MILROY - Tyler Peterson led the Milroy Irish to a 3-0 victory in Gopher League play Sunday against the Luverne Redbirds.
Peterson pitched seven scoreless innings for the Irish allowing six hits with one strikeout and no walks. He also provided two of Milroy's three hits, finishing 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored.
"He had a great game," Irish manager Bob Dolan said. "He didn't have all his stuff today, but he always battled back. Every time guys got on base, he found a way to get a ground ball.
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Photo by Travis Andries
Milroy Irish pitcher Tyler Peterson delivers a fastball against the Luverne Redbirds Sunday at Irish Yard.
"He mixed it up well. Luverne has always been a good hitting team. But Tyler did a great job," Dolan added.
Due to Luverne having a second game Sunday, the contest between the Irish and Redbirds at Irish Yard was reduced to seven innings. Both Peterson and Luverne starter Andrew DeBoer pitched the entire game.
Milroy opened up the scoring in the first inning. Derek Riley reached on a throwing error and advanced to third on Peterson's double. After an Isaac Dolan walk loaded the bases, Anthony Dolan brought in the first Irish run after being hit by a pitch. An error on an Andy Ogdahl ground ball allowed Peterson to score Milroy's second run of the inning. Back-to-back strikeouts ended the Irish threat in the first.
Luverne seemed poised to score with one out and the bases loaded in the top of the second, but were unable to take advantage of three consecutive singles in the inning. Peterson got Luverne shortstop Eric Kor to hit into an inningending double play.
Milroy got creative to score its third run. Peterson led off the sixth inning with a single. After stealing second and advancing to third on a passed ball, Anthony Dolan drove in Peterson with a perfectly-executed suicide squeeze. Dolan finished 1-for-2 with two RBIs as a result of the uncommon but oft-romanticized play.
"We don't do a lot of suicide squeezes ..." Bob Dolan said. "We needed that insurance run. You have to be able to do the things in baseball that are key, and getting that big bunt there was huge for us."
Peterson closed out the Milroy victory in the top of the seventh, fielding a softly-hit ball and tossing it to first for the last out.
The Irish (6-4 Gopher League, 8-10 overall) will be back in action Saturday when they host a pair of games. Milroy plays Granite Falls at 2 p.m., and Heron Lake immediately following.
L000 000 0-0 6 2
MI200 001 X-3 3 1
L- Andrew DeBoer. MI- Tyler Peterson. WP- Peterson. LP- DeBoer. 2B: MI- Peterson.