Photo by Jake McNeill: Hadley catcher Brent Hokeness, left, tags a leaping Tyler Maeyaert during the Hadley Buttermakers’ First Nite/Gopher League matchup against the Milroy Irish in Hadley on Sunday. Hadley defeated Milroy 3-2 before falling 8-1 to the Luverne Red Birds.

By Jake McNeill

jmcneill@marshall

independent.com

HADLEY — Tucker Sorenson pitched a complete game to help the Hadley Buttermakers to a come-from-behind win over the Milroy Irish in First Nite/Gopher League play. While the Irish bested the Buttermakers 5-4 in 11 innings when the teams last met, it was Hadley that eked out the win this time by a score of 3-2. Still, Luverne bested the Buttermakers 8-1 in the second of the Buttermakers’ two seven-inning games on the day.

“These guys are always tough. We lost to them earlier this year when we were up twice in extras and blew a lead there, so I definitely wanted to win that one today,” Sorenson said. “I always try to go out there and give us our best opportunity to win,and I knew that this had standings at stake, so I wanted to make sure that we got a good ranking so that in the playoffs, we have a better seed.”

“If you could call it a rivalry, it would be with these guys,” Milroy manager Anthony Dolan said. “It’s always a fun battle with these guys. They’re as scrappy as it comes, even down to the tough situations. They’re down two runs, two back-to-back hits to take the lead… They’re just a scrappy team.”

Sorenson limited the Irish to one earned run and improved to 4-1 on the year in the first game, while Tyler Peterson was charged with the loss after relieving Trevor Smith for the Irish.

Josh Van Dam was charged with the loss for Hadley in the second game, giving up two earned runs in 3 2/3 innings.

Alex Peterson led Hadley in the doubleheader with three hits and a pair of RBIs.

Hadley now sits at 11-5 on the season and next goes on the road to take on Pipestone on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

The Irish fall to 8-7 with the loss and return to action on Wednesday when it hosts Luverne at the Irish Yard at 7:30 p.m.

“Just remember this for next time,” Dolan said. “We just didn’t close. Taking a two-to-nothing lead into the bottom of the sixth, we just need to close and do a better job of executing to close out the game.”

Milroy 2

The Buttermakers faced a 2-0 deficit heading into the bottom of the sixth when its bats got active. They took the lead and didn’t have to go to bat in the bottom of the seventh after shutting out the Irish in the top of the frame.

A Jake Olson walk and a Danny Blankenship single brought the tying run to the plate when Milroy took out Trevor Smith for Tyler Peterson. Bryce Ahrendt then dropped down a sacrifice bunt to advance the two runners into scoring position before Alex Peterson lined a two-run single into the outfield to tie up the game at two runs apiece. Peterson went on to score on a Joe Larson sacrifice fly to give Hadley the go-ahead run.

“We just wanted to get guys on and get them over,” Hadley manager Myron Bennett said. “We were getting guys on, but we just didn’t get the hits in. But it was nice to get it there at the end.”

Derek Smith led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, but Sorenson came up with three consecutive strikeouts on a total of 12 pitches to close out the win.

Sorenson pitched all seven innings for Hadley, striking out 10 batters while limiting the Irish to one earned run. He allowed six hits and five walks on the day.

“The longer I’m going, the more loose I feel,” Sorenson said of his late-game success on the hill. “I didn’t warm up as much as I normally do, so later on in the game, my arm felt looser and I felt like my velo [velocity] started to get up a little.”

Trevor Smith started his day with five scoreless innings on the mound for the Irish before being tacked with a pair of earned runs in the sixth. He struck out one batter while allowing five hits and three walks. Tyler Peterson gave up one earned run on two hits over one inning in the loss.

“[Smith] did a phenomenal job of keeping them off balance,” Anthony Dolan said. “They’re a very good-hitting team, and to keep them scoreless into the sixth inning… He did a great job for us in the moment and gave us a shot to win the game.”

Dominic Dolan scored the game’s first run in the top of the third, reaching base on a walk before scoring on a Tyler Maeyaert double into center field that just escaped the diving reach of Austin Irlbeck. 

Milroy doubled its lead in the sixth when Tyler Patterson singled and advanced to second when Anthony Dolan dropped down a sacrifice bunt. The bunt was high, but the officials ruled that Sorenson didn’t make the catch on his dive from the mound. 

“Absolutely,” Sorenson said when asked if he felt he made the catch. “But at the end of the day, I was umpiring earlier this week, so I know that it’s hard to try to see that. It is what it is, but I definitely thought I caught it.”

Lucas Dolan walked to load the bases for Milroy with no outs, but Sorenson came up with a strikeout to put one away. Irlbeck followed up with a spectacular diving catch in center field on a hard-hit ball from Dominic Dolan, but the hit was deep enough to score a run for the Irish and make it a 2-0 game before a fly out ended the rally.

“Austin made a couple of nice catches, just missed the one before that, but it was good defense on our part,” Bennett said. “It seemed like we were hitting the ball well, it just seemed like it was right at their guys until finally, we got a couple that fell for us and that was all it took.”

Milroy also put runners on first and second base in the top of the fifth when Tyler Maeyaert singled and Tyler Peterson walked with two outs. Andrew Wallen then lined a single into left field, but Larson threw the ball on a rope to Brent Hokeness behind the plate. Maeyaert, trying to score from second, attempted to hurdle the tag but Hokeness made the tag to keep the Buttermakers within a run.

A Blankenship single and Ahrendt getting hit by a pitch put two runners on for Hadley in the bottom of the second and Irlbeck walked to load the bases with one out. Yet, Smith fielded a hard ground ball up the middle and threw it to Dominic Dolan at second, who then gunned it to Anthony Dolan at first to escape the jam with a 1-6-3 double play.

Maeyaert and Wallen each had two hits for Milroy, including a double and an RBI for Maeyaert, while Blankenship and Irlbeck each singled twice for Hadley. Irlbeck also drew a walk for the Buttermakers.

Luverne 8, Hadley 1

Despite gritting out a tough win in the first game of the day, Luverne’s offensive firepower was too much for Hadley to overcome in the second game, which they lost 8-1.

The game was scoreless for the first three innings before Luverne put up three runs in the top of the fourth and four runs in the fifth to take a 7-0 lead.

Hokeness doubled in Larson in the bottom of the fifth to get Hadley on the scoreboard but Luverne answered with a run of its own in the sixth to keep its lead intact and kept Hadley from scoring in the sixth and seventh.

Van Dam gave up two earned runs and one unearned run over 3 2/3 innings on the mound, falling to 1-2 on the season. Van Dam struck out five batters while allowing five hits and three walks.

Ahrendt gave up three earned and two unearned runs on six hits over 1 2/3 frames. Owen Gillette and Logan Miller pitched a combined 1 2/3 shutout innings, with Gillette allowing a hit and a walk while Miller retired each of the two batters he faced.