Fowler at Vestaburg – – Baseball District Game – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 31, 2022 – – by Chuck Krafft

It’s time for the Michigan High School Athletic Association Baseball Tournament to start. Your Bleacher Denizen has made it to Vestaburg for the first time since he started the blog and will write up the District first round game between the Vestaburg Wolverines and the Fowler Eagles.

Of course, if you listen to my music video of “Red River Valley” on my “Chuck Krafft” You Tube Channel, you will learn that you never know where the Red River Valley will lead you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w03AhhNk1M8

Fortunately for your Bleacher Denizen, M-46 DOES lead to Vestaburg and with a little assist from Athletic Director Troy Reedy and from my GPS, I was able to make the trip from South Lansing to Vestaburg’s field with ease.

And Fowler fans who have seen the other video might enjoy the most recent video in my channel!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvrOo-TYs-E

Here are the starting lineups for each team. The coin was flipped and Vestaburg will bat first. Fowler will be the “home” team. (For us Bleacher Denizens, we will simply have to ignore a potential logical fallacy of Vestaburg being the visiting team at its home stadium.) I’d like to add that this is my first look at the Vestaburg Diamond. It’s a really nice, well-maintained field!! KUDOS!!!

But I digress – – HERE are the starting lineups!

VESTABURG:

Hayden Palmer c

Keegan Beetley ss

Levi Halliwill p

Cole Dailey 2b

Luke Beard lf

Trevor Patch 1b

Keegan Griffin 3b

Grant Hacker dh

Jaylin Maddox rf

Kayden Stebbins will play centerfield, but will not bat.

FOWLER:

Chase Pung c

Treagan O’Rourke lf

Vaughn Krepps 2b

Evan Curtiss 1b

Sam Vanneste p

Adyn O’Rourke dh

Carter Lance cf

Hudson Schlak 3b

Mason Smith ss

Mitchell Wirth will play right field, but will not bat.

Fowler Pitcher Sam Vanneste struck out the Vestaburg leadoff batter to open the game. Keegan Beetley drew a walk and stole second base. Levi Halliwill grounded a single up the middle to advance Keegan Beetley to third base. Cole Dailey’s sacrifice bunt drove Keegan Beetley in; Levi Halliwill made it to third base on the throw to the plate.

Luke Beard’s high chopper single drove in Levi Halliwill. Trevor Patch bounced a high hopper over the Fowler third baseman’s had for a single; Luke Beard advanced to second base. Sam Vanneste struck out the next hitter to end the top of the first inning.

Vestaburg scored two runs in the top of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead.

Chase Pung led off the bottom of the first inning for Fowler with a bunt single. He moved to second base when Treagan O’Rourke walked. Chase Pung scored and Treagan O’Rourke moved to third base when Vaughn Krepps was safe at second base on an error. Evan Curtiss singled to drive in Treagan O’Rourke and Vaughn Krepps.

Zach Halfmann came in to pinch run for Evan Curtiss and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Vestaburg Pitcher Levi Halliwill picked the runner off second base and struck out the next two Eagle batters to end the inning.

Fowler scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 3-2 lead.

Grant Hacker lined a single to right field to lead off the second inning for Vestaburg. Sam Vanneste struck out the next batter. Fowler Second Baseman made a nice catch running into short right-center field to record the next out. Keegan Beetley walked and Grant Hacker moved up to second base. Levi Halliwill singled to load the bases.

Cole Dailey was hit by a pitch and Grant Hacker was forced home. Keegan Beetley advanced to third and Levi Halliwill took second base. Luke Beard’s sharp grounder up the middle was good for a single to drive in Keegan Beetley. Levi Halliwill moved up to third base and Cole Dailey to second base. Trevor Patch lined a single to left field to drive in Levi Halliwill as Cole Dailey went to third base and Luke Beard to second. Sam Vanneste struck out the next Wolverine hitter to end the inning.

Vestaburg scored three runs in the top of the second inning to take a 5-3 lead.

Carter Lance singled to lead off the bottom of the second inning for Fowler and stole second base. Hudson Schlak beat out an infield single to send Carter Lance to third base; Carter Lance scored and Hudson Schlak took second base on an overthrow. Vestaburg Pitcher Levi Halliwill struck out the next Eagle hitter. Chase Pung singled to center field to drive in Hudson Schlak and tie the game.

Chase Pung stole second base and went to third base on Treagan O’Rourke’s groundout to first base. Levi Halliwill retired the next Eagle batter on a grounder to the shortstop to end the inning.

Fowler scored two runs in the bottom of the second inning to tie the game at 5-5.

Grant Hacker single to right field to open the top of the third inning for Vestaburg and took second base when Jaylin Maddox beat out an infield single. Sam Vanneste struck out the next Wolverine hitter and got the second out of the inning on a fly to right field. Levi Halliwill walked to load the bases. Same Vanneste retired the next Vestaburg batter on a fly to center field to hold the Wolverines scoreless for the third inning.

Evan Curtiss singled to lead off the third inning for Fowler and advanced to second base when Sam Vanneste was hit by a pitch. Evan Curtiss moved to third base and Sam Vanneste to second base on a wild pitch. Evan Curtiss and Sam Vanneste scored when Adyn O’Rourke was safe at second base on an error. Vestaburg Centerfielder Kayden Stebbins made an alert play to back up second base on an errant pickoff throw; he prevented the runner on base from advancing.

Carter Lance tripled to left field to drive in Adyn O’Rourke. Carter Lance scored on Hudson Schlak’s sacrifice fly to right field. Levi Halliwill retired the next Eagle hitter on a fly to center field. Chase Pung was safe at first base on an error. Chase Pung advanced all the way to third base on a wild pitch. Treagan O’Rourke singled to drive in Chase Pung. Treagan O’Rourke stole second base. Vaughn Krepps drew a walk. Levi Halliwill struck out the next batter to end the inning.

Fowler scored five runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 10-5 lead.

Luke Beard was hit by a pitch to lead off the top of the fourth inning for Vestaburg. Fowler Pitcher Sam Vanneste struck out the next two Wolverine hitters. Luke Beard stole second base. Sam Vanneste struck out the next Wolverine batter to end the inning.

Vestaburg Pitcher Levi Halliwill retired the three Fowler fourth inning hitters on a fly to right field, a strikeout and a fly to left field.

Sam Vanneste got off the mound really quickly to retire the Vestaburg fifth inning leadoff batter on a slow roller down the first base line and struck out the next batter. Keegan Beetley was safe at first on an error. Fowler Catcher Chase Pung made a great throw to second base to retire the runner stealing to end the inning.

Hudson Schlak singled to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning for Fowler. Cole Dailey came in to pitch for Vestaburg and Levi Halliwill moved to second base.

Cole Dailey retired the next three Fowler batters on a fly to the shortstop, a fielder’s choice grounder to the third baseman and a strikeout.

After five full innings, the Fowler lead remained at 10-5.

Evan Curtiss came in to pitch for Fowler. Vaughn Krepps moved to first base; Mason Smith moved to second base; Sam Vanneste moved to shortstop.

Evan Curtiss retired the Vestaburg sixth inning leadoff batter on a popup to second base. Cole Dailey doubled to right field. Fowler Right Fielder Mitchell Wirth quickly got the ball to Second Baseman Mason Smith, got relayed the ball to Shortstop Sam Vanneste to trap the runner off second base for the second Wolverine out. Evan Curtiss retired the next batter on a foul popup where Catcher Chase Pung made a nice diving catch to record the third out.

Cole Dailey struck out the Fowler leadoff batter in the bottom of the sixth inning. Evan Curtiss walked. MaClain Smith came in to run for Evan Curtiss and moved up to second base when Sam Vanneste walked. Adyn O’Rourke blooped a single to left field; MaClain Smith advanced to third base and Sam Vanneste to second base. Carter Lance walked to force MaClain Smith home. Sam Vanneste went to third base and Adyn O’Rourke to second base. Hudson Schlak walked to force Sam Vanneste home. Adyn O’Rourke went to third base and Carter Lance to second base.

Keegan Beetley took over the pitching duties for the Wolverines. Levi Halliwill moved to shortstop and Cole Dailey moved back to second base.

Mason Smith drew a walk to force Adyn O’Rourke home. Carter Lance moved up to third base and Hudson Schlak to second base. Chase Pung drilled a hard one hopper off the pitcher for a single. (Thank goodness that Keegan Beetley was not hurt; he really got drilled on that one.) Carter Lance scored as Hudson Schlak moved to third base and Mason Smith to second base. Treagan O’Rourke walked to force Hudson Schlak home with the winning run.

Fowler won the game 15-5 because of the mercy rule.

Each team had some excellent hitting performances!

Luke Beard had two singles and two RBI for Vestaburg. Trevor Patch had two singles and one RBI. Cole Dailey had a double and two RBI. Levi Halliwill had two singles. Grant Hacker contributed a single.

Chase Pung had three singles and two RBI for Fowler. Carter Lance had a triple, a single and two RBI. Evan Curtiss and Hudson Schlak each had two singles and two RBI. Treagan O’Rourke had a single and two RBI. Adyn O’Rourke had a single. Mason Smith had one RBI.

In a postscript, I covered two Vestaburg basketball games during the season. In case you have not seen them – –

Girls Basketball at Morrice

https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2021/12/02/vestaburg-at-morrice-girls-basketball-the-bleacher-denizen-december-1-2021-by-chuck-krafft/

Boys Regional Game against Fulton

https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2022/03/15/vestaburg-vs-fulton-mhsaa-boys-regional-semifinal-the-bleacher-denizen-march-14-2022-by-chuck-krafft/

I hope that Vestaburg fans who may have missed these articles will enjoy them!

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