Alcona vs. Portland St. Patrick – – MHSAA Regional Softball Semifinal – – The Bleacher Denizen – – June 8, 2024 – – by Chuck Krafft
Today, the Bleacher Denizen is at Beal City High School where they are hosting a softball regional. In the first game, the Alcona Tigers will play the Shamrocks from Portland St. Patrick.
Here are the starting lineups. St. Patrick will be the home team and Alcona will bat first.
ALCONA
Sage Gauthier c
Addison Beatty cf
Olivia Borchardt ss
Rilee Tracy lf
Miah Schopfer p
Baylee Goddard 2b
Jena Wambold 3b
Hannah Renchenski dp
Gracy Tracy rf
Rylee Kroon will play first base, but will not bat.
ST. PATRICK
Rylee Scheurer 1b
Grace Rockey ss
Addie Scheurer 3b
Laynie Meredith cf
Tori Sandborn p
Naomi Hass rf
Hannah Weller c
Marian Davlin p
Lily Sandborn 2b
Bella Russman will play left field, but will not bat.
It is now time to review the events of this game through the recently cleaned and hopefully clear lenses of an aging Bleacher Denizen who never was able to get started in baseball or softball. Alas, as soon as the Powers that Be ruled that he could not use a hyper vacuum cleaner to help him catch balls in the infield, his career quickly fell apart.
St. Patrick Pitcher Tori Sandborn retired the three Alcona first inning hitters on a grounder to third base, a popup to first base and a fly to second base.
Rylee Scheurer walked to lead off the top of the second inning for the Shamrocks and stole second base. Grace Rockey singled to center field to drive Rylee Scheurer home. After Grace Rockey stole second base, Addie Scheurer singled to right field to drive her home. Addie Scheurer advanced to third base on an overthrow. Laynie Meredith singled to left field to drive Addie Scheurer home.
Alcona Catcher Sage Gauthier threw to second base to catch the runner stealing. Tori Sandborn singled to left field. Naomi Hass singled to right field and Tori Sandborn advanced to third base. After Naomi Hass stole second base, Alcona Pitcher Miah Schopfer retired the next two Shamrock batters on a strikeout and a grounder to the shortstop where interference was called on the baserunner to end the inning.
St. Patrick scored three runs in the top of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead.
Shamrock Pitcher Tori Sandborn retired the first two Tiger hitters in the top of the second inning on a fly to center field and a grounder to second base. Baylee Goddard drew a walk. Shamrock Shortstop Grace Rockey made a hustling diving effort, but Jena Wambold’s fly to left field dropped in for a double. Baylee Goddard advanced to third base. Tori Sandborn retired the next hitter on a popup to the pitcher to end the inning.
St. Patrick’s leadoff batter in the bottom of the second inning was out when she stepped out of the batter’s box on a bunt attempt. The speedy Rylee Scheurer beat out a grounder to the pitcher for an infield single. Rylee Scheurer stole second base. Grace Rockey belted a home run over the left field fence to drive in herself and Rylee Scheurer. Addie Scheurer beat out an infield single.
Alcona Catcher Sage Gauthier fired the ball to second base to catch the runner stealing. Alcona Pitcher Miah Schopfer retired the next Shamrock hitter on a bouncer to the shortstop to end the inning.
St. Patrick scored two runs in the bottom of the second inning to push its lead to 5-0.
St Patrick Pitcher Tori Sandborn retired the three Alcona batters in the top of the third inning on a strikeout, a popup to first base and a grounder to the shortstop.
Alcona Pitcher Miah Schopfer retired the St. Patrick leadoff hitter in the bottom of the third inning on a fly to the shortstop. Naomi Hass singled to center field and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Hannah Weller singled to right center field to drive Naomi Hass in. Eden Zimmerman entered the game as a courtesy runner for Hannah Weller.
Eden Zimmerman was out at second base and Marian Davlin safe at first base on a fielder’s choice bouncer to the pitcher. Miah Schopfer retired the next Shamrock hitter on a bunted fly to the pitcher to end the inning.
St. Patrick scored on run in the bottom of the third inning to boost its lead to 6-0.
Olivia Borchardt singled down the left field line to lead off the top of the fourth inning for the Tigers. The next Alcona batter grounded to Shamrock Shortstop Grace Rockey, who quickly stepped on second base and fired the ball to first base to complete the double play.
Miah Schopfer singled to right field. The Tigers made their third out on a foul fly to first base.
St. Patrick’s leadoff batter in the bottom of the fourth inning was out when she stepped out of the batter’s box as she swung. Tiger Pitcher Miah Schopfer retired the next Shamrock hitter on a grounder to the shortstop. Addie Scheurer walked. Laynie Meredith drilled a double into the left field corner to drive Addie Scheurer home.
Tiger Catcher made a fine throw to third base to force Laynie Meredith to retreat to second base on a steal attempt. Tori Sandborn singled to left field to drive Laynie Meredith home. Macie Smith entered the game as a courtesy runner for Tori Sandborn. Naomi Hass singled to center field and Macie Smith advanced to second base. St. Patrick made its third out on a fielder’s choice grounder to third base.
St. Patrick scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to boost its lead to 8-0.
Jena Wambold was safe on an error to lead off the top of the fifth inning for Alcona. Jena Wambold stole second base and advanced to third base on an overthrow. The next Tiger hitter was out on a grounder to third base; Jena Wambold held at third base.
Sage Gauthier crunched a two run homer over the center field fence; Jena Wambold also scored. Tori Sandborn retired the next Alcona batter on a popup to second base to end the innings.
Alcona scored two runs in the top of the fifth inning to trim the St. Patrick lead to 8-2.
Tiger Pitcher Miah Schopfer retired the Shamrock leadoff batter in the bottom of the fifth inning on a grounder to second base. Pinch Hitter Megan Myers was out on a fly to second base. Miah Schopfer retired the next hitter on a bouncer to the pitcher to end the inning.
Tori Sandborn retired the Tiger leadoff hitter in the top of the sixth inning on a fly to center field. Shamrock Left Fielder Bella Russman made a great diving catch of a drive to left field by Rilee Tracy to record the second Tiger out. Miah Schopfer lined a single to center field. Elliyana Grimshaw entered the game as a courtesy runner for Miah Schopfer. Alcona made its third out on a foul popup to the catcher.
Miah Schopfer retired the St. Patrick leadoff batter on a grounder to third base. Addie Scheurer walked. Addie Scheurer was out at second base and Laynie Meredith safe at first on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop. St. Patrick made the final out of the inning on a grounder to the pitcher.
With six full innings in the books, St. Patrick had an 8-2 lead; Alcona needed six runs in its final at bat to stay alive.
Jena Wambold led off the top of the seventh inning for Alcona with a single to center field. Tori Sandborn struck out pinch hitter Lily Pappas. Gracy Tracy walked and Jena Wambold moved to second base. The next Tiger batter was out on a popup to first base. Addison Beatty beat out a squib single to keep the rally going. Jena Wambold went to third base and Gracy Tracy to second base. Tori Sandborn retired the next hitter on a fielder’s choice grounder to third base to end the game.
St. Patrick won this game by an 8-2 score and will play in this afternoon’s Regional Final.
Sage Gauthier had a home run and two RBIs for Alcona. Jena Wambold had a double and a single. Miah Schopfer had two singles. Addison Beatty and Olivia Borchardt each contributed one single.
Miah Schopfer pitched the complete game for Alcona.
Grace Rockey had a home run, a single and three RBI for St. Patrick. Laynie Meredith had a single, a double and two RBI. Naomi Hass had three singles. Addie Scheurer and Tori Sandborn each had two singles and one RBI. Hannah Waller had a single and one RBI. Rylee Scheurer had one single and scored two runs and stole two bases against a tough Alcona Catcher, Sage Gauthier.
Tori Sandborn pitched the complete game for St. Patrick. She gave up two runs and seven hits while striking out two batters.
Here is a link to the other semifinal game between Beal City and Michigan Lutheran Seminary.
Here is a link to the regional final game, which was played on Sunday.
https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2024/06/09/portland-st-patrick-vs-beal-city-mhsaa-softball-regional-final-the-bleacher-denizen-june-9-2024-by-chuck-krafft/
Thank you for the great article. Jena is my granddaughter and even tho they came up a little short today they had a great season.