Mason at Fowler – – Championship Game – – Fowler Baseball Tournament – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 7, 2022 – – by Chuck Krafft

After watching these two games earlier today, it’s time for the Baseball final. The Mason Bulldogs beat Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart and the Fowler Eagles beat Coleman to reach this point.
Here are my first two games of the day.

Fowler vs. East Lansing Softball

https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2022/05/08/east-lansing-at-fowler-softball-fowler-tournament-the-bleacher-denizen-may-7-2022-by-chuck-krafft/

Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart vs. Coleman Baseball
https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2022/05/08/mt-pleasant-sacred-heart-vs-coleman-fowler-baseball-tournament-the-bleacher-denizen-may-7-2022-by-chuck-krafft/

While we are waiting for the game to be started, I thought you might want to listen to a couple of songs from my “Chuck Krafft” You Tube Channel!

This is an original tune!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol3R-ZL9568

And this honky tonk solo piano is my latest addition to my channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAyGsC_FuNo

Here are the starting lineups. Mason will bat first.

MASON

Ty Bercaw cf

Ethan Lockwood lf

Talon Rowe 1b

Matt McGonigal 3b

Jake Marble ss

Hunter Brackenwagen 2b

Cody Paul dh

Joey Fraga rf

Colin Koot c

Dustin Budzynski will pitch, but will not bat.

FOWLER:

Chase Pung c

Treagan O’Rourke lf

Vaughn Krepps 2b

Evan Curtiss p

Adyn O’Rourke 1b

Sam Vanneste ss

Nate Halfmann dh

Carter Lance cf

Hudson Schlak 3b

Mason Smith will play right field, but not bat.

Ty Bercaw was safe at second base on an error to open the game. He took third base on a sacrifice bunt by Ethan Lockwood and scored on a bounceout to second base by Talon Rowe. Matt McGonigal and Jake Marble walked. Evan Curtiss retired the next batter on a popup to the shortstop to end the inning.

Mason scored one run in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead.

Mason Pitcher Dustin Budzynski retired the Fowler leadoff hitter on a groundout to third base. Treagan O’Rourke drew a walk. Vaughn Krepps singled on a bunt down the third base line and Treagan O’Rourke advanced to second base. Evan Curtiss appeared to have an RBI single down the right field line, but it was ruled foul (after the Bleacher Denizen made all kinds of notes in ink. Sigh.) Evan Curtiss then walked to load the bases.

Adyn O’Rourke hit a sacrifice fly to center field. Treagan O’Rourke scored, Vaughn Krepps went to third and Evan Curtiss took second base. Dustin Budzynski got the next Fowler hitter to bounce back to the pitcher’s mound to end the inning.

After one full inning, the score was tied at 1-1.

Cody Paul lined a single to centerfield to open the second inning for Mason. Cody Paul stole second base. Evan Curtiss struck out the next two batters. Ty Bercaw singled to left field and drove in Cody Paul. Evan Curtiss retired the next batter on a fly to left field to end the inning.

Mason scored one run in the top of the second inning to take a 2-1 lead.

Dustin Budzynski struck out the leadoff Eagle batter in the bottom of the second inning. Carter Lance singled to right field. Hudson Schlak lined a single to center field and Carter Lance moved to second base. Chase Pung had a bunt single. Carter Lance took third base and Hudson Schlak went to second. Treagan O’Rourke was safe at first base on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop. Carter Lance scored, Hudson Schlak took third and Chase Pung was out at second base. Vaughn Krepps walked to reload the bases. Evan Curtiss boomed a grand slam home run over the left field fence.

Adyn O’Rourke singled up the middle. Dustin Budzynski got the final out of the inning on a popup to the pitcher.

Fowler scored five runs in the bottom of the second inning and took a 6-2 lead.

Sam Vanneste took over on the mound for Fowler. Mason Smith moved to shortstop, Evan Curtiss moved to first base and Mitchell Wirth entered the game to play right field.

Sam Vanneste retired the three Mason hitters in the third inning on a grounder to third, a bouncer to the mound and a strikeout.

Dustin Budzynski retired the first two Fowler hitters in the bottom of the third inning on a grounder to second base and a popup to the shortstop. Hudson Schlak belted a double out to the centerfield fence. Dustin Budzynski retired the next Eagle batter on a popup to the shortstop to end the inning.

Sam Vanneste struck out Mason’s leadoff hitter in the top of the third inning. Cody Paul singled to right field and went to second base when Joey Fraga drew a walk. Sam Vanneste struck out the next Bulldog hitter. Ty Bercaw clouted a three run homer to pull Mason to within one run. Sam Vanneste retired the next batter on a groundout to third base.

Mason scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning to trim Fowler’s lead to 6-5.

Talon Rowe came in to pitch for Mason. Jake Marble moved to first base, Matt McGonigal moved to second base, Hunter Brackenwagen went to shortstop, and Dustin Budzynski took over at third base.

Talon Rowe retired the first Eagle batter in the bottom of the fourth inning on a grounder to second base. Vaughn Krepps singled to right field. Evan Curtiss singled to right field and Vaughn Krepps advanced to second base. Mitchell Wirth bunted into a fielder’s choice when Mason Catcher Colin Koot quickly grabbed the bunt and forced Vaughn Krepps at third base. Evan Curtiss moved up to second base and Mitchell Wirth was safe at first. John Ruiz came in to pinch run for Evan Curtiss. Talon Rowe got the third Eagle out when Centerfielder Ty Bercaw made a nice running catch.

Fowler Centerfielder Carter Lance made a sliding catch to retire the Bulldog leadoff hitter in the fifth inning. Matt McGonigal drew a walk. The next batter was out on a fly to centerfield. Hunter Brackenwagen singled to right field and Matt McGonigal moved to third base. Hunter Brackenwagen stole second base. Matt McGonigal and Hunter Brackenwagen scored when Cody Paul was safe at first on an error.

After Cody Paul went to second base on a wild pitch, Mitchell Wirth came in to pitch. Sam Vanneste moved back to shortstop and Mason Smith moved back to right field. Joey Fraga walked. Mitchell Wirth struck out the next batter to end the Bulldog threat.

Mason scored two runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a 7-6 lead.

Talon Rowe retired Fowler’s fifth inning leadoff batter on a grounder to third base. Carter Lance singled into the right field corner. The next hitter was out on a fly to left field. Chase Pung beat out an infield single and Carter Lance went to third base. Talon Rowe got the third out on a grounder to the mound.

Ty Bercaw singled to lead off the sixth inning for Mason. Ty Bercaw stole second base and moved to third base on Ethan Lockwood’s sacrifice bunt. Ty Bercaw scored on a wild pitch. Talon Rowe walked and stole second base. Mitchell Wirth struck out the next Bulldog batter. Mitchell Wirth made an excellent play on a squibbed grounder to record the third out.

Mason scored one run in the top of the sixth inning to extend its lead to 8-6.

Vaughn Krepps walked to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning for Fowler. Evan Curtis walked and Vaughn Krepps advanced to second base. Everyone was safe when an attempted fielder’s choice play on Mitchell Wirth’s bunt backfired. Vaughn Krepps moved to third, Evan Curtis to second and Mitchell Wirth was safe at first base. Sam Vanneste hit a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop. Vaughn Krepps scored, Evan Curtiss moved to third base and Mitchell Wirth was out at second base. Sam Vanneste was safe at first base.

Nate Halfmann singled to right field to drive in Evan Curtiss. Sam Vanneste went to third base on the play. Sam Vanneste scored on Carter Lance’s sacrifice fly to deep right field to give Fowler the lead. Hudson Schlak singled past the shortstop and Sam Vanneste scored. Nate Halfmann advanced to second base.

Hunter Brackenwagen came in to pitch for Mason. Talon Rowe moved back to first base and Jake Marble back to shortstop. Zach Halfmann came in to pinch run for Nate Halfmann at second base.

Chase Pung walked to load the bases. Everyone was safe when an attempt at a fielder’s choice on Treagan O’Rourke’s grounder did not work. Zach Halfmann scored, Hudson Schlak advanced to third base, Chase Pung went to second base and Treagan O’Rourke was safe at first. Hunter Brackenwagen got the final out of the inning on a grounder to second base.

Jacob Halfmann came in to pitch for Fowler.

Hunter Brackenwagen led off the seventh inning for the Bulldogs with a walk. He advanced to third base when Cody Paul was safe at first on an error. Pinch Hitter Tyler Hall singled to right field. Hunter Brackenwagen scored and Cody Paul advanced to third base. Tyler Hall stole second base. Isaac Joseph pinch hit and singled to left field. Cody Paul scored to tie the game and Tyler Hall scored the go-ahead run.

Isaac Johnson was out at second and Ty Bercaw was safe at first on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop. Ty Bercaw stole second base. Ethan Lockwood singled to right field and Ty Bercaw scored. Ethan Lockwood took second base on a wild pitch. Talon Rowe walked.

Treagan O’Rourke came in to pitch for Fowler. Mason Smith moved to left field and Jacob Halfmann to right field. Matt McGonigal doubled to left field to drive in Ethan Lockwood. Talon Rowe advanced to third base. Talon Rowe scored and Matt McGonigal went to third base on a wild pitch. Matt McGonigal scored on Jake Marble’s sacrifice fly to left field. Hunter Brackenwagen beat out an infield single and stole second base. Treagan O’Rourke struck out the next batter to end the inning.

Mason scored seven runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 15-10 lead.

Evan Curtiss belted his second home run of the game to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning for Fowler. Hunter Brackenwagen retired the next three Eagles on a liner to third base, a fly to center and a strikeout to end the game.

Mason won this slugfest by a final score of 15-11.

Evan Curtiss led the Fowler offense with two home runs, a single and five RBI. Hudson Schlak had a double and two singles. Carter Lance had a double, a single and one RBI. Vaughn Krepps and Chase Pung each had two singles. Nate Halfmann had a single and one RBI. Sam Vanneste had one RBI and Treagan O’Rourke had two RBI.

Ty Bercaw had a home run, two singles and four RBI for Mason. Ethan Lockwood had two singles and an RBI. Matt McGonigal had a double and one RBI. Hunter Brackenwagen and Cody Paul each had two singles. Tyler Hall and Isaac Johnson each had a single and one RBI. Talon Rowe and Jake Marble each had one RBI.