By: Noah Chavez
ROYAL OAK, Mich. – After a 7-3 loss in the opener of a four game homestand at Memorial Park on Thursday, the Royal Oak Leprechauns responded with a 10-6 victory on Friday night against the Richmond Flying Mummies.
In game one, it was a rather quiet night from the Leprechauns offense following a 21-10 win the night before in Rockford. Luke Kosko led the way with a pair of hits and a stolen base, but the rest of the team only combined for an additional two hits in the defeat.
On Friday night, however, it was a much different story for the hitting as runs in four consecutive innings across the late stages aided Royal Oak in their comeback win amidst the rainy conditions.
After the Flying Mummies tallied two runs in the first inning, right-hander Greg Burns settled in and held Richmond’s offense in check. Burns, taking on the bulk of the innings after opener Michael Zielinski faced the first nine hitters, was dominant for the majority of his outing as his fastball overpowered the Mummies all evening.
For the Leprechauns offense, the bats awoke once again with nine hits and seven walks providing constant traffic on the basepaths for Richmond’s pitching staff.
Although the offense did not put any runs across the first few frames, the turning point was the bottom of the fourth inning where Oliver Service swiped home on a double steal with runners at first and third. In the ensuing inning, the one-run deficit turned into a one-run lead for Royal Oak, with Aamir Mitchell and Lucas Mead providing back-to-back RBI singles.
In the bottom of the sixth, it was more congestion on the bases for the Leprechauns, loading up the bases for Tate Deal to work a bases-loaded walk, and Zielinski, who remained in the game as designated hitter after his start, followed up with a sacrifice fly to make it a 5-2 game.
With the game moving into the seventh, the Leprechauns provided the biggest blow to any chances of a Flying Mummies resurgence, as the home side was able to score five runs on just two hits in the inning. Carson Raether and Michael Zielinski both added RBIs with singles while a combination of free passes and wild pitches gave the team another three runs.
Although Richmond was able to grab four runs in the eighth, three of them coming on an Eli Bennett opposite-field home run to left-center, Kellen English recorded the final five outs as Royal Oak earned the win and series split.
As the Leprechauns continue their home stand, the Traverse City Pit Spitters will once again visit The Lucky Corner with two games on Saturday and Sunday. First pitch for the series opener 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
