Holt at DeWitt – – Second Game – – Baseball Doubleheader – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 9, 2022 – – by Chuck Krafft

Your Bleacher Denizen has made it to DeWitt and blogged the first game of the Panthers’ doubleheader with the Holt Rams. Here is a play by play article about that game.

https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2022/05/10/holt-at-dewitt-first-game-baseball-doubleheader-the-bleacher-denizen-may-9-2022-by-chuck-krafft/

The teams are taking a dinner break between the games.

For those of us who are not taking time to eat, perhaps you might enjoy a couple songs from my “Chuck Krafft” You Tube Channel.

This one is an original tune!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol3R-ZL9568

And here is some Honky Tonk piano from my latest You Tube post!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAyGsC_FuNo

For those of you who cannot hear the dulcet tones of DeWitt Student Announcer Reid Inglis, here are the starting lineups for Game 2. Holt will bat first.

HOLT:

Evan Mendoza cf

Matthew Barger ss

Logan Wilder 1b

Trevor Yemc rf

Eddie McDonald 3b

Connor Seagren c

Owen Webster lf

Jeremy Scholten dh

Alec Stout 2b

Jacob Walter will pitch, but will not bat.

DEWITT:

Trent Brandell cf

Brandon Beckner lf

A.J. Alicea ss

Ohlen Bond 3b

Bryce Debri c

Dayton Zink dh

Bo Donaldson rf

Nick Weiss 1b

Ryan McKinney 2b

Sean Page will pitch, but will not bat.

It is now time to look through the events of this game through the eyes of an aging Bleacher Denizen who struggled at baseball. To be fair, his career was severely curtailed when the horsehide powers that be refused to allow him to use a bazooka to propel his throws from the outfield. Life can be a challenge.

DeWitt Pitcher Sean Page retired the Holt leadoff batter on a grounder to first base. Matthew Barger doubled to right field and stole third base. Sean Page struck out the next Holt batter. DeWitt third baseman Ohlen Bond made a diving stop of Trevor Yemc’s drive to the left side, but Trevor Yemc was safe at first base for a single. Matthew Barger scored on the play. Trevor Yemc was safe at second and Eddie McDonald safe at first on a fielder’s choice grounder. Sean Page struck out the next batter to hold Holt to one run for the first inning.

Holt scored one run in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead.

Trent Brandell singled to right field to open the game for DeWitt. Holt Pitcher Jacob Walter retired the next hitter when Trevor Yemc made a great running catch in right field. Trent Brandell stole second base. Jacob Walter struck out the next Panther hitter. Ohlen Bond singled to right field to drive in Trent Brandell. Jacob Walter retired the next batter on a fly to right field to end the inning.

DeWitt scored one run in the bottom of the first inning to tie the game at 1-1.

Sean Page retired the three Ram second inning batters on two strikeouts and a popup to second base.

Jacob Walter struck out the Panther second inning leadoff batter. Bo Donaldson singled to left field and moved up to second base when Nick Weiss drew a walk. Jacob Walter struck out the next batter. Trent Brandell doubled to drive in Bo Donaldson. Nick Weiss advanced to third base. Jacob Walter retired the next batter on a fly to left field to end the inning.

DeWitt scored one run in the bottom of the second inning to take a 2-1 lead.

Evan Mendoza singled to the second baseman to lead off the top of the third inning for Holt. Evan Mendoza was out at second base and Matthew Barger was safe at first base on a fielder’s choice grounder to third base. Matthew Barger went to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Logan Wilder. Sean Page got the next hitter out on a fly to right field to end the inning.

A.J. Alicea walked to lead off the third inning for DeWitt. A.J. Alicea stole second base. Jacob Walter struck out the next hitter. Bryce Debri tripled to centerfield to drive in A.J. Alicea. Gage Kesson came in to pitch for Holt.

Dayton Zink walked and stole second base. Bo Donaldson walked to load the bases. Hudson Stierley came in to pitch for Holt.

Hudson Stierley struck out the next DeWitt batter. Bryce Debri scored, Dayton Zink went to third base and Bo Donaldson to second base on a passed ball. Ryan McKinney walked to load the bases. DeWitt made its final out of the inning when Evan Mendoza made a great running catch of a drive off the bat of Trent Brandell.

DeWitt scored two runs in the bottom of the third inning to boost its lead to 4-2.

Eddie McDonald singled to centerfield to lead off the fourth inning for the Rams. He took second base on Connor Seagren’s single to center. Owen Webster’s sacrifice bunt advanced Eddie McDonald to second base and Connor Seagren to third base. DeWitt Shortstop A.J. Alicea snared Jeremy Scholten’s hot line drive and alertly stepped on second base to record the third out and hold the Rams scoreless for the inning.

Holt Pitcher Hudson Stierley retired the Panther fourth inning leadoff batter on a one hopper to first base. A.J. Alicea singled to left center field. Ohlen Bond singled past third base to advance A.J. Alicea to second base. A.J. Alicea went to third base and Ohlen Bond to second base on a wild pitch. Bryce Debri doubled to left field and drove in A.J. Alicea and Ohlen Bond.

Bryce Debri advanced to third base on Dayton Zink’s groundout to first base. Bryce Debri scored with Bo Donaldson was safe on an error. Bo Donaldson went to second base on a passed ball. Nick Weiss drew a walk. Bo Donaldson advanced to third base and Nick Weiss to second on a wild pitch. Hudson Stierley struck out the next batter to end the inning.

DeWitt scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to boost its lead to 7-1.

Alec Stout was safe at first on an error to lead off the top of the fifth inning for Holt. Alec Stout moved to second base on Evan Mendoza’s single to centerfield. Sean Page retired the next Ram hitter on a foul popup to first base. Alec Stout advanced to third base and Evan Mendoza to second on a wild pitch. Logan Wilder singled to centerfield to drive in Alec Stout and Evan Mendoza.

Trevor Yemc singled and sent Logan Wilder to second base. Sean Page struck out the next Ram hitter. Sean Page got the third out of the inning on a fielder’s choice grounder to second base.

Holt scored two runs in the top of the fifth inning to shave the Panther lead to 7-3.

Abraham Alvarez entered the game to pitch for Holt.

Trent Brandell opened the bottom of the fifth inning for DeWitt by being hit by a pitch. Trent Brandell stole second base. Abraham Alvarez quickly got off the mound to catch a bunt by the next DeWitt batter in the air. A.J. Alicea singled past Holt Shortstop Matthew Barger, who dove to stop the ball, but could not get to it. Trent Brandell scored on the play. Abraham Alvarez struck out the next Panther batter and got the third out when Third Baseman Eddie McDonald made a fantastic leaping grab of a hot liner by Bryce Debri.

DeWitt scored one run in the bottom of the fifth inning to extend its lead to 8-3.

Owen Webster led off the top of the sixth inning for Holt with a single and stole second base.

Ohlen Bond came in to pitch for DeWitt and Sean Page moved to third base.

Owen Webster went to third base and Jeremy Scholten to second base on a passed ball. Owen Webster tried to score on a wild pitch, but DeWitt Catcher Bryce Debri got to the ball quickly and fired a strike to Pitcher Ohlen Bond to retire him at home. Jeremy Scholten took third base on the play. Alec Stout walked. Evan Mendoza singled to drive in Jeremy Scholten. Alec Stout advanced to second base.

Alec Stout went to third base and Evan Mendoza to second base on a wild pitch. Matthew Barger singled to center field to drive in Alec Stout. Evan Mendoza moved to third base. Matthew Barger stole second base. Logan Wilder singled up the middle to drive in Evan Mendoza. Matthew Barger advanced to third base. The next Ram hitter was out on a fly to left fielder Bo Donaldson, who quickly threw to third base to double off the runner and end the inning.

Holt scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning to chop the Panther lead to 8-6.

Dayton Zink singled down the left field line to leadoff the sixth inning for DeWitt. Dayton Zink was out at second and Bo Donaldson safe at first on a fielder’s choice grounder to second base. Bo Donaldson stole second base. Nick Weiss drew a walk. Bo Donaldson advanced to third base and Nick Weiss to second base on a wild pitch. Pinch Hitter Ruston Whitten walked to load the bases. Trent Brandell doubled to drive in Bo Donaldson and Nick Weiss. Ruston Whitten advanced to third base.

Logan Wilder came in to pitch for Holt. Abraham Alvarez moved to first base.

Brandon Beckner hit a three run homer; Ruston Whitten and Trent Brandell also scored. Logan Wilder retired the next two hitters on a fly to centerfield and a strikeout to end the inning.

DeWitt scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 13-6 lead.

Ryder Thompson came in to pitch for DeWitt.

Eddie McDonald doubled to left center field. Connor Seagren singled to right field to drive in Eddie McDonald. Connor Seagren had to hold up to see if Owen Webster’s bid for a bloop single to right field would safely fall. It did, by DeWitt second baseman Ryan McKinney quickly threw to Shortstop A.J. Alicea to force Connor Seagren at second base. Ryder Thompson retired the next two Ram hitters on a fly to left field and a grounder to second base to end the game.

DeWitt won the second game 13-7 to sweep the doubleheader.

Evan Mendoza had three singles and one RBI for Holt. Matthew Barger had a double, a single and one RBI. Eddie McDonald had a single and a double. Logan Wilder and Trevor Yemc each had two singles and two RBI. Connor Seagren had two singles and one RBI. Owen Webster had a single.

Trent Brandell had two doubles, a single and three RBI for DeWitt. Bryce Debri had a triple, a double and three RBI. Brandon Beckner had a home run and three RBI. A.J. Alicea and Ohlen Bond each had two singles and an RBI. Dayton Zink and Bo Donaldson each had a single.