ROYAL OAK, MI – The Leprechauns were unable to dig out of the deep hole they put themselves in against the defending Northwoods League champion Kalamazoo Growlers in a 12-10 result on Monday’s Opening Day contest.

Through three innings, the Growlers had already opened up an 8-0 lead. Seven of those runs came in the first inning off of starting pitcher Ryan Kruse, six being earned. Kalamazoo’s first six batters reached base after the game began with Royal Oak second baseman Max Orozco committing an error.

“It was just tough getting out of the first,” Leprechaun field manager Chris Faust said. “Letting up seven in the first inning, that’s always tough to come from behind in that sense.”

“Ryan Kruse, he struggled today,” Faust also said. “But I know he’s got a lot more in the tank and I’ve seen him play a lot better than that and he’s gonna keep getting better throughout the summer.”

As a result, Faust had to start a de facto bullpen game. For the most part, those thrust into action handled it well. Kalamazoo scored an unearned run in the third with Eastern Michigan product Cal Rutherford in the game and scored runs nine through 12 via a two-out grand slam by Brodey Acres off William Fockler. Fischer Hendershot, another reliever from EMU, threw two scoreless innings and Thomas product Nick Brady did the same thing.

“The way that those guys were able to step up in situations that pretty much none of us were prepared for is pretty impressive,” Faust said. “(I have) a lot of hope and a lot of excitement moving forward with our bullpen.”

As for the offense, the lineup filled with capable bats woke up in the fourth and beyond. In fact, Royal Oak scored at least one run in each of the final six innings of the game. 

“You watch our hitters after the third inning scoring runs every inning,” Faust said about his offense. “There’s a ton of potential on both sides of the ball.”

The problem is that it was all ones and twos until a three-run ninth. That just wasn’t enough to catch up to the seven and four spots the Growlers had been able to put on the board. 

Of the nine batters for the Leprechauns, it was Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Tristan Crane that shined the brightest for the home squad. Crane hit a double off the bases of the left-center wall in the second, drove in Royal Oak’s first run of the summer on a sacrifice fly in the fourth, and hit a two-RBI triple down the right field line during the ninth. 

“He’s a gamer,” Faust said about Crane. “He was playing shortstop out there for us and when he steps in the box, he’s got a plan and he executes it well. It was nice to see him get some barrels early on in the season.”

EMU’s Devan Zirwas also had a two-hit game and received an RBI by drawing a bases-loaded walk during the seventh. Yale’s Owen Turner also had two RBIs via a sacrifice fly in the fourth and an RBI groundout in the ninth. Crane, Jack Dauer (Yale) and Orozco (Oakland) also scored multiple times.

Royal Oak will now try to split this two-game series with the league’s defending champs tomorrow. First pitch will be at 11:05 a.m.