06-27-13

The Atkinson Seniors visited on Wednesday and provided one of the most exciting games of the season. Atkinson started with five runs in the first and added two more in the second to build a commanding 2-7 lead. The Irish Seniors battled back taking the lead 8-7 in the bottom of the fourth. Atkinson plated the tying run in the top of the seventh taking the game into extra innings. Kyle Loecker started on the mound and after getting through an error filled first inning settled down to pitch a solid performance. Tony Castro came in relief in the top of the eighth and retired Atkinson for the next two innings. In the bottom of the ninth Kyle Loecker got a one out single, stole second and third. Then he scored the winning run with an overthrow to third ending the longest game of the season for the Irish.

The next night both Irish teams traveled to Wayne. The Juniors started the evening by spotting Wayne three runs in the first inning before tightening the defense and shutting them out for the remainder of the game. Meanwhile, the offense picked up a run in the third and scored three in the top of the sixth to take a 4-3 lead. Austin Hilker started on the mound with Tony Castro coming in to pitch the final two innings. This game also proved to be exciting as Wayne loaded the bases in both the sixth and seventh innings with no outs before being retired by the Irish. 

The Senior Irish had used most of their game the prior night against Atkinson as they found the Wayne Seniors to be a very solid team. Wayne plated a run in the first and never looked back scoring a 0-12 victory over the Irish as the O'Neill bats could only muster two hits over the five inning game. 

Monday brought Palmer-Wolback-Greeley to town for a pair of games. The Irish Juniors started with Angel Castro on the mound. He pitched a masterful game only allowing two unearned runs over the first five innings. His brother Tony finished the final two innings keeping the Irish in the game as he once again held the opposition scoreless for two innings. The Irish never were able to find their bats as the PWG pitcher threw a no hitter, allowing only three Irish runners to reach base. The result was a 0-2 loss for the Irish.

The PWG Seniors brought an impressive 13-4 record to town to play the Irish Seniors. The Irish started the night strong as they plated the first two runs as Kyle Loecker and Marcus McNichols led off with singles. Shea Lueinghoener sacrificed them to scoring position and Ryan Podony knocked them in with a long single to the wall in left field. Ryan started the third inning with a single and moved to third with one out when Tony Castro hit a sharp grounder to second to score Ryan with what turned out to be the winning run. 

Kyle Loecker started on the mound and threw six very strong innings allowing only two runs while scattering six hits. Luke Loecker came in the seventh to retire the last three PWG batters in the seventh. The final was an Irish victory 3-2. The Irish traveled to Abion for a pair of games Wednesday and then Randolph comes to O'Neill on Friday.