Pewamo-Westphalia vs. DeWitt – – Baseball – – First Round Diamond Classic – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 23, 2022 – – by Chuck Krafft
It’s time for the second game of the Diamond Classic to start. Holt and Mason played an excellent game that was in doubt until the final out in the first game. Here is a link to that contest!
While we are waiting for the teams to take infield, we can listen to this old classic piano tune from my “Chuck Krafft” You Tube Channel!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvrOo-TYs-E
Here are the starting lineups. Pewamo-Westphalia’s Pirates will bat first and the Panthers from DeWitt will be the home team.
PEWAMO-WESTPHALIA
Tanner Wirth cf
Nathan Simon rf
Ashtin Wirth c
Caleb Stopczynski dh
Brock Thelen ss
Adam Nurenberg 2b
Gabe Miller 1b
Trent Channell lf
Conner Russell 3b
Austin Schaefer will pitch, but not bat.
DEWITT:
Trent Brandell cf
Brandon Beckner lf
Bo Donaldson rf
Ohlen Bond p
A.J. Alicea ss
Bryce Debri c
Dayton Zink dh
Nick Weiss 1b
Ryan McKinney 2b
Sean Page will play third base, but will not bat.
It is now time to look at the results of this game through the Eagle Eyes of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who will always treasure the memory of the one fair ball he managed to hit in Little League. (It actually DID happen once!)
For the rest of the article, Pewamo-Westphalia will generally be called “P-W” to save wear and tear on the aging Bleacher Denizen’s aging fingers!
The P-W leadoff batter in the first inning was out on a liner to left field. Nathan Simon walked. Nathan Simon was out at second and Ashtin Wirth safe at first on a fielder’s choice grounder to second base. Grant Pohl came in as a courtesy runner for Ashtin Wirth. Ashtin Wirth stole second base and took third base on Caleb Stopczynski’s single to left field. Grant Pohl scored when Brock Thelen was safe at first on an error. Caleb Stopczynski went to second base on the play. DeWitt Pitcher Ohlen Bond struck out the next batter to end the inning.
Pewamo-Westphalia scored one run in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead.
Pirate Pitcher Austin Schafer retired the Panther leadoff batter on a fly to right field. Brandon Beckner walked and went to second base when Bo Donaldson walked. Brandon Beckner took third and Bo Donaldson second on a throwing error on an attempted pickoff. Ohlen Bond blooped a single to centerfield to drive in Brandon Beckner. Bo Donaldson moved up to third base.
Ryder Thompson entered the game as a courtesy runner for Ohlen Bond. Bo Donaldson scored on A.J. Alicea’s sacrifice fly to right field. DeWitt made its third out on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop.
DeWitt scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 2-1 lead.
Ohlen Bond struck out the Pirate leadoff batter in the top of the second inning. Trent Channell drew a walk. DeWitt Catcher Bryce Debri fired a strike to second base to catch the runner stealing. Ohlen Bond struck out the next Pirate hitter to end the inning.
DeWitt made its first out out of the inning on a fly to center field. Pirate Shortstop Brock Thelen made a fine play running back on a bloop fly to record the Panthers’ second out. Pirate Pitcher Austin Schafer got the final out of the inning on a grounder to second base.
Panther First Baseman Nick Weiss made an excellent play leaning into the Pirate dugout to catch a foul popup to record the first P-W out of the third inning. DeWitt Pitcher Ohlen Bond retired the next two batters on a fly to left field and a strikeout to end the inning.
DeWitt’s leadoff batter in the bottom of the third inning was out on a fly to shortstop. Pirate First Baseman Gabe Miller made a nice play going to his right and tossing the ball to Pitcher Austin Schafer, who hustled over to cover first base for the second out of the inning. Bo Donaldson walked. Do Donaldson advanced to second base when Ohlen Bond walked. Ryder Thompson came into the game as a courtesy runner for Ohlen Bond. DeWitt made its third out on a grounder to first base.
With three full innings in the books, DeWitt’s lead remained at 2-1.
Panther Pitcher Ohlen Bond struck out the first two Pirate batters to open the top of the fourth inning. Adam Nurenberg lined a single to left field. Adam Nurenberg advanced to second base on a passed ball. Ohlen Bond retired the next batter on a grounder to shortstop to end the inning.
Pirate Pitcher Austin Schafer retired the three Panther fourth inning hitters on a grounder to the shortstop, a fly to center field and a strikeout.
Ohlen Bond struck out the first two P-W batters in the top of the fifth inning. Tanner Wirth singled to right field. The next batter was out on a fielder’s choice grounder to the second baseman to end the inning.
Pinch Hitter Ryder Thompson walked to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning for DeWitt. Ryder Thompson advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Trent Brandell laid a beautiful bunt down the third base line and beat it out for a single as Ryder Thompson advanced to third base. Trent Brandell stole second base. Ryder Thompson scored and Trent Brandell went to third base on a sacrifice fly to center field by Brandon Beckner. The next hitter was out on a popup to the first baseman. DeWitt made its third out on a foul popup to the first baseman.
DeWitt scored one run in the bottom of the fifth inning to extend its lead to 3-1.
Ohlen Bond retired the three Pirate batters in the top of the sixth inning on a popup to third base, a strikeout and a fly to the shortstop.
P-W Pitcher Austin Schafer retired the DeWitt leadoff batter on a popup to the shortstop. Bryce Debri was safe at first on an error. P-W Catcher Ashtin Wirth fired the ball to second base to catch the runner stealing. The Panthers made their third out on a grounder to second base.
After six innings, DeWitt’s lead remained at 3-1.
Sean Page took over the pitching duties for DeWitt to start the seventh inning. Ohlen Bond moved to third base.
Sean Page retired the P-W seventh inning leadoff batter on a one hopper to the mound. Pinch hitter Zach Raines singled to right field. Zach Raines was out at second base and Trent Channell safe at first on a fielder’s choice grounder to the first baseman. Trent Channell reached second base when a throwing error was made. Sean Page struck out the next batter to end the game.
DeWitt won 3-1 and will play Eaton Rapids in Thursday’s quarterfinal game.
Tanner Wirth, Caleb Stopczynski, Adam Nurenberg and Zach Raines each had a single for Pewamo-Westphalia. Austin Schafer pitched the complete game for DeWitt allowing only two hits and three runs.
Ohlen Bond had a single and an RBI for DeWitt. Trent Brandell had a single. Brandon Beckner and A.J. Alicea each had an RBI.
Ohlen Bond pitched six innings for DeWitt. He gave up one run, three hits and struck out nine batters. Sean Page pitched on inning. He gave up no runs and struck out one batter.