By Jacob Cotsonika

The Royal Oak Leprechauns were not able to capitalize enough on opportunities against the Kalamazoo Growlers on Monday night, as the team dropped a close one, 6-5.

Over the first six innings of this one, the game saw both teams trade slim leads. Kalamazoo got one across in the first to open the scoring. Royal Oak then scored two in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead, but the Growlers evened it up in the bottom half of the inning and then took a 3-2 lead in the fifth. 

Immediately after, the Leprechauns scored three in the top of the sixth to take a 5-3 lead, but then Kalamazoo got all of those runs back to take a 6-5 lead that held the rest of the way. 

Royal Oak had several chances to plate runs in innings where it did not score. In the first, the Leps had runners on first and second with one out before a double play ended the inning. The Leprechauns then also stranded two men on base in the second and left the bases loaded in the third.

There was also a play in the third inning when Growlers left fielder Will Bowen (Hawaii) robbed Royal Oak’s Tristan Crane (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) of a home run. That play ended up saving two runs for the Growlers and perhaps was the difference in the ballgame. 

Despite the most frustrating out imaginable for a hitter, Crane still ended his day 2-for-3 and three RBIs. 

On the flip side, in that three-run sixth inning for Kalamazoo that put the Leprechauns behind for the rest of the game, all three runs came in with two outs. Brodey Acres (Walsh) had a two-RBI single with the bases loaded in that spot, and then Jay Slater (Duke) was right behind him to hit another run in for what ended up being the main difference. 

Part of the reason the score stayed put after a flurry of runs in the middle portion of the ballgame is simply because both squads went to some of their ace relievers. The Leprechauns used Fischer Hendershot (Eastern Michigan) during the seventh and eighth innings, who promptly retired all six batters he faced, with five being on strikes. His ERA now sits at 0.79 this summer.

Another notable performance for Royal Oak includes a 3-for-5 day for Ryan Tyranski (Cincinnati), who saw his batting average go up to .324 for the summer. 

This loss drops Royal Oak to 12-17 on the year, while Kalamazoo improves to 15-11 and now sits atop the Great Lakes East Division.

The Leprechauns will try and finish their road trip strong, as Royal Oak will face Kalamazoo again on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m., which can be viewed for free on NWL+. Following that, the squad will return home for four consecutive home games, starting Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. against the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters.