Milroy 300 000 000 00 = 3-8-3
Windom 110 000 001 01 = 4-9-1
The Windom Pirates rallied from down to their last strike to tie the game, then got a walk-off hit in the 11th inning to claim a 4-3 victory over the Milroy Irish Sunday at Island Park.
The win improved the Pirates to 5-0 for the season.
Milroy raced to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, scoring on a single and a two-run error.
The Pirates battled back, scoring on a dropped fly ball in the bottom of the first, then getting an RBI single from Jake Tauer in the second.
It stayed that way until the bottom of the ninth, when the Pirates rallied with two outs. Alex Fink drew a walk, stole second and took third on a throwing error. Fink then raced home on a wild pitch, tying the game at 3-3.
Extra innings meant the first time the Pirates would experience the new First Nite/Gopher League rule change. During the off-season, the league adopted the Major League Baseball regular-season rule that puts the final batter retired the previous inning on second base to start extra innings.
The Pirates had a chance to end the game in the 10th. The Irish misplayed a sacrifice bunt, putting runners on the corners with no outs. But the Pirates tried to score on a shallow fly ball and had a runner thrown out at the plate, essentially ending the threat.
The Irish were able to bunt their runner over to third to start the top of the 11th, but a strikeout and a flyout ended the threat.
But in the bottom of the 11th, the Pirates got a walk-off double from Chase McDaniel, driving in the game-winning run.
Drew Rothenberger, McDaniel, Fink and Kobe Lovell had two hits each in the win.
Collin Lovell worked five innings of shutout relief to earn the pitching victory, allowing one hit and striking out four.
Next games: Check for updates after each game.
Windom: vs. Heron Lake, June 3
