Saranac at Laingsburg – – Second Game of Baseball Doubleheader – – The Bleacher Denizen – – April 18, 2024 – – by Chuck Krafft
Your Bleacher Denizen is at Laingsburg covering the Wolfpack’s doubleheader against the Red Hawks of Saranac. Here is a play by play of the first game.
Thanks to the Laingsburg team for giving me a walking taco between games. (Frequently, I get hungry by the time the second game is over. The taco was really tasty in addition to being really welcome!!)
Here are the starting lineups for the second game. The CMAC (and many other leagues) require that the two teams trade off being designated as the home team so that each team has one chance to bat last. So Saranac is the home team despite being about 75 minutes from its school (and will bat last) while Laingsburg is the visiting team on its school property. (The mind boggles.)
LAINGSBURG
Dom Garcia p
Emilio Garcia 1b
Ty Randall ss
Elliott Wilsey rf
R.J. Garcia 3b
Jackson Audretsch c
Cam Ballard 2b
Everett Rodriguez lf
Laim Esch cf
SARANAC
Logan Haller c
Sam Sterzick cf
Warren Hill 1b
Grady Proctor 3b
Max Olsen ss
Cody Whipple 2b
Evan Oosterhouse dh
Brayden Griffin lf
Tyler Elliott rf
Loren McKibbin will pitch, but will not bat.
It is now time to look at the events of this game from the perspective of an aging Bleacher Denizen who never had much of a baseball career. Once the baseball powers that be ruled that the Bleacher Denizen could not swing a refrigerator door when he batted, he was no longer able to hit any pitches and was really not much use to his team.
Saranac Right Fielder Tyler Elliott made a fine catch of Laingsburg leadoff batter Dom Garcia’s drive to deep right field to open the top of the first inning for Laingsburg. Emilio Garcia singled to left field. Emilio Garcia advanced to third base on Ty Randall’s single to right field. Elliott Wilsey singled to center field to drive in Elliott Wilsey as Ty Randall went to second base.
R.J. Garcia beat out an infield single. Ty Randall scored, Elliott Wilsey went to third base and R.J. Garcia went to second base when there was an overthrow on the play. Elliott Wilsey scored and R.J. Garcia took third base on a wild pitch. R.J. Garcia scored on an RBI groundout to first base by Jackson Audretsch.
Cam Ballard singled down the left field line. Everett Rodriguez singled to left field and Cam Ballard moved up to second base. Cam Ballard scored and Everett Rodriguez went to second base on an RBI single to center field by Liam Esch. Laingsburg made its final out of the first inning on a fly to left field.
Laingsburg scored five runs in the top of the first inning to take a 5-0 lead.
Dom Garcia retired Saranac’s leadoff batter in the bottom of the first inning on a ground out to first base. Sam Sterzick walked. Dom Garcia retired Saranac’s next batter on a popup to third base. Grady Proctor beat out a single to the shortstop and Sam Sterzick went to second base. Sam Sterzick advanced to third base and Grady Proctor to second base on a wild pitch. Max Olsen walked to load the bases.
Cody Whipple was hit by a pitch to force Sam Sterzick home as Grady Proctor went to third base and Cody Whipple to second. Laingsburg Right Fielder Elliott Wilsey made a fine running catch to get the third Red Hawk out.
Saranac scored one run in the bottom of the first inning to trim the Laingsburg lead to 5-1.
Laingsburg’s second inning leadoff batter was out on a grounder to second base. Ty Randall singled to left field. Ty Randall advanced to second base on a groundout to second base by Elliott Wiley. Saranac First Baseman Warren Hill made a nice catch going back to catch a fly in right field to record the third Wolfpack out.
Dom Garcia struck out Saranac’s leadoff batter in the bottom of the second inning. Tyler Elliott walked. Saranac’s next batter was out on a line drive to the shortstop. Sam Sterzick advanced Tyler Elliott to second base when he lined a single down the left field line. Laingsburg third baseman R.J. Garcia caught a grounder and forced the runner at third base for the third Red Hawk out.
Jackson Audretsch walked to lead off the top of the third inning for Laingsburg. He went to second base on a single to left field by Cam Ballard. Jackson Audretsch went to third base and Cam Ballard to second base on a bunt single by Everett Rodriguez (to load the bases.)
While pitching to Gregory Stewart, Saranac Pitcher Lorcan McKibben suffered an injury that was so bad that the ball went into the air and landed near the third base line. This looked awful; Lorcan McKibben had to leave the game and was in severe pain. I hope he is able to recover from this injury; I’m not sure exactly what the injury is, but it looks serious.
Sam Sterzick came in to pitch for Saranac and Colton Goff went in to play center field.
Gregory Stewart walked to drive in Jackson Audretsch as Cam Ballard went to third base and Everett Rodriguez to third base. Dom Garcia hit a hot drive off the third baseman’s glove for a single to drive in Cam Ballard. Everett Rodriguez advanced to third base and Gregory Stewart to second base. Emilio Garcia singled to second base to drive in Everett Rodriguez and Gregory Stewart.
When there was an overthrow, Dom Garcia tried to score, but was cut down at the plate by a fine throw from Warren Hill. Emilio Garcia went to second base on the play. Ty Randall was intentionally walked. Everyone was safe on Elliott Wilsey’s fielder’s choice grounder. Emilio Garcia came in to score on the overthrow as Ty Randall advanced to third base. Elliott Wilsey stole second base. Ty Randall scored and Elliott Wilsey advanced to third base on a wild pitch.
R.J. Garcia drew a walk. Sam Sterzick retired the next Wolfpack hitter on a foul popup to first base. R.J. Garcia was out at second base on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop to end the inning.
Laingsburg scored six runs in the top of the third inning to push its lead to 11-1.
Emilio Garcia came in to pitch for Laingsburg. Ty Randall switched to first base and Dom Garcia moved to center field. Jake Rivet came in to play second base. Cam Ballard went to shortstop. Gregory Stewart went in to left field.
Emilio Garcia retired the three Red Hawk batters in the third inning on a foul fly to first base, a fly to left field and a grounder to third base.
Jake Rivet walked to lead off the top of the fourth inning for the Wolfpack. He advanced to second base on Gregory Stewart’s groundout to second base and to third base on Dom Garcia’s groundout to shortstop. Jake Rivet scored when Dom Garcia was safe at second base on an error. Sam Sterzick struck out the next batter to end the inning.
Laingsburg scored one run in the top of the fourth inning to stretch its lead to 12-1.
Emilio Garcia retired the Red Hawk leadoff batter in the bottom of the fourth inning. Brayden Griffin beat out an infield single to deep shortstop. Brayden Griffin advanced to second base on a single to left field by Tyler Elliott. Brayden Griffin advanced to third base and Tyler Elliott to second base on a wild pitch. Logan Haller was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Brayden Griffin was hit by a foul grounder as he led off from third base and ended up with what I hope is just a painful bruise. It was severe enough where he could not continue in the game. As Saranac had no one who was not already in the game to substitute, Colton Goff went in to pinch run for him. It was decided that when Brayden Griffin’s number spot in the lineup came up again, there would be no play and Saranac would be charged with an out. (Colton Goff was already playing center field as the flex player for pitcher Lorcan McKibben, who previously left with a serious injury to his arm.)
Sam Sterzick doubled to left field to drive in Colton Goff and Tyler Elliott. Logan Haller advanced to third base. Warren Hill walked to reload the bases. Logan Haller scored, Sam Sterzick went to third base and Warren Hill to second base on an RBI groundout to second base by Grady Proctor. Max Olsen singled to center field to drive in Sam Sterzick as Warren Hill moved to third base. Laingsburg second baseman Jake Rivet made a fine play on a slow roller to record Saranac’s third out.
Saranac scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut the Laingsburg lead to 12-5.
Elliott Wilsey beat out an infield single to elad off the top of the fifth inning for Laingsburg and went to second base when R.J. Garcia was hit by a pitch. Jackson Audretsch beat out a bunt single to load the bases. Elliott Wilsey scored and R.J. Garcia advanced to third base on a sacrifice fly to deep center field by Cam Ballard. There was a throwing error on the play and R.J. Garcia was also able to score. The next Wolfpack batter was out on a fly to the shortstop. When the runner on first tried to go to second, Saranac Shortstop Max Olsen made a fine throw to get him out to end the inning.
Laingsburg scored two runs in the top of the fifth inning to extend its lead to 14-5.
Emilio Garcia retired Saranac’s leadoff hitter in the bottom of the fifth inning on a fly to right field. As the eighth position in Saranac’s lineup was vacated by an injury, Saranac was assessed with its second out of the inning. Gregory Stewart made a fine diving catch in left field to record Saranac’s third out of the inning.
Gregory Stewart was safe at second base on an error to lead off the top of the sixth inning for Laingsburg. He advanced to third base on a groundout to second base by Dom Garcia. Sam Sterzick made a heady play on the next batter’s groundout to the pitcher as he made sure the runner on third had to retreat to third base before he threw to first base to get the out. Gregory Stewart scored when Ty Randall was safe at second base on an error. Sam Sterzick retired the next Wolfpack hitter on a grounder to second base to end the inning.
Laingsburg scored one run in the top of the sixth inning to take a 15-5 lead.
Tucker Dunn went in to play third base for Laingsburg.
Emilio Garcia got the first two Saranac batters in the bottom of the sixth inning on flies to right field and left field. Warren Hill drew a walk. Saranac made its final out of the inning on a popup to third base.
As Laingsburg had a 15-5 lead after six full innings, the mercy rule was invoked and the Wolfpack completed a sweep of the doubleheader.
My first thought before I put up the final summary of hits, etc. is that I hope that Lorcan McKibben and Brayden Griffin can heal from the injuries that forced them out of the game. Lorcan McKibben’s injury in particular was probably really serious.
Sam Sterzick had a single, a double and two RBI for Saranac. Grady Proctor and Max Olsen each had a single and one RBI. Brayden Griffin and Tyler Elliott each had one single. Cody Whipple had one RBI.
Emilio Garcia had two singles and two RBI for Laingsburg. Elliott Wilsey and Cam Ballard each had two singles and one RBI. Ty Randall had two singles. Dom Garcia, Jackson Audretsch and Liam Esch each had a single and one RBI. R.J. Garcia had one single. Gregory Stewart had one RBI.