Irish Taking Top Marks In Area 1 Finals

The Irish Senior Legion started the Class C Area 1 play by taking on Ainsworth on Friday. Ainsworth opened the top of the first inning by taking advantage of two Irish errors while scoring four runs. The Irish answered with one run in the bottom of the first but erupted for six more in the second. Errors allowed Ainsworth to tie the game in the top of the fourth but the Irish answered with two more runs. Ainsworth went down quietly in the fifth and sixth partially due to Kyle Loecker laying out for a catch in left field. However, Ainsworth scored one in the seventh before the final out was made by a stellar defensive play by Jordyn Johnson and Alex Fuhrer. The final score had the Irish on top 9-8. Shane Willats started on the mound for the Irish and did not get rattled despite seven Irish errors. Connor Peterson finished the final out of the game after Shane had reached his quota of pitches in the seventh. 

Saturday’s second round game pitted the Irish against Creighton for the sixth time this season. Jordyn Johnson started on the mound for the Irish against Holton Wetzler for Creighton. Jordyn allowed one run while giving up only three hits while striking out twelve and the Irish defense did not commit an error. Meanwhile, the Irish pounded out twelve hits. The Irish scored in the second inning as Kyle Loecker got a single and was brought home by Donnie Taylor’s double. In the Irish half of the third inning Jordyn Johnson started with a single and went to third on Derek Blumenstock’s single. Derek made it to second on the throw to third. Then consecutive squeeze bunts by Connor Peterson and Luke Loecker plated Jordyn and Derek. The Irish added two in the fifth and four in the sixth to make the final 9-1.

Monday night the Irish took on TBS (Taylor-Burwell-Sargent) for a trip to the Area 1 final game. The loser would return to play Creighton Tuesday in an elimination game. Burwell started in the first inning with a two run homer and would add another run in the bottom of the second. The Irish would answer that in the top of the fourth with three runs of their own to knot the score at three apiece. The Irish would get a run in the top of the fifth but TBS plated one in the bottom of the fifth to tie the score once again. After seven innings the score remained tied at four runs each. Donnie Taylor started on the mound for the Irish and was relieved by Luke Loecker who gave way to Jordyn Johnson. Both the Irish and TBS had opportunities in the extra innings but could not convert until the Irish plated a run in the top of the tenth. Despite getting two men on base in the bottom of the tenth, TBS could not get one across the plate and the Irish held on for a very important victory 5-4. The Irish will play in the final on Wednesday while TBS will play Creighton Tuesday for the opportunity to get into the final the next night.