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AMATEUR BASEBALL: Irish take care of Tracy, 18-0

Photo by Joshua Guetter Milroy’s Cody Mather winds up a pitch during their game against Tracy on Friday. The Irish defeated the Express 18-0.

MILROY – On Friday, the Milroy Irish and Tracy Express clashed in an early season matchup between two amateur baseball teams off to competitive starts. The game, which was played at Irish Yard, had added significance. Milroy organized a “Pack the Park” fundraiser event, where proceeds would go to an irrigation system for the recently-built field. The Irish are planning on co-hosting the 2018 VFW state baseball tournament, and the new system would be a welcome and necessary addition to the already impressive field. Co-hosting the tournament with Marshall is something Irish head coach Bob Dolan is very proud of.

“It’s great for our community, it’s great for baseball in the area,” he said. “So we’re pumped about it.”

As a result of the fundraiser, many fans were able to witness the Irish rout the Express in seven innings by a score of 18-0.

After an impressive season last year which saw them reach the state tournament, Milroy has shown no signs of slowing down, as they entered this game with a 5-1 record. Because of bad weather, the Express had several of their games postponed recently, which may have contributed to their rocky play. It didn’t take long for Milroy to get on the scoreboard. In the bottom of the first inning, the Irish scored 8 runs, thanks to several two-out hits and a handful of fielding errors by the Express. The biggest hit in the inning came off the bat of shortstop Dominic Dolan, who connected on a sharp double to right-center field that scored two runs. Dolan went to third on the throw home, then came all around to score after the catcher overthrew the third baseman. It was the fourth error of the inning for Tracy, and Dolan accounted for the eighth Irish run.

Tracy was not able to dig themselves out of the early hole. The Express struggled to get anything started against Milroy starting pitcher Cody Mather. Mather got the win on the mound after pitching five innings, surrendering only three hits, and striking out six.

“He’s a gamer,” said coach Dolan. “When he’s on the mound, he’s always going to be around the strike zone.”

Clay Ellis and Mason Schnaible each pitched a scoreless inning for the Irish as well.

Milroy was able to break through again in the sixth inning. The Irish worked the count against Tracy pitchers Joe Bretschneider and Shane Erickson. The first five batters reached base via walks, and later on Shane Freiborg, Noah Winkelman, and Brady Lanoue each contributed run scoring hits. By the time the third out was recorded, the Irish had scored nine runs and led 18-0.

Three outs later, the game ended, and the Irish improved to 6-1 on the year, their sixth straight win. Dominic Dolan led the Irish at the plate, going 2 for 3 with a double and three RBIs. Jordan Lanoue, Jeremy Hofflock, Matt Persons, and Anthony Rohlik had Tracy’s four hits. The hot start on the season for the Irish was something to be expected, according to Mather. “We’ve been playing good ball right now, we’re 4-0 in the league, so hopefully we keep it up,” Mather said.

Tracy 000 000 0 – 0 4 5

Milroy 801 009 0 – 18 12 1

Pitching: Milroy (IP-H-R-ER-BB-SO): (Mather 5-3-0-0-0-6); Tracy (Jordan Lanoue 5-7-0-5)

Hitting: Milroy (D. Dolan 2-3, 2B, 3 RBIs); Tracy (Hofflock 1-2).

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