Article Photos

Advertisement

MILROY - In its season-opener against the Tracy Express, the Milroy Yankees put on quite a baseball display.

The Yankees put together 18 runs on nine hits and defeated Express 18-1 in seven innings of amateur baseball Wednesday.

"In the first game, you never know what's going to happen," Milroy manager Ryan Rohlik said. "You try to kick off the rust as fast as you can. I guess we got a little help from some walks and some wild pitches, but I was happy with the way the guys hit later in the game and how they stayed in the game even though we were up early."

Nathan Deutz picked up the win on the mound for Milroy after throwing a no-hit shutout for five innings. Deutz struck out nine batters and didn't walk any.

"Nate set the tone early for us," Ryan Rohlik said. "He pitched well and threw a lot of strikes right away. We had him on a pitch count, but he didn't quite meet it. But we thought it was time to get another guy some work."

In the bottom of the first inning, Milroy's Andy Schmidt scored the first run of the game after earning a walk, stealing second and then advancing to third and home on two wild pitches.

But the Yankees blew the game open in the second, scoring 10 runs on four hits and capitalizing on two Tracy fielding errors. Aaron Schlemmer started the rally after forcing a walk. Dean Rohlik followed with single to right. Sean Castle's bunt forced an error and loaded up the bases.

Schlemmer, who was hit in the side of the helmet as he advanced to third base, slid safely into home on a wild pitch.

After three straight walks, Yankee left-fielder Cory Schmidt pounded an RBI single to keep the rally alive. Batting for the second time in the inning, Rohlik earned two RBI for his single.

"Early in the year, we're just trying to get a feeling of how things will be," said Cory Schmidt. "You try to get back in the swing of things. My strategy at the plate was to get a look at some pitches and stay back on the ball. I wasn't trying to do too much because it's early in the season."

After Tracy's Jared Schwanz replaced Andy Lanoue on the mound, Castle took a walk and Dean Zwach smashed a double to right center, scoring two more runs for the Yankees.

Andy Lanoue took the loss for Tracy after giving up 10 runs, three hits and seven walks in two-plus innings.

"We didn't pitch real well," said Tracy manager Aaron Ziemer. "Obviously, when you give up 18 runs and nine hits that was our big problem. We just didn't throw a lot of strikes. We got down early and we decided to get some of our other guys some work. We have four games this week and we wanted to save some of our arms."

Ziemer gave Deutz a lot of credit for his effort.

"He threw really hard," said Ziemer. "He was on his game. His curveball was working and he throws a lot harder than any of our guys have seen all year. When you face a guy like that early in the season, he's going to shut you down and that's what he did."

In the third, Milroy added three more runs to the scoreboard. Eric Dolan singled to shallow right-center. After Justin Schlemmer forced a walk, Cory Schmidt crushed a three-run homer to left.

"My hitting kind of came together," said Cory Schmidt. "The home run felt good. Right off the bat, I wasn't 100 percent sure if it was going out. But I knew it had a chance. It's a good start to the year."

Dolan welcomed Tracy's Brett Jackson to the mound with an RBI single to left. Justin Schlemmer then received his fourth walk of the game, forcing Zwach across home plate.

After getting shut down in the sixth, the Yankees capped their scoring with two final runs.

Cory Schmidt paced the Yankees at the plate, going 3-for-5 with five RBI and a home run. Dolan was 2-for-2 with three walks. Rohlik went 2-for-5 with two RBI.

The Express got on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh. With two outs away, Austin Skoblik earned a walk from Milroy's Dean Rohlik, who relieved Deutz on the mound.

After an infield error by Rohlik, Lucas Walling also took a walk to load the bases. Troy Kepler drove in the lone Express run after earning an infield hit. Kepler went 2-for-3 in the game, earning both of Tracy's hits.

Next up, Tracy Express travels to Granite Falls, while Milroy hosts Brookings Friday.

Tracy000 000 1 -1 2 3

Milroy1(10)3 202 X -18 9 4

T-Andy Lanoue, Jared Schwanz (2), Brett Jackson (4). M-Nathan Deutz, Dean Rohlik (6). WP-Deutz. LP-Lanoue. HR: M-Cory Schmidt. 2B: M-Dean Zwach.