Milroy rallies to beat Pipestone, crushes Fox Lake to take weekend doubleheader
The Milroy Irish secured the No. 2 seed in the Class C playoffs with a 6-5 come-from-behind win over Pipestone on Sunday, then put the cherry on top of their day by breezing over Fox Lake, 10-0.
Plagued by the lack of clutch hits for most of the second half of the season, the Irish had no such problems in Sunday’s sweep.
“It was really, really fun to see these guys hit the ball again,” Milroy manager Anthony Dolan said. “We need both these games.”
The day didn’t start out well for the Irish, who fell behind 3-0 against Pipestone after one-half inning in the first game.
That lead was short-lived, however, as Milroy countered with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Dominic Dolan led off with a base hit and stole second, and with one out, Derek Smith and Tyler Peterson both singled before an Andrew Wallen double.
The A’s regained a 4-3 lead in the third, but the Irish fought back again. Smith singled to lead off the inning and stole second, and Peterson was hit by a pitch. Wallen then singled and Anthony Dolan hit a sac fly to score Smith. Peterson later scored on a base hit by Levi Maeyaert to put Milroy up 5-4.
The Irish added to their lead in the fourth when Dominic Dolan singled and would come around to score to make it 6-4. A triple and double in the sixth pulled the A’s to within 6-5, but relief pitchers Craig Lasley and Derek Smith kept the A’s from getting any closer by combining to strike out the last five batters.
“We got down 3-0, and this team fought right back with three runs,” Anthony Dolan said. “That resolve … it’s a whole different game if we don’t score those three and we’re still in that hole. Getting those runs back was huge.”
Connor Lanoue started for the Irish and overcame the nightmarish first inning to earn the win.
“He gave up some runs early but settled down and did what he needed to do to get the win for us,” Anthony Dolan said. “He’s young, and he’s going to be a stud for us in the future.” In the nightcap, the Irish took a 2-0 lead into the fourth inning, where they busted the game open. Trevor Smith walked to open the bottom of the fourth and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Moses Dolan. Then the fun really started for the Irish, as back-to-back-to-back triples by Dominic Dolan, Tyler Maeyaert and Derek Smith made it 5-0.
“Maybe the competition wasn’t as good, but we still produced in those big situations,” Anthony Dolan said. “Having those big hits was really fun to see — maybe our guys loosened up a little bit.”
Pinch runner Connor Lanoue then scored on a ground out, and Eric Wallen singled in a run, and Wallen scored on a double off the left field wall by Tyler Alcorn to make it 7-0.
The Irish pushed across two more runs in the fifth on another Derek Smith triple that scored pinch runner Anthony Dolan and Maeyaert. The game ended in the sixth when Wallen was hit by a pitch, moved to third when Tyler Alcorn singled and Noah Knakmuhs was hit by a pitch and scored on a sac fly by Trevor Smith.
Trevor Smith struck out eight to get the complete game victory. He scattered eight hits, and Fox Lake failed to advance a runner past second base.
“He looked good,” Anthony Dolan said. “When he gets that slider going, he’s tough to hit. He hadn’t thrown in a week-and-a-half, but he looked really good. He’s going to be our (number) two behind Tyler Maeyaert, so we’ve got a good 1-2 punch with those two.”
Derek Smith had four hits and drove in three runs, and Dominic Dolan, Wallen, Alcorn and Maeyaert each had two. Trevor Smith got on base three times and scored every time he reached.
The Irish (11-8, 10-4 Gopher League) are back at home again Sunday for a 2 p.m. game against Granite Falls on Kids’ Day. They will have a bye next week because there are only nine teams in the Gopher League and will open postseason play at home on Wednesday, July 23.
Game 1 Pipestone 301 001 0 — 5 10 1 Milroy 302 100 x — 6 8 1 Lanoue (W), Lasley (6), D. Smith (7) and L. Maeyaert). 2B: Wallen. SACF: A. Dolan. HBP: Peterson Game 2 Fox Lake 000 000 — 0 8 2 Irish 110 521 — 10 13 0 T. Smith (W) and Derek Smith. 2B:
D. Dolan, Alcorn. 3B: D. Dolan, D. Smith, T. Maeyaert. SACB: M. Dolan. SACF: D. Dolan, T. Smith HBP: Knakmuhs.
JULY 9: WORTHINGTON 2, IRISH 0 The Irish continued struggling to connect on that big hit in a 2-0 loss to Worthington last Wednesday.
While Milroy outhit the Cubs 6-2, it left nine runners stranded, wasting another strong performance by pitcher Tyler Maeyaert.
Maeyaert allowed just the two hits — a single and a double — and struck out 11 over five innings of work. Craig Lasley worked the final three innings.
“We left nine runners on base and could not push across the big hit to score runs,” Irish manager Anthony Dolan said.
Derek Smith and Andrew Wallen both had two hits for the Irish.
Irish 000 000 000 — 0 6 1 Worthington 002 000 00x — 2 2 3
Maeyaert, Lasley (6) and Smith.
2B: Smith. SAC: Patterson. HBP: Maeyaert.
