Olivet vs. Grand Ledge – – Diamond Classic 2023 Final – – Baseball – – The Bleacher Denizen – – June 5, 2023 – – by Chuck Krafft

Tonight, the Diamond Classic is hosting its final game.

In the semifinals, the Olivet Eagles earned their position in the finals by beating Okemos. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2023/05/31/olivet-vs-okemos-diamond-classic-semifinal-the-bleacher-denizen-may-31-2023-by-chuck-krafft/

The Grand Ledge Comets defeated St. Johns to get here. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2023/06/01/st-johns-vs-grand-ledge-diamond-classic-semifinal-the-bleacher-denizen-may-31-2023-by-chuck-krafft/

Tonight, we will be blessed by the dulcet tones of veteran announcer Ken Friend, who will be doing tonight’s game!! It’s always a pleasure to listen to Ken when he is announcing. (He’s also really good with radio play by play, etc.)

Tonight’s Final game is at Michigan State University’s McLane Stadium. If you ever come to an event here (the high school baseball and softball finals perhaps) the burgers at the concession stand are amazing. I was really glad I had the time to get a burger and eat it before the game. (Major Yum!!!)

While we wait for the game to start, we can enjoy some Good Vibrations from my You Tube Channel. (Hopefully the Beach Boys will approve.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3482fQh0Rdo

Grand Ledge will be the home team and Olivet will bat first.

Here are the starting lineups:

OLIVET EAGLES:

Ramsey Bousseau ss

Bryce Wine 2b

Lalo Aguirre 3b

Jackson Sinclair 1b

Jacob Waffle cf

Brody Lehman lf

Cam Frazier p

Charlie Anderson rf

Jake Miller c

GRAND LEDGE COMETS:

Noah McCartney cf

Preston Bohnet 2b

Caleb Estrada ss

Andrew Konieczny 1b

Alex Cornman dh

Bryce Boucher rf

Kyle Smith 3b

Leo Lake c

Carter Melnick lf

Gavin Wegenke will pitch, but will not bat.

It is now time to look at the events of this game through the glazed eyes of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was not as successful as he hoped when he attempted to play baseball in the days of yore when he was considered to be “young”. The trajectory of his baseball career was permanently altered when the baseball powers that be refused to allow him to wear a jet belt to run the bases and cover more territory in the outfield.

We are now ready to start the sixty-first annual Diamond Classic final!!

Ramsey Bousseau was hit by a pitch to lead off the game for Olivet and stole second base. Comet Pitcher Gavin Wegenke retired the next Eagle hitter on a fly to right field. Lalo Aguirre was able to beat out an infield hit and Ramsey Bousseau advanced to third base. Gavin Wegenke retired the next two Eagle hitters on a strikeout and a popup to the shortstop to end the inning.

Olivet Second Baseman Bryce Wine caught a line drive just a foot off the ground to retire the Comet leadoff batter in the bottom of the first inning. Preston Bohnet lined a single to right field. Caleb Estrada belted a triple to deep right-center field to drive in Preston Bohnet. Olivet Pitcher Cam Frazier retired the next two Grand Ledge batters on a strikeout and a fly to right field to end the inning.

Grand Ledge scored one run in the bottom of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead.

Gavin Wegenke struck out all three Comet hitters in the top of the second inning.

Bryce Boucher singled off the first baseman’s glove to open the bottom of the second inning for Grand Ledge. Kyle Smith lined a single to center field to send Bryce Boucher to third base. Cam Frazier out the next batter. Cam Frazier struck out the next Comet batter. Kyle Smith stole second base. Eagle Left Fielder Brody Lehman alertly backed up the play to prevent Bryce Boucher from scoring on an overthrow. Bryce Boucher scored on Carter Melnick’s sacrifice fly to center field. Cam Frazier struck out the next batter to end the inning.

Grand Ledge scored one run in the bottom of the second inning to push their lead to 2-0.

Jake Miller beat out a bunt single to lead off the top of the third inning for Olivet. Gavin Wegenke retired the next Eagle batter on a fly to center field. Bryce Wine walked and Jake Miller advanced to second base. Lalo Aguirre ripped a double down the right field line to drive in Jake Miller and Bryce Wine. Gavin Wegenke retired the next Eagle batter on a fly to center field. Lalo Aguirre went to third base on a wild pitch. The next Olivet batter was out on a fly to center field to end the inning.

Olivet scored two runs in the top of the third inning to tie the game at 2-2.

Cam Frazier retired the three Grand Ledge batters in the bottom of the third inning on a popup to shortstop, a fly to right field and another popup to the shortstop.

Brody Lehman reached first base to lead off the top of the fourth inning when he struck out, but the third strike was not caught. Gavin Wegenke got the next hitter to hit a grounder to second baseman Preston Bohnet, who flipped to shortstop Caleb Estrada for the force out at second base; Caleb Estrada threw to First Baseman Andrew Konieczny to complete the 4-6-3 double play. Gavin Wegenke got the next batter to ground out to the second baseman to end the inning.

The Grand Ledge leadoff batter in the bottom of the fourth inning was out on a fly to right field. Bryce Boucher singled to center field and stole second base. Bryce Boucher advanced to third base on a groundout to first base by Kyle Smith. Cam Frazier retired the next Comet hitter on a bouncer to third base to end the inning.

With four innings in the books, this game is tied at 2-2.

Gavin Wegenke retired the Eagle leadoff batter in the top of the fifth inning on a fly to center field. Ramsey Bousseau was safe at second base on and error and advanced to third base on a groundout to first base by Bryce Wine. Lalo Aguirre ripped a line drive but it was right at Comet Third Baseman Kyle Smith for the third Eagle out.

Carter Melnick lined a single to right field to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning for Grand Ledge. Cam Frazier struck out the next Comet batter. Eagle Shortstop Ramsey Bousseau caught the next batter’s grounder up the middle; he stepped on second base and fired the ball to First Baseman Jackson Sinclair to complete the inning-ending double play.

Andrew Deibel came in to pitch for Grand Ledge.

Jackson Sinclair beat out an infield single to open the top of the sixth inning for Olivet and took second base on an overthrow. Andrew Deibel struck out the next Comet hitter. Brody Lehman was hit by a pitch. Cam Frazier grounded a single to right field. Jackson Sinclair went to third base and Brody Lehman to second. Patrick Priesman entered the game as a courtesy runner for Cam Frazier.

Charlie Anderson was hit by a pitch. As the bases were loaded, Jackson Sinclair was forced home. Brody Lehman took third base and Patrick Priesman went to second base.

Caleb Estrada came in to pitch for Grand Ledge. Kaiden Sobczyk went in to play second base and Preston Bohnet went to shortstop.

Brody Lehman scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Jake Miller. Patrick Priesman took third base and Charlie Anderson went to second on a wild pitch. Ramsey Bousseau was intentionally walked to load the bases. Caleb Estrada retired the next batter on a fly to right field to end the inning.

Olivet scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 4-2 lead.

Caleb Estrada lined a single to center field to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning for Grand Ledge. Caleb Estrada advanced to second base on a single by Andrew Konieczny. Nick Finney entered the game as a pinch runner for Andrew Konieczny. Nick Finney was out at second base and Alex Cornman was safe at first on a fielder’s choice grounder to third base. Caleb Estrada advanced to third base on the play.

Cam Frazier picked the runner off first base. Bryce Boucher hit a ball off the pitcher’s glove and beat a great throw by Shortstop Ramsey Bousseau for an infield single to drive in Caleb Estrada. Cam Frazier picked the runner off first base to end the inning.

Grand Ledge scored one run in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the Olivet lead to 4-3.

Caleb Estrada retired the three Olivet batters in the top of the seventh inning on a fly to center field, a strikeout and a popup to first base.

Grand Ledge was down by one run at 4-3 as it went to bat for the seventh and usually final inning.

Kyle Smith lined a single to right-center field to lead off the top of the seventh inning for Grand Ledge. Aiden O’Keefe went in to pinch run for Kyle Smith. Cam Frazier struck out pinch hitter Lucas Caterino. Cam Frazier retired the next two Comet batters on a strikeout and a bouncer to third base to end the game.

Olivet won the game 4-3 and is the 2023 Diamond Classic Champion.

Caleb Estrada had a triple, a single and one RBI for Grand Ledge. Bryce Boucher had three singles and one RBI. Preston Bohnet, Andrew Konieczny and Kyle Smith each had one single. Carter Melnick had one RBI.

Gavin Wegenke pitched five innings and gave up only two runs while striking out four hitters. Andrew Deibel pitched one third of an inning and struck out one batter. Caleb Estrada pitched one and two thirds innings and struck out one batter.

Lalo Aguirre had a double, a single and two RBI for Olivet. Jake Miller had a single and one RBI. Jackson Sinclair and Cam Frazier each had a single. Charlie Anderson had one RBI.

Cam Frazier pitched the complete game for Olivet. He gave up three runs and struck out six batters.