Portland St. Patrick at Fowler – – First Game – – Baseball District – – May 30, 2023 – – by Chuck Krafft

We’ve gotten through another baseball regular season (for the most part) and now it’s time to play the MHSAA Baseball Tournament. The Shamrocks from Portland St. Patrick will play the Eagles from Fowler in this preliminary game to determine who will advance to the semifinal vs. Ashley Saturday morning.

While we wait for this game to start, I hope you’ll enjoy this recent post to my You Tube Channel. Hopefully your Bleacher Denizen will not be “Too Old to Cut the Mustard” when it’s time to write the article. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6GOgZAHqxI

St. Patrick will be the home team and Fowler will bat first. (Your Bleacher Denizen still struggles with the concept of Fowler not being the home team on their own field, but I digress.)

Here are the starting lineups:

FOWLER EAGLES:

Connor Katich c

Carter Lance cf

Sam Vanneste p

Evan Curtiss 1b

Adyn O’Rourke dh

Mitchell Wirth 2b

Hudson Schlak 3b

John Ruiz rf

Maclain Smith lf

Noah Schafer will play shortstop, but will not bat.

PORTLAND ST. PATRICK SHAMROCKS:

Lucas Simon cf

Jerryd Scheurer ss

Brady Leonard p

Charlie Thelen c

Brayden Simon 3b

Alex Fedewa dh

Nathan Fears lf

Tyler Groothuis 1b

Simon White 2b

Peyton Russman will play right field, but will not bat.

It is now time to review the events of this game through the eyes of a Bleacher Denizen who is a bit past middle age and did not have much to show for his attempt at a baseball career in the days of old when he was considered to be “young.” He was never able to get the Baseball Powers that Be to accept his use of a jet belt to help him run bases and chase down balls in the outfield. What could have been????

Connor Katich led off the top of the first inning for Fowler by lining a single to right field. Connor Katich took second base on a groundout to the second baseman by Carter Lance. Sam Vanneste was safe at first base when St. Patrick unsuccessfully tried to throw Connor Katich out at third base on an infield grounder. Fowler had runners at first base and third base with only one out. Shamrock Pitcher Brady Leonard struck out the next two batters to hold Fowler scoreless for the inning.

Lucas Simon walked to start out the bottom of the first inning for St. Patrick. Fowler Pitcher Sam Vanneste retired the next three Shamrock hitters on a strikeout, a fly to center field where John Ruiz successfully backed up an overthrow to keep Lucas Simon from advancing to second base and a fly to right field that was caught by the second baseman.

Brady Leonard retired the Eagle second inning leadoff batter on a popup to first base. Hudson Schlak singled up the middle. Shamrock Catcher Charlie Thelen fired the ball to second base to catch the runner attempting to steal. John Ruiz singled to left field. Brady Leonard struck out the next Eagle hitter to end the inning.

Brayden Simon walked to lead off the bottom of the second inning for St. Patrick and went to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Alex Fedewa. Nathan Fears beat out an infield single to third base; Brayden Simon held at second base on the play. Tyler Groothuis was out when Fowler Center Fielder Carter Lance made a driving catch of his bid for a single. Simon White walked to load the bases with two out. Lucas Simon was hit by a pitch. Brayden Simon was forced home; Nathan Fears went to third base and Simon White took second base. Sam Vanneste retired the next Shamrock hitter on a bouncer to the mound to end the inning.

St. Patrick scored one run in the bottom of the second inning to take a 1-0 lead.

Shamrock Second Baseman Simon White went back into right field to catch a fly to record Fowler’s first out of the top of the third inning. Carter Lance singled to right field. The next Eagle hitter was out on a fly to right field. Carter Lance stole second base. Evan Curtiss was intentionally walked. Adyn O’Rourke walked to load the bases with two out. Shamrock Pitcher Nathan Leonard retired the next Eagle batter on a foul popup to the catcher to hold Fowler scoreless for the inning.

Brady Leonard singled to right field to open the bottom of the third inning for St. Patrick. He took second base when Charlie Thelen was hit by a pitch. Brady Leonard went to third base and Charlie Thelen to second on a sacrifice bunt by Brayden Simon where Sam Vanneste had to make a strong play to get the runner out at first. Brady Leonard scored and Charlie Thelen went to third base on an RBI sacrifice bunt by Alex Fedewa. Charlie Thelen scored on a wild pitch. Sam Vanneste struck out the next Shamrock batter to end the inning.

St. Patrick scored two runs in the bottom of the third inning to increase its lead to 3-0.

Hudson Schlak walked to lead off the top of the fourth inning for Fowler. Shamrock Pitcher Brady Leonard struck out the next batter. Maclain Smith beat out a bunt single; Hudson Schlak went to third base and Maclain Smith to second base on an overthrow. Hudson Schlak and Maclain Smith each scored when Connor Katich was safe at second base on an error.

Carter Lance beat out a bunt single; Connor Katich went to third base and scored on an overthrow. The next Eagle hitter was out on a fly to left field. Carter Lance took second base on the play. Evan Curtiss bounced a double over the center field fence to drive in Carter Lance with the go-ahead run.

Adyn O’Rourke was intentionally walked. Mitchell Wirth singled to left field to drive Evan Curtiss home. Adyn O’Rourke advanced to second base. Hudson Schlak walked to load the bases. John Ruiz’s bit for a bases loaded hit was foiled by a great diving catch by St. Patrick left fielder Nathan Fears.

Fowler scored five runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 5-3 lead.

Sam Vanneste struck out the first Shamrock batters in the bottom of the fourth inning. Lucas Simon drew a walk. Eagle Catcher Connor Katich threw to second base to catch the runner stealing for the third out.

Jerryd Scheurer took over on the mound for St. Patrick. Brayden Simon moved to shortstop and Brady Leonard to third base.

Maclain Smith was hit by a pitch to lead off the top of the fifth inning for Fowler. He went to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Connor Katich. Carter Lance blooped a double into right field. Because he had to wait to see if the ball would drop, Maclain Smith only got to third base. Sam Vanneste doubled to the center field fence to drive Maclain Smith and Carter Lance home. Jerryd Scheurer retired the next two Eagle hitters on a grounder to second base by Evan Curtiss that moved Sam Vanneste to third base and a fly to left field.

Fowler scored two runs in the top of the fifth inning to boost its lead to 7-3.

Sam Vanneste retired the three Shamrock hitters in the bottom of the fifth inning on a fly to center field, a popup to third base and a strikeout.

Jerryd Scheurer retired the three Fowler sixth inning hitters on a grounder to third base, a fly to left field where Nathan Fears made a nice running catch and a foul popup to first base.

Brayden Simon and Alex Fedewa walked to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning for St. Patrick. Brayden Simon went to third base and Alex Fedewa to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Nathan Fears. Brayden Simon scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Tyler Groothuis. Sam Vanneste retired the next hitter on a fly to left field to end the inning.

St. Patrick scored one run in the bottom of the sixth inning to trim the Fowler lead to 7-4.

Maclain Smith led off the top of the seventh inning for the Eagles and was safe at first base on an error. Shamrock Center Fielder Lucas Simon made a nice running catch to record the first Fowler out of the inning. The next Eagle hitter was out on a fly to right field. Maclain Smith stole second base. Shamrock Pitcher Jerryd Scheurer retired the next batter on a fly to right field to end the inning.

Fowler took a three run lead into the bottom of the seventh inning. Adyn O’Rourke went in to pitch for the Eagles and Sam Vanneste moved to shortstop.

Adyn O’Rourke retired the Shamrock leadoff batter on a grounder to third base. Jerryd Scheurer lined a single to center field and went to second base when Brady Leonard lined a single to center field. Charlie Thelen grounded a single to right field; Jerryd Scheurer advanced to third base and Brady Leonard to second base. The Shamrocks had the bases loaded with only one out.

Adyn O’Rourke retired the next two batters on a line drive to center field and a bouncer to the mound to end the game.

Fowler won this Pre-District game 7-4 and will play Ashley at 10 AM on Saturday.

Brady Leonard had two singles for St. Patrick. Jerryd Scheurer, Charlie Thelen and Nathan Fears each had one single. Lucas Simon and Tyler Groothuis each had one RBI.

Nathan Leonard pitched four innings for the Shamrocks. He gave up five runs, but only one of them was an earned run. He also struck out four Eagle hitters. Jerryd Scheurer pitched three innings and gave up two runs.

Carter Lance had a double and a single for Fowler. Sam Vanneste had a double and two RBI. Evan Curtiss had a double and one RBI. Connor Katich and Mitchell Wirth each had a single and one RBI. Hudson Schlak, John Ruiz and Maclain Smith each had a single.

Sam Vanneste pitched six innings and gave up four runs while striking out five batters. Adyn O’Rourke pitched one scoreless inning for the Eagles.