Laingsburg at Fowler – – Second Game of Baseball Doubleheader – – The Bleacher Denizen – – April 25, 2024 – – by Chuck Krafft
The top two teams in the CMAC are playing a doubleheader today. Here is a play by play of the first game. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2024/04/26/Laingsburg-at-fowler-first-game-of-baseball-doubleheader-the-bleacher-denizen-april-25-2024-by-chuck-krafft/
In this second game of the doubleheader, even though Fowler is the host, they will bat first and be the “visiting” team. Laingsburg will bat last and be the “home” team. Your Bleacher Denizen is struggling to adjust to this new alternative reality, but he plans to persevere!!!
Here are the starting lineups. As stated, the host Fowler Eagles are also the visiting Fowler Eagles, so they will bat first.
FOWLER
Conner Katich c
Carter Lance cf
Sam Vanneste ss
Evan Curtiss dh
Adyn O’Rourke 1b
Mitchell Wirth 2b
Noah Schafer p
Hudson Schlak 3b
MaClain Smith lf
Trevor Spicer will play right field, but will not bat.
LAINGSBURG
Dom Garcia cf
Meo Garcia p
Ty Randall ss
Elliott Wilsey rf
R.J. Garcia 3b
Jackson Audretsch c
Cam Ballard 1b
Everett Rodriquez 2b
Laim Esch lf
Fowler’s leadoff batter in the top of the first inning, hit a drive to center field that was turned into an out by a great diving catch by Dom Garcia. Carter Lance singled past a dive by Wolfpack second baseman Everett Rodriquez. Carter Lance stole second base; he held at second base when Sam Vanneste was safe at first base on an error. Fowler executed a double steal; Carter Lance moved to third base and Sam Vanneste to second base.
Evan Curtiss lined a single to center field to drive in Carter Lance and Sam Vanneste. Meo Garcia struck out the next Eagle hitter. When Mitchell Wirth was safe at second base on an error, Evan Curtiss moved up to third base. Meo Garcia retired the next Fowler hitter on a grounder to the shortstop to end the inning.
Fowler scored two runs in the top of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead.
Laingsburg’s leadoff hitter in the top of the first inning was out on a grounder to the shortstop. Meo Garcia drew a walk and went to second base on a grounder to first base by Ty Randall. Fowler Pitcher Noah Schafer struck out the next Wolfpack hitter to end the inning.
Meo Garcia retired Fowler’s leadoff batter in the top of the second inning on a bouncer to the mound. MaClain Smith walked and took second base on a sacrifice bunt by Conner Katich. Fowler made its third out on a fly to center field to end the inning.
Noah Schafer retired Laingsburg’s first two hitters in the second inning on grounders to second base and to shortstop. Cam Ballard lined a single to left field. Everett Rodriquez was safe at first base and Cam Ballard out at second base on a fielder’s choice grounder to second base to end the inning.
With two full innings in the books, Fowler had a 2-0 lead.
Cam Ballard moved to third base and R.J. Garcia moved to first base for Laingsburg.
Sam Vanneste led off the top of the third inning for Fowler with a single to second field and stole second base. Evan Curtiss hit a long drive that forced Dom Garcia all the way back to the fence in center field to catch it. Meo Garcia retired the next two Eagle batters on a popup to first base and a grounder to the shortstop.
Noah Schafer retired the three Wolfpack batters in the bottom of the third inning on a strikeout, a groundout to shortstop and another strikeout.
Noah Schafer walked to lead off the top of the fourth inning for Fowler. Drew Weber came in as a courtesy runner for Noah Schafer. Drew Weber moved up to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Hunter Schlak. Meo Garcia retired the next two Eagle hitters on a strikeout and a fly to right field to end the inning.
Noah Schafer got Laingsburg’s leadoff batter in the bottom of the fourth inning out on a grounder to second base. Eagle Shortstop Sam Vanneste ran into foul territory to catch a popup to record the second Wolfpack out. R.J. Garcia singled to right field. Jackson Audretsch was safe at first and R.J. Garcia out at second base on a fielder’s choice grounder to second base to end the inning.
After four full innings, Fowler’s lead remained at 4-0.
Carter Lance beat out an infield single to open the top of the fifth inning for Fowler. Sam Vanneste bunted, but Laingsburg’s pitcher slipped while throwing the ball to first base; Carter Lance scored all the way from first base on the play. After he retrieved the loose ball, Laingsburg First Baseman R.J. Garcia fired the ball to second base to get Sam Vanneste trying to advance on the error. Evan Curtiss doubled to DEEP left field and went to third base on a throwing error. Adyn O’Rourke walked.
Dom Garcia came in to pitch for Laingsburg. Gregory Stewart entered the game to play left field. Cam Ballard moved to second base. R.J. Garcia went back to third base. Meo Garcia shifted to first base and Everett Rodriquez went out to play center field.
Mitchell Wirth walked to load the bases. Noah Schafer walked to force Evan Curtiss home as Adyn O’Rourke advanced to third base and Mitchell Wirth to second. Adyn O’Rourke scored, Mitchell Wirth took third base and Noah Schafer second base on a wild pitch. Dom Garcia retired the next two Eagle hitters on flies to second base to end the inning.
Fowler scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning to extend its lead to 5-0.
Noah Schafer retired the Wolfpack leadoff batter in the bottom of the fifth inning on a grounder to first base. Everett Rodriquez was hit by a pitch and moved to second base when Gregory Stewart walked. Everett Rodriquez advanced to third base and Gregory Stewart to second base when Dom Garcia lined a single to left field. Meo Garcia made a bid for one or two RBIs, but Fowler Second Baseman Mitchell Wirth was in the right place and caught the vicious line drive. He threw to second base to double the runner off and end the inning.
Conner Katich walked to lead off the top of the sixth inning for Fowler. He took second base on a sacrifice bunt by Carter Lance and advanced to third base on Sam Vanneste’s groundout to second base. Evan Curtiss singled to center field to drive in Conner Katich. Dom Garcia struck out the Eagle batter to end the inning.
Fowler scored one run in the top of the sixth inning to take a 5-0 lead.
Ty Randall singled to center field to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning for Laingsburg. Elliott Wilsey blooped a single to right field and Ty Randall moved up to second base. R.J. Garcia singled to left field; Ty Randall moved to third base and Elliott Wilsey to second base.
Adyn O’Rourke came in to pitch for Fowler and Evan Curtiss came in to play defense at first base.
Jackson Audretsch’s grounder to struck Elliott Wilsey on its way to left field. Ty Randall had come home, but the umpire (rightly) sent him back to third base. R.J. Garcia went to second base and Jackson Audretsch was safe on first base. (He was credited with a single.) Elliott Wilsey was ruled out. Laingsburg now had the bases loaded with one out.
Ty Randall scored, R.J. Garcia went to third base and Jackson Audretsch to second base on Cam Ballard’s RBI groundout to the shortstop. Everett Rodriquez singled off the shortstop’s glove to drive in R.J. Garcia as Jackson Audretsch took third base. Gregory Stewart singled to drive in Jackson Audretsch as Everett Rodriquez moved to second base. Laingsburg made its third out on a liner to second base.
Laingsburg scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the Fowler lead to 6-3.
Mitchell Wirth walked to lead off the top of the seventh inning for Fowler and stole second base. Dom Garcia struck out pinch hitter Trevor Spicer. Mitchell Wirth advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Hudson Schlak. Mitchell Wirth scored when MaClain Smith was safe at first base on an error. MaClain Smith stole second base and went to third base when an error was made on the throw to second base.
(MaClain Smith is a senior this year; even when he was a freshman, he was frequently used as a pinch runner and always seemed to take bases that other runners might not get to. This leads to runs others might not score. He is fast enough, but seems to have baseball ESP when he runs the bases.)
Conner Katich doubled to the right-center field fence to drive MaClain Smith home.
Everett Rodriquez came in to pitch for Laingsburg. Dom Garcia moved back to center field.
Conner Katich went to third base on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch. Carter Lance walked and then stole second base and third base. Sam Vanneste walked. Everett Rodriquez made a fine move to first base to pick the runner off for the third Eagle out.
Fowler scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to extend its lead to 9-3.
Adyn O’Rourke retired Laingsburg’s leadoff batter in the top of the seventh inning on a fly to left field. Ty Randall was safe at first on an error. Laingsburg’s next hitter was out on a fly to left field. R.J. Garcia walked and Ty Randall went to second base. Adyn O’Rourke got Laingsburg’s final out of the final inning on a groundout to second base.
Fowler won this game 9-3 to sweep this CMAC Doubleheader Battle of the Titans.
R.J. Garcia had two singles for Laingsburg. Everett Rodriquez and Gregory Stewart each had one single and one RBI. Dom Garcia, Ty Randall, Elliott Wilsey, and Jackson Audretsch each had a single. Cam Ballard had one RBI.
Evan Curtiss had a double, two singles and three RBI for Fowler. Carter Lance had two singles. Conner Katich had a double. Sam Vanneste had a single. Noah Schafer had one RBI.
Noah Schafer pitched five full innings for Fowler. He pitched shutout ball until the sixth inning and struck out three batters. Adyn O’Rourke came in with the bases loaded and no out in the sixth inning. He was able to get outs and keep Laingsburg from getting more than three runs; thus making sure that Fowler retained a solid lead. He pitched two innings and gave up just two infield singles.