Mason vs. Standish Sterling – – MHSAA Division 2 Baseball Semifinal – – The Bleacher Denizen – – June 12, 2025 – – by Chuck Krafft
Today, your Bleacher Denizen covered the Escanaba/Richmond softball game and was delighted when it ended in time for him to come to the baseball game to cover the semifinal between the Bulldogs of Mason and the Panthers of Standish-Sterling.
Mason enters this game with a 30-6 record and is rated Number 10 in the state. Some top players include Colton McCaleb, who is hitting .396 with 10 doubles and 40 RBI. On the mound, Mr. McCaleb contributed an 8-1 pitching record with a 0.91 ERA. Ryan Myers is hitting .342 with 30 stolen bases. When he pitches, he has a 4-0 record with a 1.12 ERA. Maddox Armour is hitting .341 with 29 stolen bases. He is also a solid pitcher who has a 4-3 record.
Alex Engel has an 8-0 pitching record with a 1.27 ERA. Joey Schild is hitting .365 with 28 RBI and 18 stolen bases. Travis Davis has a .346 batting average.
Standish-Sterling is 36-5-2 and rated Number 2 in the State. The Panthers also have some fine players.
Ben Briggs is batting .395 and has stole 37 bases. Preston Kann is batting .365 and has 32 RBI. Preston Kann also contributes on the mound where he has an 11-0 record with a 0.36 ERA and 98 strikeouts in just under 58 innings. Sam Briggs is hitting .477 with 12 doubles and 45 RBI. He also pitches and is 9-2 with a 1.36 ERA and 82 strikeouts in just under 57 innings.
Trace Collins is batting .366 with 30 RBI and 17 stolen bases. Brock Bartlett is hitting .363 with 31 RBI and 24 stolen basses. Rylee Blanchard is hitting .351 and Carson Koin is hitting .346 with 31 RBI.
Thanks to the Michigan State High School Association for providing these statistics.
Standish-Sterling won the coin toss and will be the home team. Mason will bat first. Here are the starting lineups.
MASON
Maddox Armour ss
Wyatt Ball cf
Colton McCaleb 1b
Travis Davis 2b
Joey Schild 3b
Ryan Myers p
Carson Chapin lf
Johnathan Bolton dh
Hayden Hendrickson rf
Andrew Stahle will catch, but will not bat.
STANDISH-STERLING
Ben Briggs rf
Trace Collins cf’
Sam Briggs lf
Brock Bartlett 2b
Preston Kann p
Rylee Blanchard 3b
Ty Yorton dh
Carson Koin c
Kasen Wendel ss
Caleb Emans will play first base, but will not bat.
Let’s take a look at the events of this game through the aging eyes of an Ancient Bleacher Denizen who was never able to get off to much of a start in his baseball career. He was starting to show some progress as a hitter, but it ended when the baseball powers that be ruled that he could no longer put metal shavings in the baseball and a magnet in his bat. When balls stopped colliding with your Bleacher Denizen’s bat, his coach stopped playing the Bleacher Denizen.
In the top of the first inning Standish-Sterling pitcher Preston Kann struck out the first two batters and got the third out on a foul popup to first base.
Mason Pitcher Ryan Myers retired the first two Standish-Sterling batters in the bottom of the first inning on a grounder to the pitcher and a popup to the shortstop. Sam Briggs lined a single to left field and stole second base. Brock Bartlett walked. The Panthers made their third out on a fly to right field.
Preston Kann retired the Mason leadoff batter in the top of the second inning on a fly to center field. Joey Schild was safe at first bae on an error and advanced to second base when Ryan Myers singled to right field. Preston Kann struck out the next Bulldog batter. Joey Schild advanced to third base and Ryan Myers to second base on a passed ball. Mason made the final out of the inning on a fly to center field.
Mason PItcher Ryan Myers retired the three Panther hitters in the bottom of the second inning on a groundout to the shortstop, a groundout to second base and a strikeout.
After two innings, the score was tied at 0-0.
Preston Kann retired the three Mason batters in the top of the third inning on a strikeout, a groundout to the shortstop and a fly to right field.
Ryan Myers struck out the leadoff batter for Standish-Sterling in the bottom of the third inning. Ben Briggs was safe on an error. The next Panther batter bounced the ball to Mason Second Baseman Travis Davis, who flipped the ball to Shortstop Maddox Armour, who got the force at second base; Maddox Armour fired the ball to First Baseman Colton McCaleb to complete the double play and end the inning.
Colton McCaleb walked to lead off the top of the fourth inning for Mason. Preston Kann struck out the next Mason hitter. Colton McCaleb was out at second base and Joey Schild safe at first on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop. Preston Kann retired the next Bulldog batter on a grounder to first base for the third out.
Standish-Sterling made its first out of the bottom of the fourth inning on a groundout to third base. Mason First Baseman Colton McCaleb made a great stretch to catch the ball and secure the out. Ryan Myers retired the next two Panther hitters on a groundout to second base and a groundout to third base.
AFter four full innings, this game was still tied at 0-0.
Preston Kann struck out the Bulldog leadoff batter in the top of the fifth inning. Johnathan Bolton singled to left field. Hayden Hendrickson singled to right field. Panther Right Fielder Ben Briggs fired the ball to third base and started a rundown that resulted in both Bulldog runners being thrown out.
Rylee Blanchard walked to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning for Standish-Sterling. Ian Emans came in to pinch run for Rylee Blanchard. Ryan Myers struck out the next Panther hitter. Carson Koin was hit by a pitch and Ian Emans advanced to second base. Kasen Wendel beat out a bunt single to load the bases. Ben Briggs was safe on a fielder’s choice as Mason tried to get the runner out at home, but an error allowed Ian Emans and Carson Koin to score as Kasen Wendel went to third base and Ben Briggs got to second base.
Kasen Wendel scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Trace Collins. Sam Briggs was intentionally walked and stole second base. Brock Bartlett singled to right field to drive Ben Briggs and Sam Briggs home. Brock Bartlett took second base on the throw to the plate. Preston Kann walked. Quinten Leamon entered the game as a courtesy runner for Preston Kann. Rylee Blanchard walked to load the bases. Standish-Sterling made its third out on a fly to right field.
Standish-Sterling scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 5-0 lead.
Preston Kann struck out the Mason leadoff batter in the top of the sixth inning. Wyatt Ball beat out an infield single and stole second base. Colton McCaleb walked. Scot Reinecke came in to pinch run for Colton McCaleb. Wyatt Ball advanced to third base and Scot Reinecke to second base on a passed ball. Wyatt Ball scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Travis Davis. Scot Reinecke held at second base.
Joey Schild beat out an infield single and went to second base on an overthrow. Scot Reinecke scored from second base on the play. Preston Kann retired the next Bulldog batter on a bouncer to the shortstop to end the inning.
Mason scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning to trim the Standish-Sterling lead to 5-2.
Colton McCaleb came in to pitch for Mason and Gerrit Koot went in to play first base.
Colten McCaleb retired the Panther leadoff batter in the bottom of the sixth inning on a grounder to the shortstop. Pinch Hitter Quinten Leamon was out on a bouncer to third base. Ben Briggs singled to center field. Ben Briggs foiled an attempted pickoff and stole second base. Colton McCaleb retired the next hitter on a grounder to the shortstop to end the inning.
Preston Kann retired Mason’s leadoff batter in the top of the seventh inning on a popup to second base. Johnathan Bolton was safe on an error. Hunter Thorne came in to pinch run for Johnathan Bolton and stole second base. Hayden Hendrickson walked. Maddox Armour singled to left field to send Hunter Thorne to third base and Hayden Hendrickson to second base. Maddox Armour was out at second base on a fielder’s choice grounder. Hunter Thorne scored on the play; when there was an over throw, Hayden Hendrickson also scored and Wyatt Ball advanced to second base.
Sam Briggs came in to pitch for Standish-Sterline with two out and the tying run on second base. Preston Kann moved to shortstop. Kasen Wendel went to second base and Brock Bartlett went out to left field.
Sam Briggs retired the next Mason batter on a grounder to shortstop to end the game.
Mason scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning to close the Standish-Sterling lead to 5-4, but it was not enough.
Standish-Sterling won the semifinal game 5-4 and will play in the final game on Saturday.
Wyatt Ball had one single and one RBI for Mason. Maddox Armour, Joey Schild, Ryan Myers, Johnathan Bolton and Hayden Hendrickson each had one single. Travis Davis had one RBI.
Ryan Myers pitched five innings for Mason. He gave up five runs, but only three were earned runs. He scattered three hits and struck out three batters. Colton McCaleb pitched one inning. He gave up no runs and one hit.
Brock Bartlett had a single and two RBI for Standish-Sterling. Ben Briggs had a single and one RBI. Sam Briggs and Kasen Wendel each had a single. Trace Collins had one RBI.
Preston Kann pitched six and two thirds innings for Standish-Sterling. While he gave up four runs, only one run was earned. He allowed six hits and struck out seven batters. Sam Briggs pitched one third of an inning and retired the only batter he faced to save the game.