Irish pitcher stymies Mudhens

Cody Mather is the son of former Lyon County Sheriff Mark Mather.

Friday night the younger Mather inflicted his own brand of justice when he fanned 13 Mudhens in seven innings to ensure a 9-1 Milroy Irish win over Minneota.

The Irish, leading the Gopher League with a 14-0 record, took control of the game early, kept adding to their lead and inflicted the fourth loss of the year on the Mudhens (12-4).

While the non-league loss took a toll on the Mudhens, it also set them up for Sunday’s 2 p.m. showdown with the Chokio Coyotes in Land O’Ducks League play.

“This isn’t what we’re worried about. What counts now is the league game on Sunday,” said assistant coach and third baseman  Austin Buysse.

Minneota’s struggle this year has been fighting off the injury bug that has been biting their pitching staff. Plagued with arm soreness, Zach Nuy struggled through five innings. Reliever Jamison Hunt was pitching well in relief when he suddenly felt pain in the side of his pitching arm. “I don’t know how bad it is. He felt pain so we took him out,” said Manager Tyson Sonnenburg.

Also shelved due to arm soreness all year, Jake Leighton came in from right field in short relief of Hunt. But he too left shortly for Bryce Gorder, who has been struggling with his control.

Gorder was the bright spot in the whole pitching fiasco. He pitching an inning, had his control back, gave up a hit and fanned a batter.

Minneota played without first baseman-pitcher Danny Hennen, who is likely to pitch Sunday against Chokio. Second baseman-pitcher Beau Buysse was also missing so he wasn’t available in relief.

Leighton and Sonnenburg each had two hits — totally four of the seven the Mudhens would get off Mather and his reliever, Tyler Alcorn.

Meanwhile, led by shortstop/leadoff hitter Dominic Dolan, the Irish took a 5-0 lead, then put the game away in the sixth when the Mudhens committed two straight errors. Dolan set the tone for the game when he doubled to lead off the first inning. Jake Plaetz contributed a 3-5 night with a double and two runs batted in. And, Tyler Peterson contributed a pair of singles.

MUDHENS (AB-R-H-RBI) Austin DeVlaeminck, c 5 0 1 0; Jake Leighton, rf-p 3 1 2 0; Tyson Sonnenburg cf 4 0 2 0; Austin Buysse, 3b 4 0 1 0; Preston Nuy ss 2 0 0 1; Alex Pohlen, lf 3 0 0 0; Jesse Drager, 2b 4 0 1 0; Peyton Nuy, 1b 3 0 0 0; Jaymes Moon, ph 1 0 0 0; Noah Scott, dh-rf 2 0 0 0; Zach Nuy, p  0 0 0 0; Bryce Gorder, p 0 0 0 0; Jamison Hunt, p 0 0 0 0; Drew Fadness, ph 1 0 0 0; Aaron Sanow, ph 0 0 0 0. Totals 32 1 7 1.

MILROY IRISH (AB-R-H-RBI) Dominic Dolan, ss 3 2 1 1; Tyler Peterson, 1b 5 0 2 0; Brady Lanoue, dh 4 0 0 0; Cody Mather, p 0 0 0 0; Tyler Alcorn, p 1 0 0 0; Kenny Morris, cr 01 0 0; Jake Plaetz, 3b 5 1 3 2; Derek Riley, lf 4 1 0 0; Tyler Patterson, c 4 1 2 0; Luke Dolan, c 2 0 1 0; Jake Byrne, 2 3 2 1 0; Moses Dolan, rf 3 1 0 1. Totals 34 9 10 4.

Score by Innings:

Mudhens                000 000 010 — 1 7  3

Irish                        110 123 10x — 9 10 0

E-Mudhens, A. Buysse 2, Nuy. LOB-Mudhens 8; Irish 8. SB-Mudhens: Leighton. SAC-Mudhens: Preston Nuy; Irish: Dominic Dolan. DP-Irish 6-3 (9). 2B-Irish: Dominic Dolan, Plaetz.

Pitching            IP    R    ER    H    BB    K

Mudhens

Zach Nuy (L)      5      8     2      6     1      6

Hunt                   1.2   1     1      2     1      2

Leighton            .1     0     0      1     2      1

Gorder               1      0     0      1     0      1

Irish

Mather    (W)     7      0     0      4     1      13

Alcorn                2      1     1      3     1      2

HP-Dominic Dolan, Moses Dolan (by Zach Nuy); Pohlen (by Mather). WP-Z. Nuy 5; Hunt 2; Mather 1. BALK-Z. Nuy. PB-A. DeVlaeminck.