Published On: June 6th, 2025

By Jacob Cotsonika

Dramatics were afoot at Witter Field during the first-ever meeting between the Royal Oak Leprechauns and the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters on Thursday night. After the Leprechauns had entered the inning with a four-run lead, Wisconsin Rapids had trimmed it in half on its last chance; mostly by working walks. 

Fischer Hendershot (Eastern Michigan) had just been tasked with getting the final out of the ballgame, but he walked the first batter he saw to plate what was the second run of that inning. With the tying run in scoring position at second and the winning run for the home squad on first, Hendershot stayed cool and collected. He struck out Wisconsin Rapids’ Matthew Pinal with a great pitch that caught the lower rung of the zone to end the ballgame. It is Hendershot’s second save of the still-young season.

Royal Oak had been placed in the position to hold on due to another strong outing from the team’s offense. The Leprechauns scored their nine runs on just eight hits, but the team made those hits count and did a fantastic job working the count. Royal Oak ended up drawing 10 walks on the day along with a hit by pitch. It also helped that the squad swiped five bases on the day, as well. 

The one player that really made his plate appearances count was Grand Valley State product Nolan Alvord. The Fenton, Michigan native had the first-ever six-RBI game in Royal Oak Leprechauns history after hitting a sacrifice fly in the fourth, a bases-clearing double during the fifth, and a two-RBI single in the seventh. He also drew a walk on his first go-around in the second inning, for good measure. 

In fact, a very good chunk of the team’s offensive production came from the bottom of the order. Royal Oak’s 7-8-9 hitters — Max Orozco, Alvord, and Dylan Larkins — combined for five hits, three walks, and all nine of the team’s RBIs. Orozco had two via a bases-loaded walk during the fifth and an RBI single in the seventh. Larkins had an RBI single in the fourth. 

Once again, the Leprechauns also had pretty solid starting pitching, as well. Starter Cal Rutherford (Eastern Michigan) threw the game’s first five innings and only allowed two runs. Rutherford began his game by retiring all nine batters consecutively in the first three innings, but the Rafters timed him up a bit better during their second time through the order and plated one run apiece during the fourth and fifth innings. 

Royal Oak will now go for the short, two-game series sweep against Wisconsin Rapids on Friday night. The game will have real stakes for the team, who has now improved to 6-4 on the season. The second game of this series will determine if the Leprechauns will accomplish a winning record or not during this five-game, all-Wisconsin road trip, since Royal Oak has gone 2-2 over the first four games. Wisconsin Rapids’ loss to the Leprechauns dropped its overall record to 4-7. 

Friday’s game is set to begin at 7:35 p.m. ET or 6:35 p.m. CT. The game can be viewed for free on NWL+.

Following that, Royal Oak will return home for two games against the Rockford Rivets on Saturday and Sunday.