Portland St. Patrick at Saranac – – Baseball Doubleheader – – Game 2 – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 18, 2023 – – by Chuck Krafft

After a meal (and bathroom for some of us) break, it is time to watch the second game of this doubleheader! Here is a play by play of the first game. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2023/05/19/portland-st-patrick-at-saranac-baseball-doubleheader-game-1-the-bleacher-denizen-may-18-2023-by-chuck-krafft/

For those of us who are not using the break between games for something else, we can take some time to listen to this Ragtime You Tube video with a bit of humor in the middle and at the end from my You Tube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUieaBvS38w

Let’s get on with the game! Here are the starting lineups. Even though we are in Saranac, for the second game the Red Hawks will bat first and the Shamrocks will be the home team. While there is some fairness as far as league standings involved in this, it is still mind-boggling for your Bleacher Denizen. Who know home could be away? But I barely understood how a hot fudge sundae can be hot and cold at the same time, so maybe I’m not the best one to ask!

SARANAC RED HAWKS:

Max Olsen ss

Sam Sterzick 2b

Cam Cook p

Chase Stephens cf

Grady Proctor 3b

Maddox Foster c

Evan Johnson rf

Mitch Jackson lf

Hunter Helminski 1b

PORTLAND ST. PATRICK SHAMROCKS:

Lucas Simon p

Jerryd Scheurer ss

Brayden Simon 3b

Brady Leonard cf

Charlie Thelen c

Nathan Fears lf

Tyler Groothuis 1b

Devin Cook rf

Simon White 2b

It is now time to look at the events of this game through the eager, if aging, eyes of an ancient Bleacher Denizen who was considered to be too slow to play in the outfield. However, in my defense, in the medieval times when I tried to play baseball, the armor uniforms we had to wear caused many outfielders to run very slowly. Fortunately, the base runners weren’t much faster.

Shamrock Pitcher Lucas Simon retired the Saranac first inning leadoff batter on a fly to center field. Sam Sterzick walked. Charlie Thelen whipped the ball to second base to catch the runner stealing. Lucas Simon got the next Red Hawk batter out on a foul fly to right field to end the inning.

Lucas Simon led off the bottom of the first inning for St. Patrick with a single. He stole second base and advanced to third base on a bunt single by Jerryd Scheurer. Jerryd Scheurer stole second base. Lucas Simon was out at home and Jerryd Scheurer advanced to third on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop by Brayden Simon. Jerryd Scheurer scored and Brayden Simon took second base on a wild pitch.

Brayden Simon advanced to third base on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly to center field. He beat a great throw to the play by Red Hawk Center Fielder Chase Stephens. Saranac Pitcher Cam Cook got the third Shamrock out on a grounder to the shortstop.

St. Patrick (the team, not the Saint himself) scored two runs in the top of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead.

Chase Stephens led off the top of the second inning for Saranac with a single and took second base on a sacrifice bunt by Grady Proctor. Lucas Simon struck out the next Red Hawk batter and got the third out on a bouncer to the mound.

Cam Cook quickly got off the mound and made a great throw to first base to foil a great bid for a hit by Nathan Fears. Center Fielder Chase Stephens went way back to make a great running catch on a drive by Tyler Groothuis for the second out. Devin Cook singled and advanced to second base when an error was made on the play. Cam Cook retired the next Shamrock hitter on a fly to right field to end the inning.

After two full innings, the Shamrock lead remained at 2-0.

Lucas Simon retired the first two Saranac batters in the top of the third inning on a grounder to the mound and a fly ball to deep right field where Devin Cook made an excellent catch. Max Olsen singled. Sam Sterzick and Cam Cook walked to load the bases. Shamrock Left Fielder Nathan Fears made an excellent running catch (with the bases loaded) to end the inning while holding the Red Hawks scoreless.

Lucas Simon singled to center field to lead off the bottom of the third inning for St. Patrick. He stole second base and advanced to third base on a bunt single by Jerryd Scheurer. Saranac Second Baseman Sam Sterzick went back into right field and made an excellent catch to steal a hit from Brayden Simon. He was able to prevent Lucas Simon from scoring from third base. Cam Cook retired the next two batters on a bouncer to the mound and a grounder to second base to end the inning while holding the Shamrocks scoreless.

Grady Proctor singled to left field to open the top of the fourth inning for Saranac. St. Patrick Catcher Charlie Thelen picked the runner off first base. Maddox Foster had a bunt single. Keatyn Walsweer entered the game as a courtesy runner for Maddox Foster and took second base on a wild pitch. Lucas Simon retired the next two Red Hawk batters on a fly to shortstop and a short fly where Shamrock Second Baseman Simon White made an excellent catch in short right field to end the inning.

Nathan Fears walked to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning for St. Patrick. He stole second base. Nathan Fears scored when Tyler Groothuis was safe at second base on an error. Tyler Groothuis took third base on a wild pitch. Cam Cook retired the next Shamrock batter on a fly to the shortstop. Cam Cook made an excellent play on a bunt by Simon White to throw out the runner trying to score from first base; Simon White was safe at first base.

Lucas Simon singled and Simon White moved to second base. Jerryd Scheurer singled past Shortstop Max Olsen, who made an excellent diving effort. Simon White scored from second base on the play. When the throw got past the catcher, the next runner tried to score but Saranac Catcher Maddox Foster alertly got to the ball quickly and threw the runner out to end the inning.

St. Patrick scored to runs in the top of the fourth inning to push its lead to 4-0.

Hunter Helminski beat out an infield single to lead off the top of the fifth inning for Saranac. Lucas Simon retired the next batter on a popup to second base. Sam Sterzick beat out an infield single and Hunter Helminski advanced to second base. Cam Cook doubled off the left field fence to drive Hunter Helminski home. Sam Sterzick advanced to third base.

Travis Whipple entered the game as a courtesy runner for Cam Cook. Chase Stephens walked to load the bases. Chase Stephens hit a fielder’s choice grounder to shortstop to drive in Sam Sterzick. Travis Whipple was safe at third, the runner was out at second and Chase Stephens was safe at first. Maddox Foster singled to drive in Travis Whipple as Grady Proctor moved up to second base. Evan Johnson singled to left field. Shamrock Left Fielder Nathan Fears made an excellent throw home to catch the runner trying to score from second base to end the inning.

Saranac scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning to chop the Shamrock lead down to 4-3.

Cam Cook retired the Shamrock leadoff batter in the bottom of the fifth inning on a fly to center field. Brady Leonard beat out an infield single. Brady Leonard stole second base and took third base on a wild pitch. Charlie Thelen was safe at second base on an error and Brady Leonard scored.

Red Hawk Third Baseman Grady Proctor made a great play on a sacrifice bunt by Nathan Fears to prevent a hit; Charlie Thelen went to third base on the play. Tyler Groothuis beat out an infield single to drive Charlie Thelen home. Cam Cook struck out the next batter to end the inning.

St. Patrick scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to move out to a 6-3 lead.

Jerryd Scheurer came in to pitch for St. Patrick. Lucas Simon went out to center field and Brady Leonard moved to third base.

Jerryd Scheurer retired the three Red Hawk batters in the top of the sixth inning on a strikeout, a fly to the shortstop and a grounder to the shortstop.

Cam Cook got the Shamrock leadoff batter in the bottom of the sixth inning out when Second Baseman Sam Sterzick made a fine play on a slow roller. Lucas Simon was safe on an error and went all the way to third base on an overthrow. Jerryd Scheurer singled to drive Lucas Simon home.

Jerryd Scheurer stole second base. He took third base on a fly to deep center field by Brayden Simon. Brady Leonard singled up the middle to drive in Jerryd Scheurer. Brady Leonard stole second base. Cam Cook retired the next Shamrock hitter on a fly to center field to end the inning.

St. Patrick scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to extend its lead to 8-3.

Sam Sterzick was safe at second base on an error to lead off the top of the seventh inning for Saranac. Cam Cook singled up the middle and Sam Sterzick went to second base. Chase Stephens singled to left field to drive in Sam Sterzick. Cam Cook advanced to second base on the play.

Nathan Fears made an excellent running catch in left field to record the second Red Hawk out. Maddox Foster beat out an infield single. Cam Cook advanced to third base and Chase Stephens to second. Jerryd Scheurer struck out the next batter and retired the next hitter on a fly to second base to end the game.

St. Patrick won the second game of this doubleheader 8-4.

Maddox Foster had three singles and one RBI for Saranac. Cam Cook had a double, a single and one RBI. Chase Stephens had one single and one RBI. Max Olsen, Sam Sterzick, Evan Johnson and Hunter Helminski each had one single.

Cam Cook pitched a complete game for the Red Hawks.

Jerryd Scheurer had four singles and two RBI for St. Patrick. Lucas Simon had three singles. Brady Leonard had two singles and two RBI. Tyler Groothuis had a single and one RBI. Devin Cook had a single. Charlie Thelen had one RBI.