O'Neill Junior/Seniors Season Underway

O'Neill Irish Junior/Senior Legion baseball teams opened their season on the road at Ainsworth on Tuesday, May 24. The Irish Juniors started with Shane Willats on the mound and took a 2-1 lead into the fourth inning until four consecutive errors led to six unearned Ainsworth runs. Donnie Taylor came in to finish the last three and 1/3 innings giving up only one run. The Irish Juniors battled back scoring two runs in the seventh but ended up losing 4-8. They left the bases loaded three different innings needing just one timely hit to break the game open. Both Alex Fuhrer and Donnie Taylor went three for four at the plate. The Irish pitching recorded 10 strikeouts.

The Irish Seniors started their first night off with six runs in the first inning and never looked back, scoring in every inning. They ended the night early, winning 14-3 after four innings due to the eight run rule. Kurtis Mliner pitched the first two innings facing only six batters. Ian Lueinghoener pitched the third and Kyle Eby finished off the fourth inning. The offensive leader was Dustin Ross scoring three runs and stealing three bases. Eight different players crossed the plate for the Irish Seniors. Defensively, Derek Blumenstock made a diving catch in center field preserving the perfect initial two innings and another fine catch in the third robbing an Ainsworth player of another extra base hit.

Thursday, May 26 saw both Legion teams hosting the Crofton Bluejays. The Irish Juniors pitched Donnie Taylor, Luke Loecker and Shane Willats. The Irish spotted the Jays seven runs early due to some errors but held them close for the remainder of the game. Unfortunately, the Irish again left bases loaded twice ,scoring only two runs and losing 2-8.

The Seniors played a lengthy back and forth game with the Bluejays and ended with a 12-19 loss. Jordyn Johnson started on the mound while Ian Lueninghoener, Kyle Eby and Kurtis Mliner also threw. Offensive highlights included Dustin Ross hitting a towering shot over Kros Drive and the team recorded seven stolen bases including a straight steal of home by Jordyn Johnson. The weekend Memorial Day Tournament started with the Irish Juniors playing a very tough Hartington team at noon on Saturday. Pitching was the Juniors Achilles' heal as they gave up 15 and ended up losing 5-13. However, the offense began to show life, pounding out 15 hits including solo home runs by Shane Willats and Angel Rodrequez along with three stolen bases. Unfortunately, the juniors again left the bases loaded in the first inning and totaled 10 stranded runners in the game. The defense also showed significant improvement turning two double plays. Overall the Irish Juniors showed good improvement from the first two games.

The nightcap featured the Irish Juniors matched against an always stout Creighton team. This time it was the Junior Irish who benefited from 8 walks and pounded out eight hits along with seven stolen bases in route to an 11-3 victory in a game shortened to five innings due to the eight run rule. Defensive highlights included a diving catch of a line drive by newcomer Ryan Podany in left field and a relay from left field to tag out a Creighton runner at the plate. Kyle Loecker pitched three solid innings and Donnie Taylor finished the final two innings.

The Seniors started the Memorial Tournament Sunday with O'Neill pitted against Hartington. Kurtis Milner started on the mound, pitching 3 1/3 solid innings. He was relieved by Connor Peterson in the fourth inning. The Irish offense was stymied for the early part of the game but came alive in the final inning, plating nine runs in the top of the seventh inning. Smart base running and patient batting resulted in 13 batters getting five walks and three hits in that inning. Kyle Eby stepped in to retire the final three Hartington batters in the seventh inning to preserve the 11-9 victory.

The final game Sunday pitted the Irish Seniors against a Creighton team who was the state runner-up in 2010 and state champion as juniors in 2009. Despite playing on a very tough evening with constant drizzle and a stiff wind, the game was worth braving the weather. Ian Lueninghoner started on the mound for the Irish who gave up four runs, three unearned in the first inning, but the Irish offense battled back in the bottom of the inning plating their first four hitters to tie the game until the fourth inning when Creighton scored one more unearned run. Jordyn Johnson took over the mound for the final out in the fourth and pitched through the sixth inning in a rain shortened game. Although Creighton won 9-4, it was the first time this season Creighton played a game that was not shortened due to the slaughter rule.

Neligh visited the O'Neill Irish Tuesday, May 31 with both Juniors and Seniors getting victories. The Juniors started the evening with Ryan Podany on the mound pitching three and 2/3 solid innings before Shane Willats finished off the final two and 1/3 innings, allowing only four runs while striking out 7. The Irish bats came alive with 10 hits. Kyle Loecker was a perfect four for four leading the offensive attack resulting in a 9-4 victory. Solid defense along with two runners being thrown out by the catcher helped Kyle Loecker preserve the victory.

The Seniors showed a lot of toughness in the late game falling behind 0-5 in the first two innings before pulling out a 12-10 victory. Josh Hoferer started on the mound but got into some trouble in the third when Kyle Eby came into retire the final two batters while not allowing a baserunner to score. Kurtis Mlinar started the fourth inning and completed the game. The Irish bats were silent the first two innings but came alive in the third and fourth innings getting seven runs. Calvin Willats had a perfect night at the plate going four for four while facing four different Neligh pitchers.

On Wednesday, June 1 the Ainsworth Bulldogs visited the O'Neill Irish. The Irish Juniors bats were quiet all night recording only three hits which resulted in a 1-12 loss. Ainsworth started the game with two runs in the first inning and the Irish responded with one run while leaving the bases loaded. However, in the second inning, Ainsworth broke the game open with seven runs, and the Irish could not come up with an answer.

In the evening game, the Irish Seniors also lost 7-9 in a back and forth game that saw the Irish come back from a 2-3 deficit in the third inning to lead 7-3 in the fifth inning. But like the Juniors, the bats went quiet for the last two inning as the Bulldogs took advantage of a couple of Irish errors to take the lead in the final inning and hold on to beat the Irish. The following night, both Irish teams traveled to Creighton. The Irish Juniors built a 4-0 lead by the third inning on strong pitching by starter Kyle Loecker and timely hits by Ryan Podany, Angel Rodrequez and Alex Fuher. But at that point the bats went quiet and despite good pitching from Shane Willats and Luke Loecker, a couple of untimely errors with a couple of walks in the final inning allowed Creighton to come back for the victory of 5-4 in the bottom of the final inning. Despite the loss, the Juniors played much better than the previous night. The next game for the Juniors will be Tuesday, June 7 with Randolph at home.

The second game of the evening pitted the Irish Seniors against Creighton who had beaten the Irish Seniors earlier in the season. The Irish came ready to play as they plated four runs in the first on Connor Peterson's grand slam home run. The Irish continued to put on the pressure on as they scored one in the third inning, three in the fourth inning and four more runs in the sixth inning while facing five different Creighton pitchers. Jordyn Johnson pitched a complete six inning game as it was shortened by the eight run rule. He allowed only three runs in the third while recording seven strike outs. More importantly, the Irish had no errors on its way to an 11-3 victory over the defending state runner up.

The next game for the Irish Seniors will be Friday, June 10 when both Irish teams travel to Battle Creek.