Okemos vs. Portland – – Diamond Classic Semifinal – – The Bleacher Denizen – – June 2, 2025 – – by Chuck Krafft

Today, your Bleacher Denizen is headed to McLane Stadium at Michigan State University to watch the Diamond Classic Semifinal between the Portland Raiders and the Okemos Wolves.

It is a great, nice sunny day for baseball which is a welcome change from all the rain we’ve had the last two weeks which caused these games to be repeatedly postponed.

Okemos will be the home team and Portland will bat first. Here are the starting lineups.

PORTLAND

Barret Brennan cf

A.J. Weber lf

Evan Thelen ss

Brody Moore c

Hudson Martin 1b

Tyler Smith dh

Gunner Williams 3b

Max Sandborn p

Levi Nobis 2b

Keaton McGregor will play right field, but will not bat.

OKEMOS

Jake Stagg rf

Caleb Wilkinson 2b

James Poletes 3b

Ray Smith dh

Carter Haremski cf

Keagan Noble ss

Jimmy Pignataro p

Gabe Hart c

Sebastian Blair lf

Damon Wu will play first base, but will not bat.

It is now time to review the events of this game through the eyes of an aging Bleacher Denizen who never got very far in his baseball or softball careers. He was making great progress as a base stealer until the baseball powers that be ruled he was no longer allowed to use a jet back to speed his progress along the bases. When the stolen base totals dropped, the Bleacher Denizen’s playing time plummeted.

In the top of the first inning, Okemos Pitcher Jimmy Pignataro retired the three Portland batters on a foul popup to third base, a fly to center field and a fly to left field.

Portland Pitcher Max Sandborn retired the Okemos leadoff batter in the bottom of the first inning when he knocked down a line drive and threw to first base to get the batter out. Okemos made its second out on a fly to center field. James Poletes singled up the middle and stole second base. Portland Left Fielder A.J. Weber ran a long way to flag down a drive by Ray Smith to get the third Okemos out.

brody Moore walked to lead off the top of the second inning for Portland. Trevor Smith went in as a courtesy runner for Brody Moore and stole second base. Jimmy Pignataro retired the next two Raider batters on a strikeout and a fly to left field. Gunner Williams doubled to left field to drive Trevor Smith home. Jimmy Pignataro retired the next hitter on a grounder to the shortstop to end the inning.

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

carter Haremski opened the bottom of the second inning for the Wolves with a single to center field. Portland Catcher Brody Moore fired the ball to second base to catch the runner stealing. Keagan Noble beat out an infield single and stole second base. Jimmy Pignataro walked. Henry Schnelker went in as a courtesy runner for Jimmy Pignataro.

The next Okemos batter was out on a fly to left field. Portland First Baseman Hudson Martin made a great diving stop of a shot by Sebastian Blair and threw to pitcher Max Sandborn, who alertly covered first base, to get the third out and hold the Wolves scoreless for the inning.

Levi Nobis singled to center field to lead off the top of the third inning for the Raiders; he went to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Barret Brennan. Okemos Center Fielder Carter Haremski alertly backed up second base to prevent a pickoff overthrow from allowing the runner to advance. Levi Nobis advanced to third base when A.J. Weber singled to left field. A.J. Weber stole second base.

Evan Thelen walked. Ball four was a wild pitch. Levi Nobis scored, A.J. Weber advanced to third base and Evan Thelen raced all the way to second base on the play.

Keegan Noble came in to pitch for Okemos and Henry Schnelker went in to play shortstop.

Brody Moore blasted a triple that rolled to the center field fence to drive A.J. Weber and Evan Thelen home. Trevor Smith entered the game as a courtesy runner for Brody Moore and scored on an RBI groundout to the pitcher by Hudson Martin. Tyler Smith singled to center field. Keegan Noble retired the next hitter on a fly to right field for the third out.

Portland scored four runs in the top of the third inning to boost its lead to 5-0.

Jake Stagg doubled down the right field line to lead off the bottom of the third inning for Okemos.  Caleb Wilkinson doubled to right-center field to drive James Poletes home.  Caleb Wilkinson went to third base on a groundout to the shortstop by James Poletes. 

  Portland Right Fielder Keaton McGregor made a great diving effort on a drive by Carter Haremski, but it glanced off his glove for a double as Caleb Wilkinson came home.  Keagan Noble walked.  Jimmy Pignataro walked to load the bases.  Gabe Hart hit a ball that barely eluded leaping Portland Shortstop Evan Thelen and fell for a single that drove Carter Haremski and Keegan Noble home.  Jimmy Pignataro advanced to second base. 

Brett Burak entered the game as a courtesy runner for Gabe Hart.  Gunner Williams took over at Pitcher for Portland.  Max Sandborn moved to third base. 

Sebastian Blair walked to load the bases for Okemos with two out.  Jimmy Pignataro advanced to third base and Brett Burak to second.  Jake Stagg walked to force Jimmy Pignataro home with the tying run as Brett Burak advanced to third base and Sebastian Blair to second.  Gunner Williams struck out the next Okemos hitter to end the inning. 

Okemos scored five runs in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game at 5-5. 

Okemos Pitcher Keegan Noble retired the first two Portland hitters in the top of the fourth inning on a grounder to second base and a bouncer to the pitcher.  Barret Brennan was hit by a pitch.  Portland made its third out on a fly to center field. 

James Poletes singled to center field to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning for Okemos and went to second base on a wild pitch.  James Poletes took third base on a sacrifice bunt by Ray Smith.  Portland Left Fielder A.J. Weber made a fantastic running catch in left field for the second Okemos out.  Because he was so close to the infield when he finally caught the ball, the runner had to hold at third base.  Okemos made its third out on a line drive to the shortstop.   

Evan Thelen walked to lead off the top of the fifth inning for Portland.  The next Portland batter grounded to third base where James Poletes fielded the ball, threw to second baseman Caleb Wilkinson, who relayed the ball to First Baseman Damon Wu to complete a double play.   

James Poletes came in to pitch for Okemos.  Keagan Noble went back to shortstop and Henry Schnelker went to third base.  James Poletes retired the next Raider batter on a fly to right field to end the inning. 

Gunner Williams retired the three Wolves who batted in the bottom of the fifth inning on a popup to third base, a bouncer to first base and a bouncer to second base.   

With five full innings in the books, this game remained tied at 5-5. 

Gunner  Williams walked and advanced to second base when Max Sandborn walked.  Everyone was safe when Levi Nobis beat out an infield single.  Gunner Williams advanced to third base and Max Sandborn to second base.  Barret Brennan walked to force Gunner Williams home with the go-ahead run.  Max Sandborn advanced to third base and Levi Nobis to second base.   

Caleb Wilkinson came in to pitch for Okemos.  Henry Schnelker went to second base and James Poletes moved back to third base.   

A.J. Weber tripled to right field to drive Max Sandborn, Levi Nobis and Barret Brennan home.   

For some reason, the umpires took A.J. Weber off third base and called him out for the second Raider out.  Evan Thelen singled to left field.  Caleb Wilkinson got the next batter on a bouncer to third base for the third out. 

Portland scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 9-5 lead.   

Jake Stagg lined a double down the right field line to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning for Okemos.  Jake Stagg went to third base when Caleb Wilkinson was safe at first on an infield single.  James Poletes singled to left field to drive Jake Stagg home.  Caleb Wilkinson advanced to second base.  Caleb Wilkinson took third base and James Poletes second base on a passed ball. 

Ray Smith hit a drive that hit the right field fence on one bounce for a double that drove in Caleb Wilkinson and James Poletes.   

Mason Vallier came in to pitch for Portland.  Gunner Williams moved to third base.   

Mason Vallier struck out the next Okemos hitter.  Keegan Noble was hit by a pitch.  Brett Burak went in as a pinch runner for Ray Smith at second base.  Jimmy Pignataro walked to load the bases as Brett Burak advanced to third base and Keegan Noble to second.   

Max Sandborn came back in to pitch for Portland with the bases loaded and one out.  Max Sandborn retired the next two Wolves on a strikeout and a fly to center field.   

Okemos scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the Portland lead to 9-8. 

Caleb Wilkinson retired the first two Raider batters in the top of the seventh inning on a fly to left field and a strikeout.  Gunner Williams made a bid for extra bases, but Jake Stagg made a great running catch in right field to secure the third Portland out.   

Jake Stagg walked to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning for Portland and took second base on a sacrifice bunt by Caleb Wilkinson.  James Poletes was hit by a pitch.  Max Sandborn picked the runner off second base for the second out.  Okemos made the final out of the game on a fly to center field. 

Portland won this game 9-8 and will advance to tomorrow’s Diamond Classic Final against Grand Ledge.

James Poletes had three singles and one RBI for Okemos. Jake Stagg had two doubles and one RBI. Caleb Wilkinson and Carter Haremski each had a double, a single and one RBI. Ray Smith had a double and two RBI. Gabe Hart had a single and two RBI. Keagan Noble had a single.

A.J. Weber had a triple, a single and two RBI for Portland. Brody Moore had a triple and two RBI. Gunner Williams had a double and one RBI. Levi Noble had two singles. Tyler Smith and Evan Thelen each had one single. Barrett Brennan and Hudson Martin each had one RBI.

Max Sandborn pitched two and two thirds innings at the beginning and one and two thirds innings at the end of the game. He had one bad inning where he gave up five runs, but pitched well the rest of the time. He excelled in the sixth inning when he entered the game with the bases loaded and one out, but was able to keep the runners from scoring while he got the final two outs of the inning and pitched a shutout seventh inning to secure the win for the Raiders.

I also covered the other semifinal game between Williamston and Grand Ledge. Here is the play by play of that game. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2025/06/03/williamston-vs-grand-ledge-diamond-classic-semifinal-the-bleacher-denizen-june-2-2025-by-chuck-krafft/