Lenawee County, MI – The first ever game in the Lenawee Virtual Diamond League (LVDL) between the visiting Blissfield Royals and Clinton Redskins was a classic pitchers duel between the Royal’s Eric Schmidt and the Redskin’s Kim Phillip. The virtual game took place at Cave Stadium on Tuesday, May 19th.
The game was scoreless through 6 innings when Blissfield’s Mike Noel hit a lead-off double in the seventh, and scoring on ball put in play by Gary Sullivan, which was miss-played by the Royals defense.
Blissfield brought in their closer, Superintendent Scott Riley, to shut the door on the Redskins… but Clinton had a different idea. A lead-off walk to Ron Shaffner and a single by Jeff Delezenne set up the right fielder Nito Ramos to deliver the game winner… a walk-off double in the right-center field gap.
96.5 The Cave’s Jeff Bowman and John Roberts were on the call for the 2-1 thriller.
Phillip pitched six innings and gave up one run. Joe Gillies came in the game in the top of the seventh, and picked up the win for Clinton.
Schmidt threw six innings and gave up one run for the Royals. Riley was tagged with the loss after pitching 1/3 innings and giving up two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
What is the LVDL?
With the absence of high school Spring sports in Michigan, many people have turned to the virtual world. The staff at 96.5fm, The Cave has created the Lenawee Virtual Diamond League (LVDL) featuring local high schools. Each game is seven innings long, plus extras if needed.
There is a 48 game regular season schedule, with each of the 12 teams playing 4 games each. There will be four games aired weekly on 96.5 The Cave: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays at 6pm… and Saturday afternoons at 2pm through the week of August 3rd. After the 12 week season, there will be playoffs to determine a champion.
Rosters include teachers, staff, administration, and others to represent Lenawee County High Schools on the diamond.
There are three divisions in the Lenawee Virtual Diamond League:
Division 1
Addison Panthers
Adrian Maples
Tecumseh Indians
Lenawee Christian Cougars
Division 2
Blissfield Royals
Clinton Redskins
Hudson Tigers
Onsted Wildcats
Division 3
Britton-Deerfield Patriots
Madison Trojans
Morenci Bulldogs
Sand Creek Aggies