Portland St. Patrick vs. Beal City – – MHSAA Softball Regional Final – – The Bleacher Denizen – – June 9, 2024 – – by Chuck Krafft

Today, the Shamrocks from Portland St. Patrick and the Aggies from Beal City will compete in the Regional Final of the State Softball Tournament!!!

St. Patrick got to this game be beating Alcona in the regional semifinal. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2024/06/08/alcona-vs-portland-st-patrick-mhsaa-regional-softball-semifinal-the-bleacher-denizen-june-8-2024-by-chuck-krafft/

Beal City, who is hosting this regional, got here by winning over Michigan Lutheran Seminary. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2024/06/08/michigan-lutheran-seminary-vs-beal-city-mhsaa-regional-softball-semifinal-the-bleacher-denizen-june-8-2024-by-chuck-krafft/

This game is being played on Sunday because the final game was rained out yesterday. Today it’s nice and sunny at 10 AM, so it looks like there won’t be weather problems today. I will be sharing the booth with Announcer Extraordinaire Ed Lynch, whose silver-tounged discourse is keeping everyone informed!! Chris Spachman from Buck 92 Radio is calling the play by play live as well.

Here are the starting lineups. Even though we are playing in Beal City, Beal City will be the away team and bat first. The Bleacher Denizen’s mind boggles, but this is today’s situation!!

BEAL CITY

Lauryn Licari c

Emily Taylor ss

Arryana Brown 3b

Macy Johnston p

Emma Block 1b

Macy McKenny 2b

Dakota Dodak lf

Eva Lynch cf

Lauren Gross rf

PORTLAND ST. PATRICK

Rylee Scheurer 1b

Grace Rockey ss

Addie Scheurer 3b

Laynie Meredith cf

Tori Sandborn p

Naomi Hass rf

Hannah Weller c’

Marian Davlin dp

Lily Sandborn 2b

Bella Russman will play left field, but will not bat.

It is now time to review the events of this game through the somewhat discerning eyes of an aging Bleacher Denizen whose softball career never got off the ground. He was doing pretty well as an outfielder who could rise and catch long fly balls before they became home runs, but, alas, everything changed when the softball powers that be refused to allow him to use his pogo stick when he was playing in the outfield.

St. Patrick Pitcher Tori Sandborn retired the first two Beal City batters in the top of the first inning on ground balls to the shortstop. Arryana Brown singled to right field. Macy Johnston singled to right field. Arryana Brown raced around the bases to score from first base. Macy Johnston advanced to second base on the throw home.

Madason Fisher entered the game as a courtesy runner for Macy Johnston. Madason Fisher stole third base. Emma Block walked. Emma Block broke for second base to draw a throw and Madason Fisher stole home. Emma Block was safe at second base. Shamrock Left Fielder Bella Russman stared into the glaring sun and made a diving catch of a drive by Macy McKenny to end the inning.

Beal City scored two runs in the top of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead.

Beal City Pitcher Macy Johnston retired the St. Patrick leadoff batter in the bottom of the first inning on a bouncer to the pitcher. Grace Rockey beat out an infield single. Macy Johnston struck out the next Shamrock hitter. Laynie Meredith pounded a home run over the left field fence to tie the game. She and Grace Rockey both scored.

Tori Sandborn singled to center field. Aggie Second Baseman made a fantastic diving grab of a line drive off the bat of Naomi Hass to record the third out.

St. Patrick scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning to tie the game at 2-2.

Shamrock Pitcher Tori Sandborn retired the three Aggie batters in the second inning on a foul popup to first base, a grounder to the shortstop and a fly to deep center field where Laynie Meredith did a fine job fighting off the sun to make the catch.

Aggie Pitcher Macy Johnston struck out St. Patrick’s leadoff batter in the bottom of the second inning. Marian Davlin pounded a double off the right center field wall and took third base on a wild pitch. Lily Sandborn beat out an infield single; on an overthrow she was able to take second base. Aggie Third Baseman Arryana Brown made a diving catch of a low line drive by Rylee Scheurer for the second out. Marian Davlin alertly dived back into third base and barely avoided being doubled off.

Grace Rockey launched a three run homer way over the left field fence. Marian Davlin and Lily Sandborn scored on the play. Addie Scheurer lined a single to center field. Laynie Meredith blooped a double to center field to drive Addie Scheurer home. Macy Johnston struck out the next batter to end the inning.

St. Patrick scored four runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 6-2 lead.

Tori Sandborn retired the Aggie leadoff batter in the top of the third inning on a grounder to third base. Shamrock Left Fielder Bella Russman made a valiant effort, but was not able to catch a drive to left center field by Emily Taylor; it fell for a double. Arryana Brown smoked a double off the left field fence to drive in Emily Taylor. Arryana Brown took third base on a wild pitch.

Macy Johnston beat out an infield single to drive Arryana Brown home. Macy Johnston went to second base on an overthrow. Madason Fisher entered the game as a courtesy runner for Macy Johnston. Emma Block pounded a two run homer over the left field fence to tie the game as she and Madason Fisher scored.

The next Aggie batter was out on a grounder to third base. Dakota Dodak bounced a single to left field. Shamrock Catcher Hannah Weller got out from behind quickly to snare a bunt and throw out the hitter at first base to end the inning.

Beal City scored four runs in the top of the third inning to tie the game at 6-6.

Macy Johnston retired the three St. Patrick batters in the bottom of the third inning on a strikeout, a grounder to second base and another strikeout.

Tori Sandborn retired the three Beal City batters in the top of the fourth inning on a strikeout, a grounder to the shortstop and a grounder to third base.

Macy Johnston struck out the St. Patrick leadoff batter in the bottom of the fourth inning. Rylee Scheurer singled to left field. Rylee Scheurer advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Aggie Shortstop made a diving effort to stop a grounder to left field by Grace Rockey; she beat it out for an infield single as Rylee Scheurer held at second base.

Addie Scheurer beat out a bunt single. The speedy Rylee Scheurer was able to score all the way from second base on the bunt and Grace Rockey got to second base. Grace Rockey took third base and Addie Scheuer second base on a wild pitch. Laynie Meredith singled to left field to drive in Grace Rockey from third base. Beal City left fielder Dakota Dodak rifled the ball home to Catcher Lauryn Dodak, who made a nice tag to retire the runner trying to score from second base. Macy Johnston struck out the next Shamrock hitter to end the inning.

St. Patrick scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take an 8-6 lead.

Arryana Johnston doubled off the center field fence to lead off the top of the fifth inning for Beal City. Macy Johnston swatted a home run over the left center field fence to tie the game as she and Arryana Johnston scored. Tori Sandborn retired the next two Aggie hitters on a strikeout and a bunt to the pitcher. Dakota Dodak socked a home run over the right field fence to give Beal City the lead. Eva Lynch walked. Beal City made its final out of the inning on a fly to left field.

Beal City scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a 9-8 lead.

Macy Johnston retired the first two Shamrock hitters in the bottom of the fifth inning on a fly to right field and a grounder to first base. Marian Davlin beat out an infield single. St. Patrick made its third out on a bunt to the pitcher.

Tori Sandborn retired the Aggie leadoff batter in the top of the sixth inning on a fly to center field. Shamrock Shortstop Grace Rockey made a great play going to her left to snare a grounder and threw the next Aggie hitter out at first base. Arryana Brown grounded a single to center field. Macy Johnson drilled a ground single to left field to send Arryana Brown to second base.

Madason Fisher entered the game as a courtesy runner for Macy Johnston. Arryana Brown went to third and Madason Fisher to second base on a wild pitch. Tori Sandborn struck out the next Beal City batter to end the inning.

Macy Johnson made a diving catch of a soft liner by Shamrock leadoff batter Rylee Scheurer to keep her off the bases and record the first out of the bottom of the sixth inning. Grace Rockey walked. Addie Scheurer hit a soft liner that tapped off the first baseman’s glove. Aggie Second Baseman Macy McKenny made an alert play and and made a great throw to Shortstop Emily Taylor to force Grace Rockey at second base. Addie Scheurer was safe at first base.

Addie Scheurer stole second base and took third base on an infield single by Laynie Meredith. Laynie Meredith stole second base as Catcher Lauryn Licari held the ball to prevent Addie Scheurer from scoring the tying run from third base. Macy Johnston struck out the next Shamrock hitter to end the inning.

After six full innings, the Beal City lead remained at 9-8.

Macy McKenny beat out an infield single to the left side to open the top of the seventh inning for Beal City. Macy McKenny went to second base on a wild pitch and took third base on a passed ball. Dakota Dodak lined a single to left field to drive in Macy McKenny. Dakota Dodak stole second base. Dakota Dodak reached third base (with one out) on a grounder to the pitcher by Eva Lynch.

Dakota Dodak scored on an RBI grounder to the shortstop by Lauren Gross. The Aggies made their third out on a grounder to third base.

Beal City scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning to extend its lead to 11-8.

Macy Johnston struck out all three Shamrock hitters in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Beal City won the Regional Championship and will play in the quarterfinal at Central Michigan University on Tuesday.

Lainey Meredith had a home run, a double, two singles and four RBI for St. Patrick. Grace Rockey had a home run, two singles and three RBI. Marian Davlin had a double and a single. Addie Scheurer had two singles and one RBI. Rylee Scheurer and Lily Sandborn each had one single.

Tori Sandborn pitched the complete game for the Shamrocks and struck out three batters.

Macy Johnston had a home run, a triple a single and four RBI for Beal City. Dakota Dodak had a home run, a single and one RBI. Emma Block had a home run and two RBI. Arryana Brown had a double, two singles and one RBI. Emily Taylor had a double. Macy McKenny had a single. Eva Lynch and Lauren Gross each had one RBI.

Macy Johnston pitched the complete game for the Aggies and struck out eleven Shamrock batters.