74th Article at the Independent

AMATEUR BASEBALL: Milroy Irish take out Minneota in season opener

CHRIS DRUMMOND cdrummond@marshallindependent.com

MINNEOTA – When they took the field in Minneota, both the Minneota Mudhens and Milroy Irish amateur baseball teams were in search of getting their seasons started in strong fashion. After a back-and-forth start, the Irish were able to put together some quality offense and earned a 13-1 victory in seven innings in a non-league matchup.

After the first two innings went scoreless, the Irish struck first in the third frame by scoring three runs, including a two-run homer from first baseman Brady Lanoue. The Mudhens would keep the game close for six innings only trailing 4-1, however, the Irish would pour it on in the top of the seventh, scoring nine runs and batting around to put the game out of reach for the Mudhens.

Milroy Irish starting catcher Derek Smith had a game-high four hits including a home run in the game. Player/manager Anthony Dolan spoke on his team’s performance in the game.

“You can’t ask for a better start to the year you know,” Anthony Dolan said. “Seeing our new guy Derek Smith get four hits, Lanoue and Ben Heichel continuing their hot streaks, it’s really nice to get out here and play some ball.”

For the Mudhens’ player/manager Tyson Sonnenburg, it was all about playing everyone and getting used to amateur baseball.

“We just wanted to get everyone in the game and get them a feel for it because a lot of guys haven’t played amateur baseball,” Sonnenburg added. “We want to get better at-bats and this was our first time seeing live pitching. We want to fine-tune everything and continue getting better moving forward.”

No final stats were available at press time.

The Mudhens (0-1) will travel to Milroy to face off against the Milroy Yankees next Friday evening at 7:30 p.m., while the Irish (1-0) will host the Worthington Cubs on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.