Portland St. Patrick at Webberville – – First Game – – Baseball Doubleheader – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 16, 2022 – – by Chuck Krafft
In a semi deja vu moment, the Bleacher Denizen is off to Webberville to do a “sort of rematch” of the Portland St. Patrick Shamrocks’ District Basketball game with the Webberville Spartans. However, it’s only “sort of” as today, St. Patrick is visiting Webberville for a baseball doubleheader.
In my recent video of “Red River Valley” I tell my audience that you never know where the Red River Valley may lead you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w03AhhNk1M8
Well, the Red River Valley does not lead to Webberville High School, but fortunately for the Bleacher Denizen, the Shamrocks, the Spartans and all the fans, M-43 does!
We are all here and the teams are ready to go! Here are the starting lineups. Webberville is the home team and St. Patrick will bat first.
PORTLAND ST. PATRICK
Shane Cook ss
Lucas Simon cf
Charlie Thelen c
Braxton Teachworth 1b
Brayden Simon p
Brady Leonard 3b
Kyle Edlund 2b
Simon Brown rf
Riley Mosser lf
WEBBERVILLE
Kolson Lycos ss
Austin Johnson cf
Evan Peterson c
Max Mills p
Ethan Elzerman lf
Chase Proctor 2b
Alex Klempner 1b
Liam Wilder rf
Mike Jones 3b
It is now time to look at the events of this game through the somewhat open eyes of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who will always cherish the memory of the only fair ball he ever hit in Little League. (It actually DID happen once!)
Webberville Pitcher Max Mills retired the first two St. Patrick hitters in the top of the first inning on a bunt to the pitcher’s mound and a popup to the shortstop. Charlie Thelen walked and advanced to third base on a double to deep left field by Braxton Teachworth. Spartan Third Baseman Mike Jones made a nice play running back into left field to snare an attempt at a bloop single by Brayden Simon for the third out.
Kolson Lycos singled to right field to open the first inning for the Spartans. Shamrock Pitcher Brayden Simon struck out the next batter and got the second out on a fly to the mound. Max Mills boomed a two run homer over the left-center field fence to drive in Kolson Lycos. Brayden Simon struck out the next Spartan batter to end the inning.
Webberville scored two runs in the top of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead.
Brady Leonard led off the second inning for St. Patrick and was safe at first on an error. He advanced to second base on a wild pitch and took third base on Kyle Edlund’s bunt single. Simon Brown singled to center field to drive in Brady Leonard and move Kyle Edlund to second base. Kyle Edlund was out at third, Simon Brown went to second and Riley Mosser was safe at first on a fielder’s choice ground out to the shortstop. Simon Brown went to third and Riley Mosser to second base when Shane Cook was safe at first on an error.
Lucas Simon singled to left field to drive in Simon Brown. Spartan Leftfielder Ethan Elzerman threw to Shortstop Kolson Lycos, who rifled a throw home to nail the runner trying to score from second base. Shane Cook advanced to third and Lucas Simon to second base on the throw. Shane Cook scored and Lucas Simon went to third base when a balk was called. Charlie Thelen singled to drive in Lucas Simon. Tyler Groothuis came in as a courtesy runner for Charlie Thelen and stole second base. Max Mills retired the next batter on a great running catch by Spartan Centerfielder Austin Johnson to end the inning.
St. Patrick scored four runs in the top of the second inning to take a 4-2 lead.
Brayden Simon struck out all three Webberville batters in the bottom of the second inning.
Brayden Simon was hit by a pitch to open the third inning for St. Patrick; he stole second base. Max Mills struck out the next Shamrock hitter. Brayden Simon advanced to third base on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Kyle Edlund. Max Mills struck out the next batter to end the inning.
St. Patrick scored on run in the top of the third inning to boost its lead to 5-2.
Brayden Simon struck out the three Webberville hitters in the bottom of the third inning.
Riley Mosser singled up the middle to start off the fourth inning for St. Patrick. He stole second base. Max Mills retired the next hitter on a fly to right field. Riley Mosser went to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Lucas Simon. When a pickoff throw went awry, Riley Mosser came home. Max Mills retired the next batter on a fly to right field to end the inning.
St. Patrick scored one run in the top of the fourth inning to extend its lead to 6-2.
Lucas Simon came in to pitch for St. Patrick. Brayden Simon moved to third base and Brady Leonard took over in center field.
Lucas Simon struck out the Spartan leadoff batter in the bottom of the fourth inning. The next hitter was out on a popup to the mound. Lucas Simon struck out the next batter to end the inning.
Max Mills retired the Shamrock leadoff hitter on a grounder to the mound to start out the fifth inning. Brayden Simon was hit by a pitch. Max Mills picked the Shamrock runner off first base. Brady Leonard lined a single to centerfield and moved up to second base when Kyle Edlund walked. Max Mills retired the next batter on a fielder’s choice grounder to third base to end the inning.
Lucas Simon struck out the Spartan fifth inning leadoff batter. He got off the mound quickly to field a squibbed grounder for the second out. He struck out the next batter to end the inning.
Max Mills retired the three Shamrock sixth inning batters on a fly to centerfield, a popup to first base and a popup to the shortstop.
Shamrock Shortstop Shane Cook ranged back into left field to snag a popup to record the first Spartan out in the sixth inning. Kolson Lycos doubled to right field. Shamrock Centerfielder made an alert play to back up at second base when a pickoff throw went into the outfield; the runner had to hold at second base. Kolson Lycos went to third base on Austin Johnson’s grounder to the pitcher. Lucas Simon struck out the next batter to end the inning.
Charlie Thelen blooped a single to right field to open the seventh inning for St. Patrick. Max Mills retired the next hitter on a fly to deep center field. Tyler Groothuis came in as a courtesy runner for Charlie Thelen and stole second base. Max Mills retired the next batter on a fly to first base. Spartan Centerfielder Austin Johnson made a fine play running in to catch a drive off the bat of Brady Leonard to retire the side.
In the middle of the seventh inning, the Shamrock lead remained at 6-2.
Lucas Simon struck out the Spartan leadoff hitter to open the second inning. The next batter was out on a popup to the shortstop. Chase Proctor singled to right field. The next batter hit into a fielder’s choice at second base to record the final out.
St. Patrick won this game by a 6-2 score.
Max Mills pitched the complete game for Webberville. On offense, he contributed a two run home run. Kolson Lycos had a double and a single. Chase Proctor had a single.
Charlie Thelen had two singles and an RBI for St. Patrick. Braxton Teachworth contributed a double. Lucas Simon, Kyle Edlund and Simon Brown each had a single and one RBI. Brady Leonard and Riley Mosser each had a single.
Brayden Simon pitched three innings, gave up two runs and struck out eight batters. Lucas Simon pitched four shutout innings and struck out six batters.
Here is a link to the second game of this doubleheader!
https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2022/05/18/portland-st-patrick-at-webberville-second-game-baseball-doubleheader-the-bleacher-denizen-may-17-2022-by-chuck-krafft/