Mid Michigan Shamrocks Strike Again and Again (and Again)

By The Dub Report

Shamrocks 11U did some of its best work when an inning looked almost finished. Two outs? That was when the trouble really started.

In a 13-1 win over the Lakeshore Warriors on Sunday, the Shamrocks scored 11 of their 13 runs with two outs, turning the final third of innings into their most dangerous stretch.

The pattern began from the jump. With two down in the first, Braydon D. singled home the first run, Aydan G. doubled in another, Tommy M. followed with an RBI single and Kyle S. added one more. Austin S. then kept the inning rolling with a single to left, his first of two hits in a perfect day at the plate.

By then, Shamrocks 11U had built a 4-0 lead — and shown that getting close to the dugout was not the same thing as getting out of the inning.

The second brought a different kind of pressure. Casen G. singled and later scored, while Chanler P. drove in Owen A. with a fly-ball single. Brody H. doubled to right, Kemp E. brought home another run with a hard ground-ball single, and a passed ball pushed the lead to 8-1.

Then Austin started the Shamrocks’ biggest two-out push of the game.

With two outs in the third, Austin ripped a line-drive double to center, giving him two hits in two at-bats. Instead of ending there, his hit opened the door to a five-run inning.

Austin scored on a passed ball, and the Shamrocks kept coming. Lucas C., Casen, Owen, Jerry A. and Chanler drew five consecutive walks as stolen bases and passed balls kept runners moving. By the time Lakeshore finally escaped, the lead had ballooned to 13-1.

There was no single spot in the order to circle. Brody finished 3-for-3, Austin went 2-for-2 with a double and a run scored, and Braydon also collected two hits. Chanler, Kemp, Aydan, Tommy, Kyle and Casen all joined the hit column as the Shamrocks piled up 13 hits.

The pitching gave all that offense plenty of room. Brody struck out four over two innings while allowing one run, then Kyle worked a scoreless third with another strikeout. Kyle also helped finish the game himself, turning a line drive into a double play with Chanler at third.

For Shamrocks 11U, two outs were not a warning that the inning was ending.

They were practically an invitation to keep going.