Waverly at Fowler – – Second Game of Baseball Doubleheader – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 14, 2024 – – by Chuck Krafft
Waverly is at Fowler for a baseball doubleheader on a cold, windy day. The teams have played the first game and had their between-game meal. Here is the play by play of the first game.
I learned that today, the home team will actually be the home team for the second game. This aspect of high school baseball always challenges the Bleacher Denizen, but for this game, Waverly, the actual visiting team will bat first. Your Bleacher Denizen is gradually grasping this concept and hopes that it will be a positive influence on his notes.
Here are the starting lineups.
WAVERLY
Gunner Pappas ss
Trey Combs 2b
Jackson Gomez p
Iggy Arroyo 3b
Jackson DeLong c
Aian Sanders 1b
Carter Owens lf
Dom Stone rf
Kaleb Farr cf
FOWLER
MaClain Smith lf
Carter Lance cf
Sam Vanneste ss
Adyn O’Rourke 1b
Mitchell Wirth 2b
Conner Katich c
Noah Schafer p
Hudson Schlak 3b
Jon Ruiz rf
Fowler Pitcher Noah Schafer retired the first two Waverly batters in the top of the first inning on grounders to the shortstop. Jackson Gomez lined a single to left field. Iggy Arroyo lined a single to left field to push Jackson Gomez to second base. Waverly made its third out on a grounder to shortstop. Adyn O’Rourke made a great stretch at first base to ensure that the out was recorded.
Waverly Pitcher Jackson Gomez retired Fowler’s leadoff hitter on a fly to right field. Carter Lance tripled off the right field fence. Sam Vanneste walked. Jackson Gomez retired the next Eagle batter on a popup to second base. Sam Vanneste stole second base. Mitchell Wirth lined a single to center field to drive Carter Lance and Sam Vanneste home. Conner Katich tripled to right field to drive in Mitchell Wirth.
Drew Weber came in as a courtesy runner for Conner Katich. Drew Weber scored on a wild pitch. Noah Schafer singled to center field. Fowler made its third out of the inning on a grounder to first base.
Fowler scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 4-0 lead.
Mitchell Wirth came in to pitch for Fowler. Noah Schafer moved to second base.
Waverly’s leadoff hitter in the top of the second inning was out when his popup dropped in, but Mitchell Wirth alertly grabbed the ball and threw to first base. Mitchell Wirth struck out the next Warrior hitter. Dom Stone singled to left field and advanced to second base when Kaleb Farr walked. Mitchell Wirth struck out the next Warrior hitter to end the inning.
Gage Coutu came in to pitch for Waverly.
Jon Ruiz walked to leave off the bottom of the second inning for Fowler; he then stole second base and third base. Jon Ruiz scored and MaClain Smith was safe at first base on a fielder’s choice grounder. Carter Lance belted a home run over the right field fence to drive himself and MaClain Smith home.
Gage Coutu retired the next three Fowler hitters on a fly to right field, a fly to left field where Carter Owens made a fine diving catch and a strikeout.
Fowler scored three runs in the bottom of the second inning to extend the lead to 7-0.
Mitchell Wirth retired the first two Waverly batters in the top of the third inning on a grounder to third base and a fly to right field. Iggy Arroyo singled to left field. Mitchell Wirth struck out the next Warrior batter to end the inning.
Conner Katich beat out a bunt to lead off the bottom of the third inning for Fowler and took second base on a sacrifice bunt by Noah Schafer. Gage Coutu retired the next two batters on a fly to short center field where shortstop Gunner Pappas made a nice play running back and a fielder’s choice grounder to shortstop.
Jared Londo pinch hit to lead off the top of the fourth inning for Waverly and was hit by a pitch. Jared Londo went to second base on a single to right field by Carter Owens. Jared Londo advanced to third base and Carter Owens was out at second base on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop by Dom Stone. Dom Stone attempted to steal second base, but Fowler Catcher Conner Katich threw him out. Jared Londo scored on the play. Waverly made its final out of the inning on a fly to left field.
Waverly scored one run in the top of the fourth inning to trim the Fowler lead to 7-1.
Waverly Shortstop Gunner Pappas made another fine running catch in short center field to retire Fowler’s leadoff batter in the bottom of the fourth inning. Carter Lance walked and proceeded to steal second and third base. Sam Vanneste walked. Adyn O’Rourke got his second home run of the day (also had one in the first game); he, Carter Lance and Sam Vanneste all scored.
Gage Coutu retired the next two Fowler hitters on a strikeout and a fly to the shortstop to end the inning.
Fowler scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to boost its lead to 10-1.
Trevor Spicer came in to pitch for Fowler.
Snoop Watson walked to lead off the top of the fifth inning for Waverly and went to second base when Gage Coutu walked. Snoop Watson took third base and Gage Coutu was out at second base when Kristian Johnson was safe at first base on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop. MaClain Smith made a great running catch in deep left field to turn a potential extra base hit for Jackson into a sacrifice fly. Snoop Watson scored on the play. MaClain Smith made another great running catch in left field to get Waverly’s third out of the inning.
Waverly scored one run in the top of the fifth inning to trim the Fowler lead to 10-2.
Gage Coutu struck out Fowler’s leadoff batter in the bottom of the sixth inning. Hudson Schlak drew a walk. Pitch Hitter Seth Armbrustmacher was out on a fly to second base. Hudson Schlak advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Fowler made its third out of the inning on a fly to right field.
Jon Ruiz came in to pitch for Fowler. Drew Weber went out to play right field.
Waverly Pinch Hitter James Darnell walked to lead off the top of the sixth inning for Waverly. Jon Ruiz struck out the next Waverly batter. Carter Lance narrowly missed a diving attempt to catch a drive to center field by Kaleb Farr, but he was able to force James Darnell at second base as Kaleb Farr made it to first base safely. Jon Ruiz retired the next batter on a bouncer to the pitcher to end the inning.
Trey Combs came in to pitch for Waverly and Rene Gomez went to second base.
Trey Combs struck out Fowler’s leadoff hitter in the bottom of the sixth inning. Sam Vanneste tripled to deep center field. Adyn O’Rourke doubled to deep center field to drive in Sam Vanneste. In Drew Weber’s first varsity baseball at bat, he hit a fly to center field that was caught. (Your Bleacher Denizen was impressed by that as a first effort!) Conner Katich doubled to center field to drive in Adyn O’Rourke and end the game.
Adyn O’Rourke’s run gave Fowler a 12-2 lead in the sixth inning and the mercy rule was invoked to end the game.
Trey Combs, Jackson Gomez, Iggy Arroyo, Carter Owens and Dom Stone each had a single for Waverly. Jackson DeLong had one RBI.
Gage Coutu pitched four innings and struck out four Fowler batters.
Carter Lance had a home run, a triple, a single and two RBI for Fowler. Adyn O’Rourke had a home run, a double and four RBI. Conner Katich had a triple, a double, a single and two RBI. Same Vanneste had a triple. Mitchell Wirth had a single and two RBI. Noah Schafer had one single. MaClain Smith had one RBI and several nice catches in left field.
Mitchell Wirth pitched three innings for the Eagles; he gave up one run and struck out three batters. Noah Schafer pitched one scoreless inning. Trevor Spicer pitched one inning and gave up one run. Jon Ruiz pitched one scoreless inning and struck out one batter.