SIMULATED ST. LOUIS — Tucked deep within Cincinnati Reds country, a few readers may have had their breakfasts spoiled just by reading the dateline location of Tuesday’s simulated high school baseball game between the Battlin’ Beavers of Beavercreek and the Xenia Buccaneers, but a deal’s a deal.
We said we’d play at the location of whomever voted for us to play somewhere. And so Patty Donovan of Brentwood, Missouri voted for the game to be played at Busch Stadium, home of the Reds’ rival the St. Louis Cardinals.
Maybe the locale had something to do with it? Not sure.
Whatever it was, it felt as if Cards ace Bob Gibson was battling Detroit’s Denny McLain in a World Series pitching duel.
The Beavercreek top of the eighth inning was the only frame where either team could string back-to-back hits together. Those hits, by Nolan Frisk and Grant Reeve moved Beaver teammate Mike Oppenheimer around the bases from first to score the game’s only run in a 1-0 Beavercreek win.
Beavers pitcher Charlie Schafer limited Xenia to five hits in the complete-game win. Schafer struck out 14 Buccaneer batters, while walking just two.
To his credit, Xenia’s Blayne Dudley had scattered six Beavers hits in his eight innings of work, with two K’s and two walks.
Xenia (1-3) tried taking advantage of four Beavercreek errors, but every time the Bucs would get a base runner on board, the Beavers (3-0) seemed to find a way to come up with a big play.
‘Creek’s Jared Shanks snagged a potential home run shot at the left centerfield wall to rob Xenia’s Dylan Hall of a home run, that would’ve scored both himself and Devin Hall, in the fourth inning.
The Bucs had a legitimate chance of getting on the scoreboard in the seventh as well, but with the bases loaded, Schafer struck out the next batter to end the threat.
There were no multiple hits for any of the victorious Beavercreek batters. Frisk and Reeves were the only Beaver batters to reach base twice, with their back-to-back singles in the eighth and both drew walks earlier in the game.
Xenia’s Aydan Evans was the game’s only player to get multiple hits, with two. He singled to right in the seventh, and singled to center in the eighth.
Where do YOU wanna play? Send in your suggestions for a baseball stadium location for this week’s next game: Legacy Christian versus Carroll. If we can find the ball park’s dimensions, we’ll play the game there.
