Holt vs. DeWitt – – Baseball Diamond Classic Semifinal – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 28, 2024 – – by Chuck Krafft
In the second semifinal of the evening, the Rams from Holt will take on the Panthers from DeWitt to determine who will play in next week’s final game! DeWitt earned its semifinal spot by defeating Mason in the Quarterfinal. Holt defeated one of the top seeds, Olivet in their quarterfinal. Here is the Bleacher Denizen play by play of that exciting game!!
Williamston played Grand Ledge in the first game of tonight’s semifinal doubleheader. Here is the play by play of that game. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2024/05/29/grand-ledge-vs-williamston-baseball-diamond-classic-semifinal-the-bleacher-denizen-may-29-2024-by-chuck-krafft/
Here are the starting lineups. DeWitt will be the home team and Holt will bat first.
HOLT
Chase Monzo 2b
Eddie McDonald, Jr. ss
Jake Robel 3b
Luke Redd cf
Cade Greene c
Mitchell DuBois p
Landon Jayaraman rf
Ethan Walter 1b
Seth Holtry dh
Lucas Cascaddan will play left field, but will not bat.
DE WITT
Sam Leonard 3b
Brandon Beckner cf
A.J. Alicea ss
Elliott Larner rf
Nick Weiss 1b
Abram Larner lf
Jake Smith 2b
Zach Nelson p
Joseph Bobeda dh
Cooper Kingsbury will catch, but will not bat.
It is now time to learn of the events of this game through the occasionally alert senses of an Aging Bleacher Denizen whose baseball career never really got started. However, all the opposing catchers and umpires still fondly remember me for all the refreshing breezes I created when attempting to hit pitched baseballs!
DeWitt Pitcher Zach Nevison retired the three Holt batters in the top of the first inning on a fly to right field, a grounder to third base and a grounder to second base.
Sam Leonard doubled to center field to lead off the top of the first inning for DeWitt. Brandon Beckner beat out a bunt single and Sam Leonard advanced to third base. Brandon Beckner stole second base. A.J. Alicea singled up the middle and drove Sam Leonard and Brandon Beckner home.
Holt Pitcher Mitchell DuBois struck out the next Panther hitter. A.J. Alicea stole second base. Nick Weiss drew a walk. Jack Smith singled to right field to drive in A.J. Alicea. Nick Weiss advanced to third base. Mitchell DuBois struck out the next batter to end the inning.
DeWitt scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead.
DeWitt Pitcher Zach Nevison retired the three Ram second inning batters on two strikeouts and a grounder to the pitcher.
Joseph Bobeda led off the bottom of the second inning for the Panthers with a single up the middle. Holt Pitcher Mitchell DuBois got the next Panther hitter to hit a double-play grounder to the second baseman, Chase Mondo. He flipped the ball to shortstop Eddie McDonald, Jr. for the force; Eddie McDonald threw the ball to first base to complete the double play. DeWitt made its third out of the inning on a popup to the shortstop.
Zach Nevison retired the three Holt hitters in the top of the third inning on a bouncer to first base, a grounder to second base and a strikeout.
DeWitt’s leadoff hitter in the bottom of the third inning was out on a bouncer to the first baseman; Holt Pitcher Mitchell DuBois hustled to first base to make the play. Elliott Larner was safe at first base on an error and stole second base. Mitchell DuBois retired the next two batters on a strikeout and a fly to right field to end the inning.
After three full innings, DeWitt held a 3-0 lead.
In the top of the fourth inning, Chase Monzo was safe at first base on an error to give the Rams their first base runner. Chase Monzo took second base on a balk and went to third base on a groundout to the shortstop by Eddie McDonald, Jr. Brandon Beckner made an excellent running catch going back in center field to take possible extra bases away from Jake Robel. Chase Monzo scored on the sacrifice fly.
Luke Redd singled off the third baseman’s glove to give Holt its first hit of the game. Luke Redd went to second base on a wild pitch. DeWitt Catcher Cooper Kingsbury made an alert play on a squib and threw the runner out at first base to retire the side.
Holt scored one run in the top of the fourth inning to shave the DeWitt lead to 3-1.
Mitchell DuBois struck out DeWitt’s leadoff batter in the bottom of the fourth inning. Zach Nevison beat out an infield single and took second base on an overthrow. Zach Nevison went to third base on a groundout to first base by Joseph Bobeda. With a 3-2 count on the next batter, Jacob Metzger came in to pitch for Holt. Sam Leonard singled up the middle to drive in Zach Nevison.
Sam Leonard stole second base. Brandon Beckner walked. A.J. Alicea singled up the middle and drove Sam Leonard home. Brandon Beckner took third base on the play and A.J. Alicea scooted to second base on the throw back to the infield. Jacob Metzger retired the next batter on a grounder to second base; he alertly ran to first base to take the throw to force the batter.
DeWitt scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to boost its lead to 5-1.
Zach Nevison retired the three Ram batters in the top of the fifth inning on a soft liner to first base, a grounder to second base and a strikeout.
Nick Weiss singled to left field to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning for DeWitt. Jacob Metzger struck out the next Panther batter. Jake Smith singled up the middle and Nick Weiss advanced to second base. Pinch Hitter Jake Schorfhaar walked to load the bases with one out. Jacob Metzger retired the next two Panther hitters on a foul popup to the catcher and a fielder’s choice grounder to second base to hold DeWitt scoreless for the inning.
Nick Weiss took over on the pitching mound for DeWitt and Jake Schorfhaar came in to play first base.
Nick Weiss struck out the Ram leadoff batter in the top of the sixth inning. DeWitt Right Fielder Elliott Larner made a valiant diving effort to catch a drive by Chase Monzo, but the ball fell in for a double. Chase Monzo advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Nick Weiss struck out the next Holt batter. Chase Monzo scored on a wild pitch. Nick Weiss knocked down a soft liner from the next batter and threw the runner out at first base to end the inning.
Holt scored one run in the top of the sixth inning to trim the DeWitt lead to 5-2.
Brandon Beckner walked to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning for DeWitt. Peter McKinney came in to pitch for Holt.
Peter McKinney Brandon Beckner stole second base. Elliott Larner singled to right field and Brandon Beckner moved up to third base. Elliott Larner stole second base. Peter McKinney struck out the next DeWitt batter. Brandon Beckner came home on either a wild pitch or a balk. (Sometimes things happen when I look down to write notes – – or maybe it was just a senior moment.) Elliott Larner went to third base on the play. Elliott Larner scored on a single to right field by Abram Larner. Peter McKinney retired the next DeWitt batter on a fly to left field to end the inning.
DeWitt scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to extend its lead to 7-2.
Luke Redd doubled into the left field corner to lead off the top of the seventh inning for Holt. Nick Weiss struck out the next Ram hitter. Luke Redd took third base on a groundout to third base by Mitchell DuBois. Nick Weiss struck out the next batter to end the game.
DeWitt won this game by the score of 7-2 and will play Williamston in Monday night’s final game.
Luke Redd had a double and a single for Holt. Chase Monzo had a double. Jake Robel had one RBI.
Mitchell DuBois pitched three and one third innings for Holt. He gave up four runs and struck out five batters. Freshman Jacob Metzger pitched one and two thirds innings. He gave up two runs and struck out one Panther hitter. Peter McKinney pitched one inning. He gave up one run and struck out one batter.
Everyone in DeWitt’s starting lineup who batted had at least one hit.
A.J. Alicea had two singles and three RBI. Sam Leonard had a double, a single and one RBI. Jake Smith had two singles and one RBI. Abram Larner had one single and one RBI. Brandon Beckner, Elliott Larner, Nick Weiss, Zach Nevison and Joseph Bobeda each had one single.
Zach Nevison was masterful on the mound as he pitched five innings. He gave up only one unearned run and one hit while striking out four Ram hitters. Nick Weiss pitched two innings. He gave up one run and two hits while striking out four batters.