Okemos vs. Williamston – – Diamond Classic Baseball Semifinal – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 23, 2024 – – by Chuck Krafft

Tonight, the Bleacher Denizen is at Michigan State’s McLane Stadium to cover the Diamond Classic Semifinal between the Okemos Wolves and the Williamston Hornets. Williamston defeated Portland in a first round game to get to the quarterfinal; Okemos was one of the top seeds, so they are playing their first game of the Diamond Classic tonight.

Here are the starting lineups. Okemos is the home team and will bat last. Williamston will bat first.

WILLIAMSTON

Hunter Van Sickler cf

Ben Convey ss

Carter Gulick c

Aiden Friess p

Brayden Johnson 2b

Hawk Harding 3b

Miles Keener rf

Kaleb Nielson lf

Richard Cuzydlo dh

Brett Palmer will play first base, but will not bat.

OKEMOS

Brenna Walton p

Caleb Bonemer ss

Nik Greborunis cf

Colin Walton 3b

Garrett Rizzi dh

Ray Smith 1b

Keagan Noble 2b

Jake Stagg rf

James Poletes lf

Mitchell McGough will catch, but will not bat.

Hunter Van Sickler led off the top of the first inning with a single to center field. Ben Convey singled and Hunter Van Sickler advanced to second base. Brennan Walton retired the next Hornet hitter on a fly to center field. Hunter Van Sickler stole third base. A couple pitches later, Ben Convey stole second base. Brennan Walton retired the next two Hornet hitters on a popup to the shortstop and a nice shoestring catch in left field by James Poletes.

Brennan Walton singled up the middle to lead off the bottom of the first inning for Okemos. Caleb Wilkinson entered the game as a courtesy runner for Brennan Walton. Caleb Bonemer smashed a single passed the second baseman and Caleb Wilkinson went to third base. Caleb Bonemer stole second base. Colin Walton singled to left field to drive in Brennan Walton and advance Caleb Bonemer to third base. Colin Walton stole second base – – barely beating a good throw from Hornet Catcher Carter Gulick.

Caleb Bonemer scored and Colin Walton advanced to third base on a passed ball. Williamston Pitcher Aiden Friess struck out the next two Wolve batters to end the inning.

Okemos scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead.

Hawk Harding walked to lead off the top of the second inning for Williamston. The next Hornet batter was out when Okemos First Baseman Ray Smith made an excellent running grab of his foul fly. Okemos Pitcher Brennan Walton picked the runner off first base. Brennan Walton struck out the next Williamston batter to end the inning.

Keegan Noble and Jake Stagg walked to lead off the bottom of the second inning for Okemos. Jake Stagg was out at second and James Poletes safe at first base on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop. Keegan Noble took third base on the play. James Poletes stole second base. Brennan Walton ripped a single down the third base line to drive Keegan Noble and James Poletes home.

Caleb Wilkinson came into the game as a courtesy runner for Brennan Walton. Caleb Wilkinson stole second base. Caleb Bonemer was safe at first on an error on a bloop to the outfield. He advanced to second base when the runner ahead of him was trapped between second and third base and thrown out. Okemos made its third out of the inning on a fly to center field.

Okemos scored two runs in the bottom of the second inning to push its lead to 4-0.

Williamston’s leadoff batter in the top of the third inning was out on a fine running catch by right fielder Jake Stagg. Caleb Walton retired the next batter on a grounder to second base. Ben Convey lined a single to left field. Carter Gulick blasted a two run home run over the right field fence. Okemos Pitcher Brennan Walton retired the next batter on a fly to center field to end the inning.

Williamston scored two runs in the top of the third inning to trim the Okemos lead to 4-2.

Hornet Center Fielder Hunter Van Sickler made a great diving catch in center field to retire the Okemos leadoff hitter in the bottom of the third inning. Garrett Rizzi singled off the shortstop’s glove. The next hitter hit the ball to Hornet Second Baseman Brayden Johnson, who flipped the ball to Shortstop Ben Convey for the force; Ben Convey fired the ball to first base to complete the double play and end the inning.

Williamston made its first out in the top of the fourth inning on a grounder to shortstop. Okemos Shortstop made an excellent play on the next hitter to snare hit grounder up the middle, spin and throw the runner out at first base. Brennan Walton struck out the next batter to end the inning.

Richard Cuzydlo took over on the mound at the start of the bottom of the fourth inning for Williamston. Aiden Friess moved to first base.

Richard Cuzydlo retired the three Okemos hitters in the bottom of the fourth inning on a fly to left field, a fly to center field and a grounder to second base.

Colin Walton came in to pitch the top of the fifth inning for Okemos. Brennan Walton moved to third base.

Colin Walton retired the Williamston leadoff batter in the top of the fifth inning on a grounder to third base. Okemos Shortstop Caleb Bonemer made an excellent grab and Ray Smith made an excellent stretch to catch the throw at first base to record the second out. Hunter Van Sickler singled to left/center field. Colin Walton struck out the next hitter to end the inning.

Brennan Walton walked to lead off the top of the fifth inning for Okemos. Brennan Walton was out at second base and Caleb Bonemer was safe at first base on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop. Williamston Pitcher Richard Cuzydlo retired the next batter on a popup to shortstop. Colin Walton stole second base and advanced to third base when Colin Walton was safe at first base on an error.

Caleb Wilkinson entered the game as a courtesy runner for Colin Walton. Okemos made its third out of the inning on a popup to the shortstop.

With five full innings in the books, Okemos had a 4-2 lead.

Carter Gulick walked to lead off the top of the sixth inning for Williamston. Jack Kindinger entered the game as a courtesy runner for Carter Gulick and took second base on an errant pickoff throw. Jack Kindinger went to third base on a groundout to shortstop by Aiden Friess. Brayden Johnson walked. Ball four was a wild pitch and Jack Kindinger scored to pull Williamston to within one run.

Nik Greborunis came in to pitch for Okemos. Colin Walton moved to first base and Carter Haremski entered the game to play center field.

Nik Greborunis retired the next two Williamston batters on a fly to right field and a strikeout to end the inning.

Williamston scored one run in the top of the sixth inning to shave the Okemos lead to 4-3.

Carter Haremski walked to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning for Okemos and took second base on a sacrifice bunt by Keegan Noble. Williamston Second Baseman Brayden Johnson ranged far to his right to field a grounder up the middle by Jake Stagg and threw him out at first base as Carter Haremski went to third base. The next Okemos hitter was out on a grounder to third base to end the inning.

Kaleb Nielson walked to lead off the top of the seventh inning for the Hornets.

Caleb Bonemer took over on the mound for Okemos. Caleb Wilkinson came in to play shortstop.

Caleb Bonemer struck out the next Hornet hitter. Hunter Van Sickler beat out a slow roller to first base for a single as Kaleb Nielson went to second base. Ben Convey singled to left field to drive in Kaleb Nielson; Hunter Van Sickler advanced to third base. Carter Gulick was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Jack Kindinger entered the game as a courtesy runner for Carter Gulick. Aiden Friess tripled to deep right field to drive in Hunter Van Sickler, Ben Convey and Jack Kindinger. Aiden Friess scored on a wild pitch. Brayden Johnson walked. Hawk Harding walked and Brayden Johnson advanced to second base.

Henri Cavalier came in to pitch for Okemos. Caleb Bonemer went to shortstop.

Brayden Johnson advanced to third base and Hawk Harding to second base on a wild pitch. Miles Keener walked to load the bases. Henri Cavalier retired the next two Williamston hitters on a popup to third base and a fly to right field to end the inning.

Williamston scored five runs in the top of the seventh inning to take an 8-4 lead.

Brayden Johnson came in to pitch the final inning for Williamston. Rudy Martinez went in to play second base.

Brennan Walton walked to lead off the top of the seventh inning for Okemos. Brayden Johnson retired the next Okemos hitter on a fly to center field. Nik Greborunis singled to left field to push Brennan Walton to second base. Colin Walton grounded a single to left field. Brennan Walton moved to third base and Nik Greborunis took second base.

Williamston Shortstop Caleb Wilkinson made an excellent play to stop a drive up the middle by Garrett Rizzi. He stepped on second base to force Colin Walton. Brennan Walton scored on the play and an overthrow allowed Nik Greborunis to score; Garrett Rizzi held at first base. Brayden Johnson retired the next Okemos batter on a grounder to first base to end the game.

Okemos scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to cut the Williamston lead to 8-6, but it was not enough and Williamston will advanced to the semifinals with its win.

Brennan Walton had two singles and two RBI for Okemos. Colin Walton had two singles and one RBI. Garrett Rizzi had one single and one RBI. Caleb Bonemer and Nik Greborunis each had one single.

On the mound, Brennan Walton pitched four innings and gave up two runs and four hits. He struck out two batters. Colin Walton pitched one and two thirds innings; he gave up one run and one hit. Nik Greborunis pitched one third of an inning. He gave up one run and struck out one batter. Henri Cavalier pitched the final two thirds of an inning giving up no runs.

Ben Gulick had one home run and two RBI for Williamston. Aiden Friess had a triple and three RBI. Ben Convey had three singles and one RBI. Hunter Van Sickler had three singles.

Aiden Friess pitched three innings for Williamston. He gave up four runs and five hits while striking out two batters. Richard Cuzydlo pitched three innings. He allowed no runs and no hits. Brayden Johnson pitched the final inning. He gave up two runs and two hits.

For those who are interested, here is the play by play of the evening’s second game between Olivet and Holt. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2024/05/24/holt-vs-olivet-diamond-classic-baseball-quarterfinal-the-bleacher-denizen-may-23-2024-by-chuck-krafft/