Milroy sweeps Jackson behind solid pitching, clutch hitting
The Milroy Irish are going back to the Class C Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Tournament for the first time since 2021.
The Irish on Friday capped off a 2-0 sweep over Jackson with a 4-3 victory at Jackson in the best-of-three Region 10C playoff series.
Milroy, seeded second in the region, has now won eight of its last nine games after a summer slump that saw the Irish lose five out of six games to end the month of June.
Up next for the Irish is a seeding series against No. 1 Windom, with Game 1 in Windom on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Game 2 will be at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Irish Yard, and Game 3, if necessary, will be back in Windom at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
The winner of the series will get the top seed at state. State tournament sites are Brownton, Gaylord, Glencoe and Hutchinson. Game dates are Aug. 15-17, Aug. 22-24 and Aug. 29Sept. 1.
“We scored all of our runs by playing good baseball,” Irish manager Anthony Dolan said. “What I mean by that is we did the little things like moving guys up via the bunt, had the big hit when we needed it, and put the ball in play rather than striking out.”
The Irish scored first right off the bat when Dominic Dolan doubled and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Tyler Maeyaert. Derek Smith plated Dolan with a fly to center to put the Irish up 1-0.
After Jackson tied it with a run of its own in the bottom of the first, the Irish grabbed a 3-1 lead with two runs in the third.
Anthony Dolan led off with a single to left and moved to second on a sac bunt by Noah Knakmuhs. Tyler Maeyaert pushed Dolan across with a single up the middle and went to third on a bad throw. Smith was intentionally walked, and Tyler Peterson singled to score Maeyaert, who knocked the ball out of the catcher’s glove at home.
Jackson tied the game again in the fifth, but the Irish responded with a run of their own seventh. Dominic Dolan once again got things going with a single. He would then steal second and advance to third as the catchers’ throw went into centerfield. Tyler Maeyaert walked, bringing up Smith, who drove a deep fly ball to right, bringing in Dolan as the Irish took the lead for good.
Trevor Smith earned the gutsy win, throwing 109 pitches in 8-2/3 innings. He allowed six hits, two earned runs and struck out five. Derek Smith got the final out for the save. The game ended when catcher Levi Maeyaert threw out a would-be base stealer at second.
“I brought Derek in and asked him to get our last out of the game,and he threw his first pitch into the dirt and some good heads up baseball by the Jackson runner at second advanced him to third base,” Anthony Dolan said. “The trail runner at first base didn’t get a great jump on the ball and Levi threw a bullet to Dominic at second base, tagging out the runner for the final out. That play is the extreme of risk and reward, as if the throw finds its way into the outfield, it’s a tie ballgame with the winning run standing on third base. But Levi made a great play and sealed the win for us.”
Dominic Dolan had two hits and scored twice, and Tyler Patterson also had two hits — both also doubled. Derek Smith walked three times and had two RBI.
Irish 102 000 100 — 4 8 2 Jackson 101 010 000 — 3 6 1
T. Smith (W), D. Smith (S, 9) and D. Smith and L. Maeyaert. 2B: D. Dolan, Patterson. SAC: T. Maeyaert, Knakmuhs. HBP: T. Smith.
GAME 1 (JULY 30): IRISH 2, JACKSON 1
The Irish opened their playoff series against Jackson with an extra-inning thriller.
Milroy trailed 1-0 until the ninth inning when it tied the game, courtesy of a blast to left center by top hitter Derek Smith.
Then in the 10th, Anthony Dolan drew a full-count walk and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Moses Dolan. Dominic Dolan was issued a free pass, and along with Anthony Dolan, pulled off a double steal. The next hitter, Tyler Maeyaert fell behind 0-2 before hitting a line drive over the third baseman’s head to win the game in walk-off fashion.
“Ryan Rasche, their left hander, threw great,” Anthony Dolan said. “He peppered the zone and kept us off balance at the same time. Down only one run the entire game, we were still in that game, we just needed something to go our way. The theme in the dugout was just ‘stay up.’ We kept saying it, ‘stay up boys.’” Maeyaert struck out eight over five innings, and Craig Lasley earned the win in relief by tossing five shutout innings.
Smith had two hits for the Irish, and Dominic Dolan, Maeyaert, Levi Maeyaert, Tyler Patterson and Moses Dolan each had one hit.
Jackson 001 000 000 0 — 1 6 0 Irish 000 000 001 1 — 2 7 0 T. Maeyaert, Lasley (6, W) and Smith. HR: Smith. SAC: Peterson, M. Dolan. HBP: T. Maeyaert.
