ROYAL OAK, MI – The Kenosha Kingfish held off the Royal Oak Leprechauns 4-3 this afternoon courtesy of some timely hitting and defense. This would be the second straight win for the Kingfish to begin the 2024 regular season.
Similarly to last night’s dominating 13-3 win, it would take a couple of innings for both offenses to generate anything off of the starting pitchers.
DJ Ghiorso would start the scoring for the Fish in the third after driving in John St. Clair with a sacrifice fly. St. Clair began the inning with a lead-off triple on a 2-0 count.
Royal Oak would tie the game in the fourth with an RBI groundout by AJ Kostic, scoring Ryan McKay from third.
The Fish bounced back in the fifth as Noah Jouras ripped a single to left to retake the lead 2-1. Brandon Nigh would walk to load up the bases for Gavin Taylor, who would also walk to bring in Ghiorso for a 3-1 lead. Max Strash would finish his day by striking out Riley Frost for one of his four strikeouts to end the fifth inning.
Moving to the bottom of the sixth, Royal Oak would plate two runs after collecting a few singles by Collin Overholt and Caden Duryea to even the game at three.
Brandon Nigh didn’t waste any time getting the lead back for the Fish by driving in Ghiorso on a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Grant Brooks held down the bullpen to maintain the lead until Simon Linde shut it down in the ninth. The game would be sealed after Brandon Nigh made a diving stop to right to throw out Riley Frost at first.
The Kingfish will travel to Battle Creek, Michigan for a two-game series against the Battle Jacks. The first game will take place Wednesday night at 5.35 pm CT. Follow @KenoshaKingfish on twitter or watch the game on NWL+ for updates.
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The Kenosha Kingfish are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Entering its’ 31st season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 26 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires, and front office staff, over 345 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and two-time World Series Champion Max Scherzer (TEX), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (STL) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (ATL). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2023 World Series Champion, 2021 and 2023 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove and Silver Slugger winner and two-time All-MLB first team shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website at watchnwl.com and on ESPN+. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
