ROYAL OAK, Mich. — The Kenosha Kingfish opened the 2026 Great Lakes East Sub-Divisional Series with a 6-4 loss to the Royal Oak Leprechauns on Sunday night at Memorial Park. Kenosha trailed by five runs after five innings, pushed back with four runs across the sixth and seventh, but could not finish the comeback as Royal Oak took Game 1 of the series.

The early part of the night belonged to Royal Oak. After both teams were held off the board through two innings, the Leprechauns struck for two runs in the third, two more in the fourth and another in the fifth to build a 5-0 lead. Royal Oak finished with 11 hits and had six different players drive in a run, with Michael Zielinski, Mason Barth, Connor Larkin, Oliver Service, Kameron Yearsley and Mateo Noto all recording RBIs.

Kenosha’s offense started to break through in the sixth. Hunter Snyder and Jackson Brewer reached to open the inning, and Peter Visconti delivered the big swing with a two-run double to center field, cutting the deficit to 5-2. Visconti finished 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, while Brewer later added a two-run single as part of a 3-for-5 night.

The Kingfish kept coming in the seventh. Brendan Fritch walked, Matthew Cormier singled, Snyder moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt, and Brewer brought both home with a single to center. That made it a one-run game at 5-4, and Kenosha later loaded the bases with a chance to tie or take the lead, but Royal Oak escaped the inning and answered with an insurance run in the bottom half to push the lead back to 6-4.

That late response proved to be the difference. The Kingfish were held hitless over the final two innings by Ethan Reidy, who recorded the final seven outs to earn the save. Reidy worked 2.1 scoreless innings with no hits, no walks and two strikeouts, shutting down Kenosha’s comeback push after the tying run had reached scoring position in the seventh.

Jake Storey took the loss for Kenosha, allowing four runs on seven hits over four innings while striking out four. Kaeb Stebbins followed with one inning out of the bullpen, and Cristian Banuelos gave the Kingfish three innings while allowing just one run over the final stretch.

Kenosha did enough offensively to stay in the game, collecting nine hits and drawing six walks, but the missed chances added up. The Kingfish left 12 runners on base, matching Royal Oak’s total, and could not come up with one final swing after trimming the deficit to one.

The Kingfish now return home needing a win to keep their season alive. Game 2 of the Great Lakes East Sub-Divisional Series is set for Monday, August 10, at Historic Simmons Field, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. CT.

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