{"id":16950,"date":"2024-06-01T02:39:13","date_gmt":"2024-06-01T02:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/?p=16950"},"modified":"2024-06-01T02:39:13","modified_gmt":"2024-06-01T02:39:13","slug":"doubleheader-vs-kokomo-a-tale-of-two-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/2024\/06\/01\/doubleheader-vs-kokomo-a-tale-of-two-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Doubleheader vs Kokomo a Tale of Two Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Royal Oak Leprechauns<\/a> split their doubleheader with the Kokomo Jackrabbits<\/a> on Friday, dropping game one, 7-3, and dominating game two, 12-4.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt goes back to the pitchers,\u201d head coach Jonathan Vance said after the second game. \u201cIn the first game, we had double-digit free passes again. A lot of guys on base, a lot of traffic.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the first game, Royal Oak pitchers issued 13 walks. The Jackrabbits only received one in the second game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAny time you\u2019ve got double digit free passes, you\u2019re not going to win that game,\u201d Vance said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, the Leprechauns scored exactly three runs for the third time in the season\u2019s initial five games in the earlier game. The 12 runs in the sixth game of the season marked the third time in the previous four that Royal Oak reached double-digits.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As of Friday night, the streaky Leprechaun offense sports a best collective batting average of .309<\/a>. As of 10:30 p.m. on Friday night, that is the best mark in the Northwoods League.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite this, the team sits at just 2-4 at the conclusion of their initial homestand. Part of that is due to a pitching staff that has struggled initially.<\/span><\/p>\n

Royal Oak\u2019s collective ERA is 6.47, which is fourth-to-last in the league. Room for optimism lies in good initial outings for Gabe Jones<\/a> and Jake Jekielek<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jones started the game, throwing three scoreless innings with just two hits allowed and striking out two.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGabe Jones was really, really good,\u201d Vance said. \u201cHe redshirted this year [at Ball State], so he didn\u2019t get any innings, so he\u2019s trying to get back himself. He\u2019s going to be really good for us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jekielek finished it. He entered with a 12-3 lead, throwing the final three frames and allowing just one unearned run. He allowed two hits and struck out six of the 13 batters he faced.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve said this already, but Jake Jekielek is the best right-handed reliever in the country,\u201d Vance said of the Northwood product. \u201cIt was evident tonight.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Offensively in game two, Royal Oak was fueled by a big day for Eastern Michigan\u2019s Nate Ball<\/a>. He reached base on all five of his plate appearances, hitting three singles, walking twice, alongside three RBIs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first was after he was the fourth straight Leprechaun to be walked to begin the bottom of the first. That marked the first time this year Royal Oak scored first in a game this year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Wayne State\u2019s Tony Hatzigeorgiou<\/a> also had a three-RBI performance in game two. He got his on a sacrifice fly, an RBI groundout, and an RBI single.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hatzigeorgiou is now tied with Evan Bottone<\/a> for the most RBIs (8) with Royal Oak this season. Bottone had two of his own in the second game, both coming on a single in the sixth. That capped a five-run frame and gave Royal Oak a 12-3 lead at the time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The team now gets a day off on Saturday while they travel to play two more games against the Jackrabbits in Kokomo. A road trip after six home games in five days marks a great opportunity for a team to come together.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think any time you\u2019re traveling with guys, you\u2019ve got long bus rides, you\u2019ve got nothing to do but get to know each other,\u201d Vance said. \u201c[Going on the road] is definitely going to help us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Game times at Kokomo are set for 5:05 p.m.<\/a> on Sunday and 7:05 p.m.<\/a> Monday. The Leprechauns\u2019 next time at home will be a quick, one-game stop against the Battle Creek Battle Jacks on June 6<\/a> at 6:35 p.m. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Royal Oak Leprechauns split their doubleheader with the Kokomo Jackrabbits on Friday, dropping game one, 7-3, and dominating game […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":16952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,23,26],"tags":[33,70,71,67,59,66,55,52,68,51,32,29,69],"class_list":["post-16950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-day","category-news","category-team-news","tag-baseball","tag-evan-bottone","tag-gabe-jones","tag-jackrabbits","tag-jake-jekielek","tag-kokomo","tag-kokomo-jackrabbits","tag-leprechauns","tag-nate-ball","tag-nwl","tag-royal-oak","tag-royal-oak-leprechauns","tag-tony-hatzigeorgiou"],"yoast_head":"\nDoubleheader vs Kokomo a Tale of Two Games - 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