Photo by Sam Thiel Milroy’s Zac Cain (44) celebrates with a helmet tap to teammate Anthony Dolan (4) after hitting a solo homer during their game against Cottonwood on Friday. The Irish defeated the Cardinals 8-5.

MILROY — With the end of the regular season rapidly approaching, the Milroy Irish and Cottonwood Cardinals amateur baseball teams looked to gain some key momentum heading into their final games. It was a tight battle to start, but a four-run fourth by the Irish proved to be the difference as Milroy earned an 8-5 victory over the Cardinals on Friday night at Irish Yard.

The visiting Cardinals raced out to an early lead, as Seth Boerboom connected on a single and Jacob Rausch and Chris Berg drew back-to-back walks to load the bases with no outs before Kolin Hanson brought in a pair of runs with a single to give Cottonwood a 2-0 lead.

Milroy would have a quick response, however, with Tyler Peterson and Brady Lanoue reaching on singles before Zac Cain plated a run with a single of his own to make it 2-1 after one. The Irish continued to find scoring in the next frame, this time with Luke Dolan smacking a double before Moses Dolan reached on an error to score a run. A couple of batters later, Peterson lined an RBI double to put the Irish back in front at 3-2.

After an empty at-bat by Cottonwood, the Irish added another run in the bottom of the third, as Cain blasted a shot to right field that hit the videoboard to make it 4-2. The Cardinals wouldn’t go down without a fight, though, with Tyler Imes and Grant Sander getting aboard on consecutive base hits before Rausch drove in a run with an RBI single to cut the deficit to one.

Looking to keep its trend of scoring in every inning going, the Irish got a good start with a single from Moses Dolan before Lanoue smacked an RBI double. Derek Riley then lined a ball to deep center and wound up at third with an RBI triple before back-to-back RBI singles from Anthony Dolan and Peterson pushed Milroy’s advantage to 8-3.

Neither side would find scoring over the next couple of frames, but Cottonwood broke that scoreless streak in the top of the eighth. After a single and an error, the Cardinals brought in a pair of runs off a base hit from Rausch to cut the deficit to three at 8-5. Cottonwood would get a pair of runners aboard in the top of the ninth, but the Irish were able to turn a double play to end the game and secure the win.

Peterson and Cain led the way for Milroy with three hits and two RBI apiece while Lanoue and Anthony Dolan each added two hits and an RBI.

Beau Priegnitz earned the victory on the mound, going five innings while allowing three runs on six hits and struck out seven.

Imes led the way for Cottonwood with three hits while Rausch added two hits and two RBI and Hanson added a hit and two RBI.

Wyatt Schuster took the loss on the mound, going four innings while allowing eight runs on 12 hits and struck out one.

Up next

The Irish will wrap up their regular season on Sunday with a 2 p.m. matchup against Adrian while Cottonwood will face Morris in Granite Falls on Sunday at 2 p.m.