Bay City John Glenn at Frankenmuth – – Baseball Doubleheader – – Game 1 – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 16, 2023 – – by Chuck Krafft

Today, your Bleacher Denizen is in Frankenmuth, watching the Eagles play baseball. Frankenmuth is my alma mater and I’m excited about blogging my first Frankenmuth Baseball game ever. The Frankenmuth Eagles will be hosting the Bobcats from Bay City John Glenn.

While we wait for the game to start, why don’t we listen to this cover of the Tijuana Brass’ Lonely Bull from my You Tube Channel! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmJmDiyf3ps

Here are this afternoon’s starting lineups for Game 1. John Glenn will bat first and Frankenmuth will be the home team.

JOHN GLENN BOBCATS:

Brody Krzysiak ss

Brady Rogers c

Nathan Ball rf

Tanner Sonntag p

T.J. Cwiklinski lf

Eli Richardson dh

Ben Mackenzie 1b

Hayden Ruff 3b

Colton Beson 2b

Nick Naylor will play center field, but will not bat.

FRANKENMUTH EAGLES:

Jack Rich 2b

Ryan Rich cf

Dayne Reif 1b

Drew Titsworth p

Jake Vander Harr c

Rob Remender 3b

Zac Andrews lf

Hunter Bernthal ss

Logan Diener dh

Carter Short will play right field, but will not bat.

It is now time to review the events of this game through the eager, but aging eyes of an ancient Bleacher Denizen whose baseball career took a huge downward turn when the powers that be ruled that he was not allowed to use a jet pack so he could run the bases faster.

Drew Titsworth retired the Bobcat leadoff batter in the top of the first inning on a fly to center field where Ryan Rich made a fine running catch. Brody Rogers was hit by a pitch and took second base when Nathan Ball was safe at first base on an error. Tanner Sonntag walked to load the bases. Drew Titsworth retired the next two Bobcat hitters on a strikeout and a grounder to the mound to hold John Glenn scoreless for the inning.

Tanner Sonntag struck out the first two Frankenmuth batters in the bottom of the first inning. Dayne Reif was hit by a pitch and took second base on a passed ball. Tanner Sonntag struck out the net batter to end the inning.

Drew Titsworth struck out the John Glenn leadoff batter in the top of the second inning. Hayden Ruff beat out an infield single and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Colton Beson. Drew Titsworth struck out the next Bobcat hitter to end the inning.

Tanner Sonntag retired the three Frankenmuth hitters in the bottom of the second inning on a grounder to shortstop and liner to first base and a strikeout.

Drew Titsworth struck out the Bobcat leadoff hitter to open the third inning. Nathan Ball hit a solid single to center field. Drew Titsworth struck out the next batter and got the third out on a fielder’s choice grounder to the pitcher.

Tanner Sonntag struck out the Eagle leadoff batter in the bottom of the third inning. Logan Diener singled to right field. Tanner Sonntag retired the next two batters on a strikeout and a fly to right field to end the inning.

Drew Titsworth struck out all three Bobcat hitters in the top of the fourth inning.

Dayne Reif blasted a double to deep center field to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning for Frankenmuth and advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Drew Titsworth. Jake Vander Harr drew a walk.

Rob Remender blooped a drive to right field. As Jake Vander Harr had to hold at first to see if the ball would be caught, Bobcat Right Fielder Nathan Ball was able to throw to second base to force him out at second when the ball dropped. Rob Remender was safe a first base and earned an RBI when Dayne Reif scored on the play. Tanner Sonntag picked the Eagle runner off first base to end the inning.

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

Drew Titsworth struck out the John Glenn leadoff hitter to open the top of the fifth inning. Brody Krzysiak blasted a double to deep center field. Brady Rogers doubled to right field to drive in Brody Krzysiak to tie the game. Frankenmuth Catcher made a fantastic running to retire the next hitter on a foul popup. Brady Rogers tagged and broke for third base on the play. The throw sailed into left field and Brady Rogers came around to score the go-ahead run. Drew Titsworth struck out the next Bobcat hitter to end the inning.

John Glenn scored two runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a 2-1 lead.

Zac Andrews beat out a bunt down the third base line to open the bottom of the fifth inning for Frankenmuth and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Hunter Bernthal. Tanner Sonntag retired the next two hitters on a strikeout and a fly to the second baseman to end the inning.

Drew Titsworth struck out all three Bobcat hitters in the top of the sixth inning.

Tanner Sonntag retired the Frankenmuth leadoff batter in the bottom of the sixth inning on a soft liner to first base. Dayne Reif walked. Thomas Conzelmann entered the game to run for Dayne Reif and went all the way to third base on an errant pickoff throw. Tanner Sonntag retired the next two batters on a foul popup to third base and a strikeout.

Drew Titsworth was up near his maximum pitch count, so he moved to first base for Frankenmuth. Dayne Reif moved to third base and Rob Remender came in to pitch.

Hayden Ruff walked to lead off the top of the seventh inning for the Bobcats and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Colton Beson. Brody Krzysiak blasted a two run homer over the center field fence; Hayden Ruff also scored on the play. Brady Rogers singled down the third base line; Nathan Ball drove him in with a two run home run over the center field fence.

Rob Remender retired the next batter on a fly to first base. T.J. Cwiklinski singled to center field. John Glenn made its final out of the inning on a line drive to second base.

John Glenn scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning to boost its lead to 6-1.

Tanner Sonntag struck out all three Eagle batters in the bottom of the seventh inning to end the game. John Glenn won the opener of this doubleheader by the score of 6-1.

Dayne Reif had a double for Frankenmuth. Zac Andrews and Logan Diener each had a single. Rob Remender had one RBI.

Drew Titsworth pitched a great game for Frankenmuth. In six innings, he allowed just one earned run (two overall), as well as four hits and struck out fifteen batters.

Brody Krzysiak had a home run, a triple and two RBI for John Glenn. Nathan Ball had a home run, a single and two RBI. Brody Rogers had a double, a single and one RBI. T.J. Cwiklinski and Hayden Ruff each had one single.

Tanner Sonntag pitched the complete game for John Glenn. He gave up one run and three hits. He struck out eleven batters.

Here is a link to the second game of this doubleheader. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2023/05/17/bay-city-john-glenn-at-frankenmuth-baseball-doubleheader-game-2-the-bleacher-denizen-may-16-2023-by-chuck-krafft/