Photo by Jake McNeill Milroy Yankee second baseman David Schmidt lines a ball to left field for the go-ahead run during the 11th inning of an amateur baseball game against the Marshall A’s at Legion Field in Marshall on Sunday.

MARSHALL — Despite a ninth-inning slip-up, the Milroy Yankees outlasted the Marshall A’s on Monday night to pull out a 5-3 win at Legion Field, courtesy of a pair of 11th-inning hits from David Schmidt and Alex Schuh.

“It was just a situation where you’ve seen him [Marshall pitcher Cody Wichmann] three at-bats already and you kind of just knew that curveball was going to come again,” Schmidt said. “It was a matter of him leaving it just a little bit further inside than he did before, but I mean unbelievable win. Hit when guys were on base, we’ve been needing that all year and finally we kind of had the big hits to make it happen.”

The Yankees took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth when the A’s put together some clutch hits. Marshall manager and first baseman Ryan Schwagel led off the inning with a ground-rule double and Connor Neubeck followed up with a home run crushed to straightaway center field to tie the game up at 3-3.

Charlie Jacobson walked and AJ Toulouse and Peyton Grant singled consecutively to load the bases for the A’s with one out. Yet, a strikeout and a fielder’s choice ended the frame with the A’s and Yankees headed for extra innings.

Marshall retired the Yankees in order in the top of the 10th and Milroy didn’t let Marshall advance past first base in the bottom, bringing the game to the 11th. 

Brian Dolan started the 11th strong for Milroy with a leadoff single but Marshall got a ground out and a strikeout to put two away. Still, the Yankees wouldn’t go away. Jacob Hughes walked to advance Dolan to second base and Schmidt smacked a line-drive single down the third baseline to drive in the go-ahead run. Alex Schuh followed up with another RBI single in the next at-bat to give the Yankees a two-run cushion.

“We’ve really been fighting it [the injury bug], man, almost to the point of just praying for a two-out hit. To get a couple of those today was just so big,” Milroy manager Ryan Rohlik said. “Not just because we won… but against two very good pitchers and trying to put the bat on the ball, and more importantly coming up big in big situations, I’m so proud of the guys that were grinding.”

“We always have high expectations for ourselves and sometimes that can put us in the dumps a little bit compared to when we’re hitting well,” Schmidt said. “We needed a bounce-back game and it was just a matter of time before we started hitting the ball. It just happened to be today.”

From there, Milroy pitcher Nathan Deutz slammed the door on the A’s by inducing a pair of pop outs to the infield and finishing things off with a game-ending strikeout. Deutz pitched 3 1/3 innings of relief, allowing two earned runs on four hits and a walk. He also struck out three batters while recording the win.

In addition to leaving the bases loaded in the ninth, Marshall also did the same in the fifth and got just one run out of the bases-loaded situation with one out in the first.

“Our situational hitting wasn’t the greatest. We had a couple times bases loaded and didn’t get any runs, but that’s the way baseball works,” Schwagel said. “Tip the cap to those guys, they hit the ball when they needed to and pitched well enough to win.”

The A’s are going to continue to look to attack their pitches in those bases-loaded situations but just haven’t had the hits fall for them so far this season, Schwagel said, adding that the team still believes that they’ll eventually get the ball to bounce their way.

Marshall native Parker Schmitt started the game on the mound for Milroy, tossing 129 pitches over the first six innings for the Yankees. He struck out three batters on the day while allowing one earned run on eight walks and three hits. He also hit a pair of batters.

“I think if anything, Parker’s maybe a little mad at himself that he threw a lot of pitches early. But that’s also a lot of credit to your opponent,” Rohlik said. “Marshall did such a good job of being patient and fighting pitches off and ended up getting his pitch count up there. But he battled through six despite maybe not having his best stuff… that says a lot about the moxie that he possesses. He’s a man on a mission from last year, which ended early with that injury and accident and whatnot, so it’s been fun to watch him just get after it.”

Mitch Bouwman tossed six shutout innings for Marshall before leaving the game with the A’s holding a slim 1-0 lead. He struck out seven batters while holding Milroy to three hits and three walks.

Marshall scored the day’s first run in the top of the first. Talan Plante was hit by a pitch with one out and a pair of walks to Chase Douglas and Schwagel loaded the bases with two down. Neubeck drew the walk to force in Plante for a 1-0 lead.

Neubeck finished the day with three RBIs for the A’s. He reached safely in four of his six at-bats, including a pair of walks, a hit-by-pitch and a homer. Toulouse was the lone A with multiple hits, singling twice.

For the Yankees, Jake Tauer led the way with a trio of singles while Schuh, Dolan and Schmidt each recorded a pair of hits.

The Yankees had two extra-base hits on the day and they came in quick succession. Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh, Dolan and Jackson Hughes doubled in consecutive bats to score the tying run. After a strikeout put one away and Jacob Hughes walked, Schmidt replaced Jacob Hughes on first by reaching on a fielder’s choice and consecutive singles by Schuh and Tauer drove in Jackson Hughes and Schmidt. The rally gave the Yankees their first lead of the game, 3-1.

Despite allowing three runs in his first inning on the mound, Marshall pitcher Cody Wichmann bounced back to hold Milroy scoreless in each of the next three innings on the mound. Still, he allowed a pair in the 11th to finish with the loss. He recorded a stat line of five earned runs allowed on nine hits and three walks. He also struck out three batters.

Facing a 1-0 deficit in the top of the sixth, Schuh walked and Tauer and Aaron Mathiowetz singled to load the bases with one out for the Yankees. Brock Schultz followed up with a hard-hit line drive down the first baseline that, unfortunately for the Yankees, was hit right at Schwagel, who came up with the inning-ending catch-and-tag double play to keep the lead intact.

“You can easily hang your head in that moment,” Rohlik said of the double play. “To their [the Milroy players’] credit, they stuck with it and grinded. Even when they tied it, they found the grit to come back. I’m just so dang proud of them.”

Schultz tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief for Milroy, walking five batters without allowing a hit. 

After Sunday’s result, both Marshall and Milroy are tied at 9-6 overall and tied for third place in the Corn Belt League at 5-4. The A’s will look to snap their four-game skid when they host Wabasso on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Milroy will look to pick up its third win in four games when it goes on the road to face Granite Falls at the same time. 

“[Granite Falls] is a very young team, but at the same time, they have pitchers that throw strikes, so it’s not like you’re going to be able to work counts,” Rohlik said of the Yankees’ upcoming opponent. “We’ve got to be aggressive and try to attack that because they live off getting up in the count 0-2. All of a sudden, you’re trying to protect any way you can.”

Rohlik said he expects the Yankees to face the Kilowatts’ Bennett Knapper on the mound, who appeared in 14 games for Southwest Minnesota State University this year, and that the Yankees need to come ready to face Granite Falls’ ace.