Photo by Sam Thiel Milroy’s Dominic Dolan follows through on a swing during their Region 13C tournament game against Fairmont on Friday. The Irish fell to the Martins 19-11.

MILROY — After struggling to put together runs in their Region 13C series opener against No. 1 Fairmont, the fourth-seeded Milroy Irish amateur team returned home in need of a response. The Irish went toe-to-toe with the Martins, but a big eighth inning by Fairmont helped the Martins earn a 19-11 victory on Friday night at Irish Yard and punch its ticket to the Class C tournament.

Neither team would find scoring in the first couple of frames, with each side not able to capitalize on baserunners early. Fairmont then struck first in the top half of the third, using a hit batter and a pair of singles to take a 1-0 lead.

The Irish would answer right back, though, as Tyler Patterson drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the frame before Moses Dolan reached on an error to put runners on the corners with no outs. Dominic Dolan then connected on an RBI single to tie things up before a pair of walks to Brady Lanoue and Ben Heichel plated a run to make it 2-1. Milroy wasn’t done there, as Derek Riley smacked an RBI single before Jake Plaetz reached on an error to push the Irish lead to 4-1.

That advantage didn’t last long, however, with the Martins capitalizing on a two-out error in the next half-inning before a two-run shot to left-center cut the deficit to 4-3. Fairmont then used another error and a couple of RBI base hits to go back in front at 5-4.

Once again, Milroy had an answer, as Patterson and Moses Dolan drew walks before Dominic Dolan reached on an error to load the bases with no outs. After a popout, Brady Lanoue smacked a single that plated two runs before an RBI single from Riley a couple of batters later put the Irish back up 7-5 after four.

After a scoreless fifth, Fairmont got to within one by starting the sixth with a solo home run to left to make it 7-6. The Martins nearly tied things up with a two-out single to right, but a perfect throw from Patterson to the catcher Lanoue kept Fairmont from getting the run across and ended the inning in the process.

Fairmont continued to fight, though, getting an RBI double in the top of the seventh to tie things at 7-7 before a wild pitch put the Martins up 8-7. Fairmont wasn’t done there, adding two more runs on a double to left-center to put its lead to 10-7.

In search of an answer, the Irish found it when Plaetz led things off in the bottom of the frame with a double before coming around to score on an error. Tyler Peterson then came up with a big two-out RBI single to make it a one-run game again at 10-9 after seven.

But the Martins had a quick response of their own, using a single before a catcher’s interference call and a bunt single loaded the bases with no outs. Fairmont then got a run across on a sacrifice fly to make it 11-9 before a walk and a two-run single pushed the Martins lead to 13-9. After an error made it 14-9, Fairmont continued to cushion its lead, drawing a walk to bring it to 15-9 before a pair of errors added three more runs to cap an eight-run frame by the Martins. Fairmont then added a run in the top of the ninth to bring it to 19-9.

Despite the deficit, the Irish continued to battle until the end, as a single from Dominic Dolan, a walk from Lucas Dolan and an RBI single by Lanoue made it 19-10. Milroy would get another run across on a wild pitch, but couldn’t draw any closer, as Fairmont got a strikeout and a groundout to end the game for the 19-11 final.

Lanoue led the way for the Irish with four hits and three RBI while Peterson and Riley each added two hits and two RBI and Plaetz had two hits and an RBI.

The Irish will await the loser of the Hadley-Luverne series and begin the best-of-three series on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.