After a promising start during the second game of a two-game series against the Wausau Woodchucks, the Royal Oak Leprechauns let the game slip away during the fifth inning in a 14-3 loss on Wednesday night.
Royal Oak initially had the lead during the earlier parts of the game, going up 3-1 headed into the bottom of the fourth. It was after that where things went from bad to worse for the Leprechauns.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Wausau got the lead back with a three-spot in the inning on just one hit, as Royal Oak aided the Woodchuck lineup by committing two errors in the frame.
The real turning point in the game came in the top of the fifth, though. It appeared Chase Van Ameyde (Notre Dame) had quickly tied the game back up with a leadoff home run, but first base umpire Isaac McAllister ruled that Van Ameyde missed first base, and he was ruled out and given an unceremonious U3 putout instead. From that inning on, the Leprechauns’ innings all ended after the minimum three batters each time and the team did not record a hit.
Wausau then capitalized on its momentum by having a massive bottom of the fifth. The first nine batters of the frame all reached and eventually scored on five hits, two walks, a hit by pitch, and an error. In total, the Woodchucks got 13 cracks at it during the inning and led 13-3 by the time the inning was over.
After two solid, scoreless innings of work from Royal Oak’s Brady Baalaer (Saginaw Valley State), Wausau plated its 14th and final run of the game during the eighth inning.
As far as silver linings go, a split series on the road against a Woodchucks program that went 50-19 last year in the regular season is still a decent result. Royal Oak, now 5-4 on the season, took the first game of the series in a down-to-the-wire 9-6 contest on Tuesday night.
Now, the Leprechauns will begin another two-game set against the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters for Thursday and Friday. Both games in that series are set for 7:35 p.m. ET. Thursday’s game will be streamed on ESPN+ and Friday’s contest will be available for free on NWL+.
Royal Oak’s next home game will be on Saturday, June 7 against the Rockford Rivets. Tickets to any Leprechauns home game this season can be purchased HERE.
