Photo by Sam Thiel Milroy’s Derek Riley connects on a two-run homer during their game against Ruthton on Wednesday. The Irish defeated the Royals 12-2 in eight innings.

MILROY — After starting their season red-hot, the Milroy Irish amateur baseball team have gone a little cold as of late, dropping their last two contests. Meanwhile, the Ruthton Royals looked to notch win No. 1 of the season after some tough losses to begin the year.

Thanks to a solid start, the Irish returned home in style, breaking out the bats to the tune of 17 hits en route to a 12-2 victory over the Royals in eight innings Wednesday night at Irish Yard.

The Irish had a chance to get on the board right away, as Dominic Dolan connected on a double, Tyler Peterson was hit by a pitch and Derek Riley drew a walk to load the bases but Ruthton starter Jared Baartman escaped out of the jam by getting a lineout to end the frame.

Milroy didn’t waste much time after that to find scoring, taking advantage of several extra-base hits in the second. Anthony Dolan and Jack Bly smacked consecutive doubles to plate the game’s first run before Moses and Dominic Dolan reached aboard. A couple of batters later, Brady Lanoue drove in two more runs with a double of his own before Ben Heichel had an RBI double to make it 4-0. On the ensuing at-bat, Riley decided a double wasn’t enough, as he blasted a two-run homer to left to extend the Irish lead to 6-0 after two.

Neither team would find scoring over the next couple of innings, but the Irish picked right back up where they left off in the second, as Bly and Moses and Dominic Dolan all reached on errors to load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fifth before Peterson was hit by a pitch to bring in a run. Lanoue then followed that up with a two-run single to give Milroy a 9-0 lead.

The Royals wouldn’t go down without a fight, though, with Dain LaRock connecting on a one-out double in the ensuing trip to the plate before Colin O’Rourke brought in Ruthton’s first run of the night with an RBI single. After Brent Wiering got aboard with a single, Eric Wiering cut the deficit to 9-2 with an RBI double.

But that would be the closest the Royals got, as the Irish got an RBI double from Anthony Dolan before adding a run on an error and a fielder’s choice to bring it to the 12-2 final in eight innings.

O’Rourke led the way for the Royals with a pair of hits and an RBI while LaRock and Brent and Eric Wiering each added a hit, with Eric also collecting an RBI.

Baartman took the loss on the mound, going seven innings while allowing nine runs on 15 hits and striking out five.

Lanoue led the way for the Irish with a trio of hits and five RBI while Anthony Dolan and Bly each had three hits and an RBI. Dominic Dolan, Jake Plaetz and Moses Dolan each had two hits while Riley had a home run and two RBI.

Beau Priegnitz earned the victory on the mound, going six innings while allowing two runs on five hits and striking out one.

Up next

The Irish will face Windom Area on Friday at 7:30 p.m. while Ruthton will face Adrian on Saturday at 2 p.m.