By: Noah Chavez
ROYAL OAK, Mich. – After a pair of wins against Kenosha at home, the Royal Oak Leprechauns extended their winning streak to three games with a 10-7 victory over the Traverse City Pit Spitters on Friday night.
It was a relatively slow start for both offenses as the first two innings passed with no runs being scored, but as Royal Oak came to the plate in the bottom of the third, things quickly changed. After the Leprechauns loaded the bases to begin the inning, third baseman Tristan Crane drove in the initial runs of the game with a single to left field.
After Crane, first baseman Oliver Service wasted no time driving in two runs of his own, swinging at the second pitch of his at-bat and lining a triple into left-center field. One batter later, Luke Kosko continued his solid offensive stretch of games, collecting his team-leading fifth RBI of the season.
As the third inning continued, Kosko would later come in to score on a wild pitch, and then Patrick Ilitch drove in an additional two runs on a single to cap off the eight-run frame.
Royal Oak would then tack on a run in both the fifth and sixth innings, bringing the score up to 10-0. The first of those two runs was brought home by second baseman Nolan Alvord, who was excellent all night long, tallying four hits and a stolen base in his five plate appearances.
On the pitching side of things, Leprechauns starter Blake Ilitch was dominant, not allowing a hit in his five scoreless innings of work. Ilitch, a local product out of Brother Rice High School, flashed a plus fastball with two different breaking balls that kept Traverse City off balance all night. Relievers Tyler Young and Nick Stempnik also tossed hitless frames as Royal Oak carried a no-hitter through seven innings.
Although the Pit Spitters would break both the no-hitter bid and shutout with a loud seven-run seventh inning, the Leprechauns held on in the end, with the 10-7 final score putting Royal Oak above .500 for the first time this season. Kellen English, a six foot, ten inch freshman got his first save of the summer with a scoreless ninth, making that his third scoreless appearance.
With just one game left on this opening week six-game homestand, the Leprechauns will host the Pit Spitters on Saturday night before hitting the road for the first time this season. First pitch for Saturday’s game at Memorial Park is set for 6:35 p.m. ET.
Tickets can be purchased on the team’s website or at the gate. Fans can also follow the team across all social platforms to stay up to date.
