Carson City-Crystal vs. Fowler – – MHSAA Baseball District Final – – The Bleacher Denizen – – June 3, 2023 – – by Chuck Krafft
It is now time to cover the District final. There could be some feathers flying in this game as the Eagles will be playing the Eagles. In a game this competitive, it may be that no one’s aerie will be safe!!
Fowler’s Eagles earned their way into the final game with an 8-0 win over Ashley. (Doing this blog has the Bleacher Denizen working on a second shift type schedule. The crane that was supposed to get me out of bed in time to be at Fowler at 10AM was late and thus I missed the first game today.)
Carson City-Crystal’s Eagles made it to the District Final by winning this game over Fulton. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2023/06/03/fulton-vs-carson-city-crystal-baseball-district-semifinal-the-bleacher-denizen-june-3-2023-by-chuck-krafft/
While we wait for the teams to warm up, I hope we can all enjoy this Ragtime tune with a bit of a comic twist toward the middle and the end from my You Tube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUieaBvS38w
Here are today’s starting lineups. Even though we are in Fowler, the Eagles will bat first and Carson City-Crystal will be the home team. While your Bleacher Denizen is perpetually confused by this, I imagine the coaches and players will get through this confusion just fine!!
FOWLER EAGLES:
Conner Katich c
Carter Lance cf
Sam Vanneste ss
Evan Curtis p
Adyn O’Rourke 1b
Mitchell Wirth 2b
Hudson Schlak 3b
John Ruiz rf
Maclain Smith lf
CARSON CITY CRYSTAL (CCC) EAGLES:
Mason Smith ss
Cody Wolever dh
Cade Bolen c
Gavin Reeder p
Colby Grover 3b
Cole Smith 2b
Landon VanderVlucht 1b
Grayson Ackels cf
Colton Hofstetter lf
Rylee Strawn will play right field, but will not bat.
Connor Katich led off the top of the first inning for Fowler with a walk. Carter Lance was safe at first base when an error was made fielding his sacrifice bunt. Connor Katich made it to third on the play. CCC Pitcher Gavin Reeder picked the runner off first base. Sam Vanneste grounded a single to left field to drive in Connor Katich. Evan Curtiss singled to push Sam Vanneste to second base. Adyn O’Rourke walked to load the bases. Noah Schafer entered the game as a pinch runner for Adyn O’Rourke.
Sam Vanneste scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Mitchell Wirth. CCC Pitcher Gavin Reeder struck out the next Fowler batter to end the inning.
Fowler scored two runs in the top of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead.
Fowler Pitcher Evan Curtiss retired the first two CCC batters in the first inning on a fly to left field and a strikeout. Cade Bolen drew a walk. Evan Curtiss retired the next batter on a grounder to third base to end the inning.
John Ruiz lined a single to center field to lead off the top of the second inning for Fowler. After CCC Pitcher Gavin Reeder struck out the next hitter, John Ruiz stole second base. Gavin Reeder struck out the next two batters to end the inning.
CCC’s leadoff batter in the bottom of the second inning was out on a fly to right field. Cole Smith rapped a single off the pitcher’s glove and stole second base. Landon VanderVlucht drew a walk. Fowler Pitcher Evan Curtiss picked the runner off second base. Grayson Ackels drew a walk and Landon VanderVlucht went to second base. Evan Curtiss retired the next batter on a liner to third base to end the inning.
With two full innings in the books, Fowler held a 2-0 lead.
Gavin Reeder retired the first Fowler batter in the top of the third inning on a grounder to the shortstop. Evan Curtiss boomed a home run over the center field fence. The next Fowler batter was out on a popup to the shortstop. Carson City-Crystal Center Fielder Grayson Ackels made a great diving effort to catch a drive by Mitchell Wirth, but if fell in for a single. Gavin Reeder struck out the next batter to end the inning.
Fowler scored one run in the top of the third inning to push its lead to 3-0.
Mason Smith walked to lead off the bottom of the third inning for CCC. After Fowler Catcher Connor Katich threw the runner out stealing, Evan Curtiss struck out the next two batters to end the inning.
John Ruiz was safe at first base on an error to lead off the top of the fourth inning for Fowler. John Ruiz was out at second base and Maclain Smith safe at first base on a fielder’s choice grounder to the second baseman. Maclain Smith stole second base. Connor Katich walked. Carter Lance doubled down the first base line to drive in Maclain Smith; Connor Katich advanced to third base. Sam Vanneste clobbered a triple to deep, deep, deep center field to drive in Connor Katich and Carter Lance.
Gavin Reeder struck out the next batter. Sam Vanneste scored on a wild pitch. Gavin Reeder struck out the next batter to end the inning.
Fowler scored four runs in the top of the fourth inning to extend its lead to 7-0.
Evan Curtiss retired the three CCC batters in the bottom of the fourth inning on a strikeout, a fly to right field and another strikeout.
Cole Smith came in to pitch for CCC. Colby Grover moved to second base and Gavin Reeder took over at third base.
Grayson Ackels made a beautiful diving catch of a drive to center field by Mitchell Wirth to record Fowler’s first out of the top of the fifth inning. Hudson Schlak tripled off the center field fence. John Ruiz struck out; when the catcher had to throw to first base because of a dropped third strike, Hudson Schlak came in to score. Your Bleacher Denizen learned that Mr. Ruiz gets an RBI for that.
Maclain Smith singled to left field and stole second base. Cole Smith retired the next Fowler batter on a grounder to first base to end the inning.
Fowler scored one run in the top of the fifth inning to increase its lead to 8-0.
Landon VanderVlucht singled to right field to lead off the button of the fifth inning for CCC. Fowler Catcher Connor Katich picked the runner off first base; he was finally tagged out at second base. Evan Curtiss struck out the next two CCC batters to end the inning.
Carter Lance singled to lead off the top of the sixth inning for Fowler. Cole Smith retired the next batter on a fly to right field. Carter Lance stole second base. He advanced to third base and then scored on two wild pitches. Cole Smith struck out the next batter. Adyn O’Rourke walked. Fowler made its third out on a fly to left field.
Fowler scored one run in the top of the sixth inning to take a 9-0 lead.
CCC’s leadoff batter in the bottom of the sixth inning was out on a foul popup where Fowler Catcher Connor Katich made a fine running catch. Cody Wolever drew a walk. John Ruiz made a great running catch in right field to retire the next CCC batter. Evan Curtiss got the next batter out on a grounder to third base to end the inning.
Pinch Hitter Trevor Spicer was hit by a pitch to open the top of the seventh inning for Fowler. Trevor Spicer advanced to second base on a balk. Cole Smith retired the next two Fowler hitters on a grounder to third base and a fly to right field as Trevor Spicer remained at second base. Pinch Hitter Seth Armbrustmacher hit a double to the right field fence to drive in Trevor Spicer. Cole Smith struck out the next Fowler batter to end the inning.
Fowler added one run in the top of the seventh inning to push its lead to 10-0.
Colby Grover doubled to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning for CCC and advanced to third base on a groundout to second base by Cole Smith. Landon VanderVlucht was safe at first when the third strike was dropped; Colby Grover scored on the play. Grayson Ackels singled down the first base line to send Landon VanderVlucht to second base. Evan Curtiss retired the next two CCC batters on a popup to second base and a fly to the shortstop to end the game.
Fowler won this game 10-1 and will play Lansing Christian in the Regional Semifinal on Wednesday.
Colby Grover had a double for Carson City-Crystal. Landon VanderVlucht had a single and one RBI. Cole Smith and Grayson Ackels each had a single.
Gavin Reeder pitched four innings for CCC and struck out six batters. Cole Smith pitched three innings and struck out three batters.
Evan Curtiss had a home run, a single and two RBI for Fowler. Sam Vanneste had a triple, a single and two RBI. Carter Lance had a triple, a double and one RBI. Hudson Schlak belted a triple. Seth Armbrustmacher had a double and one RBI in hit only trip to the plate. Mitchell Wirth and John Ruiz each had a single and one RBI. Maclain Smith had a single.
Evan Curtiss pitched the complete game allowing one run and only four hits. He struck out seven batters.