Lansing Catholic vs. Laingsburg – – MHSAA Baseball Regional Semifinal – – The Bleacher Denizen – – June 9, 2022 – – by Chuck Krafft

After a rainy day in Lansing (your Bleacher Denizen is unaware of the weather in Georgia the past few days), today it’s time for the Cougars from Lansing Catholic to play the Wolfpack from Laingsburg to determine who will play in Saturday’s Regional Final.

While we wait for the teams to warm up, here is a link to my most recent video on my “Chuck Krafft” You Tube Channel.

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

Here are the starting lineups. While the game is at Lansing Catholic’s field, the Cougars are the visiting team. (Your aging Bleacher Denizen struggles a bit, but finally comprehends, I guess. The mind boggles – – – )/ Of course that means Catholic will bat first and Laingsburg will bat last.

LANSING CATHOLIC:

Austin Gates ss

Seth Elberson cf

Daniel Shipman p

Ty Trahey 1b

Drew Burlingame dh

Tyler Rakan 3b

Padraic Cotter 2b

Drew Diehl c

Jake Sudol rf

Drew Tolfree will play left field, but will not bat.

LAINGSBURG:

Dom Garcia cf

Emilio Garcia 1b

Ty Randall p

Ethan West c

Hayden Johnston lf

Nick Regan ss

Cam Ballard 3b

Kyle Thelen 2b

Cooper Wilson rf

It is now time to look at the events of this game through the semi-energetic eyes of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who never made the school baseball team. Your Bleacher Denizen frequently struggled with baseball terminology. Until it was too late, he did not realize that we try to steal BASES, not VASES, when we play baseball. Alas, after several shoplifting arrests (and one unfortunately broken Ming Vase), your Bleacher Denizen’s baseball career was over forever. (I suppose my inability to hit also contributed to this.)

Austin Gates walked to lead off the top of the first inning for Catholic; he advanced to second base on Seth Elberson’s sacrifice bunt. Austin Gates took third base on a wild pitch. Daniel Shipman walked. Wolfpack Pitcher Ty Randall struck out the next batter and got the third out of the inning on a grounder to shortstop.

Dom Garcia was hit by a pitch to open the bottom of the first inning for Laingsburg. He advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Emilio Garcia. Catholic Pitcher Daniel Shipman retired the next two hitters on a grounder to shortstop and a strikeout to end the inning.

Tyler Rakan led off the top of the second inning for the Cougars with a walk. He stole second base. Ty Randall struck out the next Cougar hitter and got the second out of the inning on a fly to left field. Jake Sudol walked as Tyler Rakan stole third base on ball four. After Jake Sudol stole second base, Austin Gates walked to load the bases. Seth Elberson walked and forced Tyler Rakan across the plate as Jake Sudol went to third and Austin Gates to second.

Daniel Shipman grounded a single to right field to drive in Jake Sudol and Austin Gates. Seth Elberson went around to third base and Daniel Shipman took second base on a throw to the plate. Ty Trahey was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Ty Randall struck out the next batter to end the inning.

Lansing Catholic scored three runs in the top of the second inning to take a 3-0 lead.

Hayden Johnston was safe at first to lead off the bottom of the second inning when he struck out, but the third strike was not caught. Daniel Shipman retired the next Wolfpack batter on a fly to center field. Cougar Catcher Drew Diehl rifled a throw to second base to catch the runner stealing. Daniel Shipman struck out the next batter to en the inning.

Tyler Rakan walked to lead off the top of the third inning for Catholic. He stole second base as Ty Randall struck out the next batter. Tyler Rakan stole third base and came home on a throwing error. Ty Randall struck out the next batter to end the inning.

Catholic scored one run in the top of the third inning to boost its lead to 4-0.

Cougar Pitcher Daniel Shipman retired the three Wolfpack hitters in the third inning on a strikeout, a bunt to the mound and another strikeout.

Ty Randall struck out the Catholic leadoff batter to open the fourth inning. Seth Elberson was safe at first on an error. He stole second base and third base. He scored when Daniel Shipman was safe at first on an error. When a pickoff throw hit him, instead of cringing and heading to the emergency room like your Bleacher Denizen would have, Daniel Shipman shrugged it off and dashed to second base. When Laingsburg First Baseman Emilio Garcia snared a line drive bid for a hit off the bat of Ty Trahey, he alertly threw to second base to double off the runner and end the inning.

Catholic scored one run in the top of the third inning to push its lead to 5-0.

Emilio Garcia walked to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning for Laingsburg. He advanced to second base on Ty Randall’s groundout to the second baseman. Ethan West walked; Emilio Garcia stole third base on ball four. Elliot Wilsey entered the game as a courtesy runner for Ethan West. Hayden Johnston walked to load the bases. Nick Regan beat out an infield single to drive Emilio Garcia home. Elliot Wilsey advanced to third base and Hayden Johnston went to second base.

Cam Ballard made a bid for extra bases, but Catholic Rightfielder Jake Sudol made a long run, dove and made a fantastic catch. Elliot Wilsey tagged up and scored on the play. Jake Sudol got the ball in and doubled the runner off second base. Because Elliot Wilsey scored before the third out was made, Laingsburg was credited with its second run of the inning.

Laingsburg scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to trim the Catholic lead to 5-2.

Ty Randall retired the first two Catholic hitters in the bottom of the fifth inning on a grounder to shortstop and a strikeout. Padraic Cotter was safe at first on an error. He took third base on a single to left by Drew Diehl. Charlie Gates came in as a courtesy runner for Drew Diehl. Jake Sudol doubled to left field to drive in Padraic Cotter and Charlie Gates.

Nick Regan came in to pitch for Laingsburg and Ty Randall went to shortstop.

Austin Gates lined a single up the middle to drive Jake Sudol home. Austin Gates moved up to second base when Seth Elberson walked. Austin Gates and Seth Elberson executed a double steal to move up to third base and second base. Daniel Shipman walked to load the bases. Nick Regan got the third out on a popup to shortstop.

Catholic scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning to advance its lead to 8-2.

Kyle Thelen singled to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning for the Wolfpack. The next hitter was out on a popped up bunt to the pitcher. Dom Garcia lined a single to left field to push Kyle Thelen to second base. The runner was out at third base and Dom Garcia went to second base when Emilio Garcia was safe on a fielder’s choice grounder to third base. Dom Garcia stole third base; when the throw went to third base, Emilio Garcia stole second base. Ty Randall doubled to left field to drive in Dom Garcia and Emilio Garcia.

Ethan West singled down the left field line to drive in Ty Randall. Tyler Rakan went in to pitch for Catholic and Daniel Shipman took over at third base.

Hayden Johnston was hit by a pitch. Tyler Rakan struck out the next batter to end the inning.

Laingsburg scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut the Catholic lead to 8-5.

Nick Regan struck out the Cougar leadoff batter in the top of the sixth inning. Tyler Rakan was safe at first on an error and stole second base. Padraic Cotter was hit by a pitch. The next hitter was out on a fly to right field. Jake Sudol singled to drive in Tyler Rakan as Padraic Cotter went to third base. Nick Regan retired the next batter on a fly to left field to end the inning.

Lansing Catholic scored one run in the top of the sixth inning to extend its lead to 9-5.

Tyler Rakan retired the Wolfpack leadoff batter on the bottom of the sixth inning on a one hopper to second base. Kyle Thelen was safe at first base when he struck out, but the third strike was not caught; he advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Tyler Rakan struck out the next batter. Dom Garcia walked. Tyler Rakan struck out the next hitter to end the inning.

Laingsburg retired Catholic’s leadoff hitter in the top of the seventh inning when Kyle Thelen dashed to first base to take a throw from Emilio Thelen on a grounder to first base. Daniel Shipman was hit by a pitch and stole second base. Daniel Shipman advanced to third base on a grounder to the shortstop by Ty Trahey. Nick Regan retired the next batter on a fly to right field for the third out.

Lansing Catholic entered the bottom of the seventh inning holding a 9-5 lead.

Ty Randall walked and went to second base when Ethan West was hit by a pitch. Elliot Wilsey came in as a courtesy runner for Ethan West. Ty Randall took third base and the runner was out at second base on Hayden Johnston’s fielder’s choice grounder to the pitcher. Ty Randall was able to score on the play on an overthrow. Nick Regan was hit by a pitch and Hayden Johnston advanced to second base.

Austin Gates came in to pitch for the Cougars. Tyler Rakan moved back to third base and Daniel Shipman moved to second base.

Austin Gates struck out the next two Wolfpack batters to end the game.

Lansing Catholic won 9-6 and will advance to the Regional Final on Saturday.

Ty Randall had a double and two RBI for Laingsburg. He also had eight strikeouts in four and two thirds innings of pitching. Ethan West and Nick Regan each had a single and one RBI. Dom Garcia had a single. Cam Ballard had one RBI.

Jake Sudol had a double, a single and three RBI for Catholic. Daniel Shipman had a single and two RBI. Austin Gates had a single and one RBI. Drew Diehl had a single. Seth Elberson had one RBI.

Austin Gates also struck out the final two batters on the game to end Laingsburg’s final threat.