By Jacob Cotsonika
After entering the fifth inning with a 2-0 deficit, the Royal Oak Leprechauns scored 17 consecutive runs on the Traverse City Pit Spitters before ultimately winning 17-3 on Saturday night.
The 14-run difference is Royal Oak’s largest-ever margin of victory since joining the Northwoods League, the widest road win in franchise history, and the second-largest margin for the team ever. The Leprechauns’ biggest victory ever was an 18-1 win against the Lake Erie Monarchs on July 14, 2018, back when the franchise was located in the Irish Hills.
Saturday’s 17-run outburst is also the team’s third-most runs in a game ever, the second-largest scoring output since joining the NWL, and the most it has ever had in any road game.
The unusual part about the score is that both Royal Oak and the Pit Spitters both had nine hits apiece. What caused the landslide result is the number of free passes handed out by each team. Leprechaun pitches only issued four walks during the game and the defense only committed one error, which occurred during the ninth inning in a 17-2 game. Traverse City, on the other hand, walked 13 Royal Oak batters, hit six more with pitches, and committed three errors. All nine members of the Royal Oak lineup got a free pass (walk or a HBP) at some point Saturday, seven got at least two. Jack Boike (Adrian) walked twice and got hit by a pitch for three freebies. Max Orozco (Oakland) then one-upped that with three walks and a hit by pitch.
In the end, every single Leprechaun reached home plate at least once.
Only two batters had multi-hit days, though. Tristan Crane (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) went 3-for-5 on his day with a double and an RBI. He wound up scoring three times, as well.
The other man with multiple base knocks was the guy just before him in the order, Ryan Tyranski (Cincinnati). He went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI, two walks, and two runs.
With all that offense, it becomes easy to overlook the day the pitching staff had. Colton Jones (Florida Gulf Coast) allowed two runs over four innings of work as a starter, but worked around a lot of damage, as Traverse City did get seven hits off of him.
Everyone out of the Royal Oak bullpen was great from then on. Luke Coll (Appalachian State) threw two scoreless innings. Then, Grant Essig (Grand Valley State) worked a 1-2-3 seventh and Gavin Moczydlowsky (Michigan State) put a zero up during the eighth. Boike — the Leprechauns’ all-around utility guy — gave up an unearned run in the ninth, but the game was long out of hand before that.
The blowout victory improves Royal Oak to 12-15 on the season, which is still only 2.5 games out of first place. Traverse City drops to 14-12, a tie for first with the 13-11 Kalamazoo Growlers. The Leprechauns have won all three meetings versus the Pit Spitters so far this season.
Now, Royal Oak will look to take down Traverse City again on Sunday. First pitch for that one is set for 5:05 p.m.
