Jacob Van Dam

Wednesday at Milroy - MILROY 5 HADLEY 2 Irish Yard just does not seem to treat the Buttermakers well. It seems that whenever Hadley makes a crucial defensive error, it comes back to haunt them. Throw in staunch Irish pitching and add in some questionable umpire calls; things do not work in Hadley’s favor. The long road trip home is never any fun. That is what happened on Wednesday night as Milroy scored early and sent the Buttermakers home with their first Gopher League loss, 5-3.

Hadley had trouble with the Milroy pitching as the Irish starter and reliever struck out 14 Buttermakers batters. Jacob Van Dam started the game for Hadley and was not too shabby himself as he recorded 8 Irish strikeouts and walked only one Irish batter.

Milroy would score 3 runs off Van Dam in the 3rd. After a lead-off single, Milroy would put down a sacrifice bunt. Brent Hokeness’ throw to 1st would get by Bryce Ahrendt putting Irish runners at 2nd and 3rd. A single would follow to plate two. Milroy would single again. The throw to 3rd base would be on time to tag the runner sliding in, but the umpire did not agree. A sacrifice fly would follow to put Hadley down 3-0.

Hadley would get a run back in the 4th. Brent Hokeness would lead-off with a triple. A walk would follow. The Irish starter would uncork a wild pitch to allow Hokeness to score. A walk and single would load the bases with Buttermakers. Milroy would work their way out of trouble as they would get a strikeout and another bad umpire call in Milroy’s favor when Joe Larson would be called out at 1st on a slow infield grounder to end the Buttermaker scoring.

Hadley would pull to within 1 after scoring a run in the 7th. A Milroy error would open the door for Hadley on a Tucker Sorenson infield ground out. A single and a sacrifice fly would close the Irish lead to 3-2, but that would be as close as Hadley would get. Milroy would add insurance runs in the bottom of the 7th. After getting a single and Van Dam’s only walk, Milroy would get a double to plate two for a 5-2 lead.

Hadley would go down 1-2-3 in the final two frames to suffer the loss.

Brent Hokeness led Hadley with 3 hits. Abe Paulzine contributed with 2 hits with Tucker Sorenson and Alec Petersen each adding 1 hit. Jacob Van Dam took with the loss. Sam Erickson saw mound duty for Hadley as he finished the game on the mound for Hadley. Final Box Score RHE Hadley 2 7 1 Milroy 5 9 2 Hadley’s record for the season stands at 3-2; 2-1 in in league play. Hadley will travel to Pipestone on Wednesday to take on the A’s and return home to host the Luverne Redbirds on Sunday.