher Addie Scheurer fired the ball to second base to catch the Oriole runner trying to steal. Tori Sandborn struck out the next Oriole hitter to end the inning.

Because St. Patrick had a 15-0 lead after five runs, the mercy rule was invoked and St. Patrick won the game.

Ayva Sholty had a single for Morrice.

Marian Davlin had a home run, a single and one RBI for St. Patrick. Rylee Scheurer had a double, two singles and one RBI. Addie Scheurer had a triple, a single and two RBI. Hannah Weller had two singles and two RBI. Grace Rockey had two singles and one RBI. Tori Sandborn, Laynie Meredith and Bella Russman each had one single and one RBI.

Tori Sandborn pitched the complete five inning game for St. Patrick. She gave up zero runs, only one hit and struck out four batters.

Here is a link to the second game of this doubleheader. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2024/05/14/portland-st-patrick-at-morrice-second-game-of-softball-doubleheader-the-bleacher-denizen-may-13-2024-by-chuck-krafft/