Saginaw Nouvel vs. Portland St. Patrick – – Baseball Regional First Round – – The Bleacher Denizen – – June 3, 2026 – – by Chuck Krafft
Today, the BleacherDenizenMobile is headed to Fowler High School where the Panthers from Saginaw Nouvel Catholic will play the Shamrocks from Portland St. Patrick in the MHSAA Baseball Regional First Round. Both these teams won their districts last weekend and are playing the first game of the regional today. The winner will head to Mt. Pleasant to play in the Regional Final on Saturday.
Your Bleacher Denizen is truly an Aging Bleacher Denizen as he just had his seventieth birthday two days ago. However, he was able to haul his aging body into the BleacherDenizenMobile and head to Fowler to see the game. He took a brief stop in Portland to get his hair cut at the Grand Barber Shop, where they always meet the difficult challenge of trying to make your Bleacher Denizen look presentable. It is sunny and warm outside; it’s almost perfect baseball weather.
While we wait for these teams to start playing, I hope you will enjoy this traditional Christian song, “Just As I Am Without One Plea!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM_D5Npbyzo
Here are the starting lineups. Nouvel will be the home team and St. Patrick will bat first.
ST. PATRICK
Jerryd Scheurer ss
Charlie Thelen c
Brady Leonard cf
Tyler Thelen p
Isaiah Rockey 2b
Logan Howe 3b
Mason Simon lf
T.J. Chamberlain rf
Hudson King dh
Sean Fedewa will play first base, but will not bat.
NOUVEL
Owen Vance c
Daniel Malott ss
John Carlson 1b
Jacob Kusowski 3b
Manning Solek 2b
Thomas Lubbe lf
Brayden Guldenzoph dh
Joaquin Olascuaga rf
Matthew Kusowski p
Blane Carlson will play center field, but will not bat.
It is now time to review the events of this regional baseball games through the somewhat alert eyes of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to get his baseball career going. However, he is proud of the cooling breezes he consistently generated for umpires and opposing catchers with his flailing attempts to swat baseballs!
Jerryd Scheurer singled to left field to lead off the top of the first inning for the Shamrocks. He went to third base when Charlie Thelen was safe at second base on an error. Nouvel Pitcher Matthew Kusowski retired the next Shamrock hitter on a foul popup to first base. Tyler Thelen bunted. Everyone was safe when Nouvel tried to get the runner out at home. Jerryd Scheurer scored, Charlie Thelen advanced to third base and Tyler Thelen was safe at second; he took the base on the throw home.
Isaiah Rockey beat out an infield single to drive Charlie Thelen home as Tyler Thelen advanced to third base. Isaiah Rockey stole second base. Matthew Kusowski struck out the next Shamrock hitter. Mason Simon singled to right field to drive Tyler Thelen and Isaiah Rockey home. Nouvel Right Fielder Joaquin Olascuaga threw the ball in to pitcher Matthew Kusowski, who threw the ball to second base to retire Mason Simon as he tried to take an extra base.
St. Patrick scored four runs in the top of the first inning to take a 4-0 lead.
Tyler Thelen retired the three Nouvel batters in the bottom of the first inning on a grounder to the shortstop, a strikeout and a fly to second base.
T.J. Chamberlain walked to lead off the top of the second inning for St. Patrick. He advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Hudson King and stole third base. Jerryd Scheurer beat out a bunt single to drive T.J. Chamberlain home. Jerryd Scheurer advanced to second base on a balk. Charlie Thelen was hit by a pitch. Brady Leonard singled to center field. Jerryd Scheurer scored and Charlie Thelen advanced to second base. Tyler Thelen beat out a bunt single; Charlie Thelen advanced to third base and Brady Leonard to second.
Nouvel tried to get Charlie Thelen out at home on a fielder’s choice grounder by Isaiah Rockey, but he scored. Brady Leonard went to third base and Tyler Thelen to second. Logan Howe walked to force Brady Leonard home. Tyler Thelen took third base and Isaiah Rockey second. Matthew Kusowski struck out the next Shamrock batter.
Tyler Thelen, Isaiah Rockey and Logan Howe all scored when T.J. Chamblerlain was safe at first base on an error. T.J. Chamberlain stole second base. Matthew Kusowski struck out the next batter to end the inning.
St. Patrick scored seven runs in the top of the second inning to extend its lead to 11-0.
Tyler Thelen retired the first Panther batter in the bottom of the second inning on a fly to second base. Manning Solek drew a walk. Tyler Thelen struck out the next batter. Mannin Solek advanced to second base when Brayden Guldenzoph was safe at first base on an error. Shamrock Catcher Charlie Thelen made a fine running catch of a foul popup halfway down the first base line to end the inning.
Jerryd Scheurer and then Charlie Thelen were each hit by a pitch to lead off the top of the third inning for St. Patrick. Matthew Kusowski retired the next Shamrock hitter on a popup to the shortstop. Tyler Thelen tripled down the right field line to drive Jerryd Scheurer and Charlie Thelen home. Matthew Kusowski got the next Shamrock hitter out on a grounder to third base as Tyler Thelen held at third base.
Logan Howe singled to drive Tyler Thelen home and went to second base on a fielding error. Mason Simon singled to right field to drive Logan Howe home. Matthew Kusowski retired pinch hitter Ben White on a popup to the catcher to end the inning.
St. Patrick added four runs to take a 15-0 lead after two and a half innings.
Tyler Thelen retired the three Nouvel hitters in the bottom of the third inning on a fly to second base, a grounder to second base and a grounder to the shortstop.
As St. Patrick held a fifteen run lead at 15-0 after three innings, the Mercy Rule was invoked and St. Patrick won the game. The Shamrocks will play Maple City Glen Lake in the regional final at Central Michigan University this Saturday at 10 AM.
Matthew Kusowski pitched three innings for Nouvel and struck out three St. Patrick batters.
Tyler Thelen had a triple, a single and three RBI for St. Patrick. Mason Simon had two singles and three RBI. Jerryd Scheurer had two singles and one RBI. Isaiah Rockey and Logan Howe each had one single and two RBI. Brady Leonard had one single and one RBI.
Tyler Thelen pitched a three inning no-hit shutout for the Shamrocks. He struck out two Nouvel batters.