Irish Find Action Against Neligh And Randolph

KYLE PARDUN slides in for the catch in Legion Baseball last week. Photo courtesy Mike Peterson.

O'Neill Irish were in Neligh for a pair of Elkhorn Valley League games on Tuesday. The Irish teams gave Neligh a batting clinic. The juniors started the night off with Kyle Pardun on the mound pitching four and two thirds innings allowing only one earned run with relief from Tony Castro for the final one and one third innings in a game shorted by the 10 run rule. 

The Irish Junior bats were still hot from the weekend as they knocked sixteen hits and scoring runs in five of the six innings. Perfect at the plate were Shane Willats who went three for three and Brandt Shoemaker who was two for two with both adding two walks. Other notable plate appearances were Kyle Pardun who went three for four, Marcus McNichols  two for three and Jared Wheeler and Shea Lueninghoener were two for four. The Irish defense was also tough as three Neligh runners were gunned down at third base. Eight of the nine Irish players crossed the plate in the 16-2 victory. 

The Irish Senior bats also came loaded for the late game as they pounded out 18 hits while scoring 22 runs in five innings. Luke Loecker had a perfect night going five for five with four singles and a triple. Others having notable nights at the plate were Derek Blumenstock three for four, Calvin Willats two for three  and Connor Peterson and Donnie Taylor were two for four. Kyle Loecker started on the mound and pitched the first two innings. Donnie Taylor came in to finish the pitching duties of a game shorted to five innings due to the 10 run rule. Despite having a rough third inning where Neligh was allowed to score nine runs, seven of those being unearned runs, the Irish did not let up. The Irish bats came alive again and the defense stiffened making the final score 22-10 in five innings. 

Thursday saw Randolph visiting O'Neill for a pair of games. The Irish Juniors took the lead in the bottom of the first scoring the first run but Randolph tied the game in the second and took the lead in the top of the third with three runs. Consecutive hits by Kyle Pardun, Tate Schutt and Shane Willats knotted the game at 3-3 after the third inning. However, other than those three players, the Irish bats went silent for the evening as those three players were seven for nine and the rest of the team did not have a hit while plating a total of five runs. Meanwhile, passed balls and walks led to most of Randolph's eight runs as they were held to only six hits by pitchers Shane Willats, Marcus McNichols and Tony Castro. Randolph topped the Irish Juniors 5-8 in a game shortened to six innings due to time. 

The late game pitted an undermanned Randolph team against the Irish Seniors. Luke Loecker took the mound for the Irish and allowed only two hits over four innings and one unearned run. Meanwhile, the Irish offense took advantage of the Randolph youth scoring fourteen runs in the first two innings, nearly batting around twice in the second inning. Every Irish batter crossed the plate at least once in the second inning. Randolph called the game after batting in the top of the fourth inning leaving the score 14-1. The defensive play of the evening was provided by the visiting Randoph left fielder who made a diving catch of a long foul ball, spoiling Calvin Willats perfect night at the plate to end the third inning. The Irish defense improved making only two errors for the game that resulted in Randolph's only run.