By Jacob Cotsonika
The Royal Oak Leprechauns stranded the tying run on third base and the winning run on second to end the ballgame in a tough 3-2 loss at the hands of the Traverse City Pit Spitters on Wednesday night.
Royal Oak actually had two chances at it with the bases loaded in the ninth, but Danny Cook (Pepperdine) and Aidan Schuck (Oakland) both struck out swinging. Drew Ferguson (Kellogg CC) got the save for Traverse City.
Earlier in the frame, the Leprechauns actually had runners on the corners and nobody gone. Tristan Crane (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) and Dylan Larkins (Georgetown) each hit singles to start the ninth to get Royal Oak in that spot.
Then, Leprechaun field manager Chris Faust called a safety squeeze with Parker McDaniels (Cincinnati) at the plate. McDaniels’ bunt went right to Ferguson on the mound, who then cut down Crane at the plate for the first out of the inning. Faust stood by the call after the game, citing that he’s seen McDaniels execute plenty of bunts in batting practice before.
Really, it took a heck of an effort by the Leprechauns to even be within one. Traverse City actually scored all three of its runs in the first inning before hanging on the whole way. In the frame, Brett Rozman (Central Arizona) hit an RBI single and Cade Collins (Wofford) had a two-RBI double. In the eight innings following that, Royal Oak was able to work around eight other Pit Spitter base hits without surrendering a run.
The Leprechauns’ runs came one apiece in the first and the eighth, with Ryan Tyranski (Cincinnati) hitting an RBI single in the game’s first frame and Preston Leon (Minnesota) hitting an RBI double in the penultimate inning. Leon could have represented the tying run with one out if he stayed at second, but was thrown out trying to stretch the double into a triple.
With the offense largely in check again, a big reason Royal Oak had a late opportunity in this one was because of a quality start from Leprechaun starting pitcher William Fockler (Alma). After that adversity-filled first inning, Fockler put up five straight scoreless frames afterwards to keep the Leprechauns within reach. It was his first start of the summer, as well.
Royal Oak then got two scoreless innings of work from Ethan LaPointe (Eastern Michigan) and one more harmless frame from Nick Brady (Thomas).
Despite another great day for the pitching staff, which held Traverse City to just three runs in both games of this series, Royal Oak will begin the second half 0-2 and drop to 17-21 on the season. It’s also another close loss for the Leprechauns — seven of the team’s last eight losses have been by two runs or less, and the outlier during the span was a four-run decision. Over that stretch, Royal Oak is 7-8 with a plus-30 run differential.
The Leprechauns will still remain at home, though, as the team will now begin a two-game series against the Kenosha Kingfish. The game on Thursday, July 3 will begin at 6:35 p.m. while the game on Friday, July 4 will start at 4:05 p.m.
