Jacob Long Leads O'Neill Irish In First Round Win

​The O’Neill Pinnacle Bank Irish Seniors won their first game in the Elkhorn Valley League tournament on Thursday night with a 10-2 five-inning win over Plainview.  

With this win, the Irish improved to 18-3 on the season and will host Creighton on Friday night in a semi-final game. The other semi-final will take place between Hartington and Neligh.

Eddie Rodriguez got the start and the win on the mound as he went 2 1/3 innings before giving way to Cole Gaughenbaugh who threw a great 2 1/3 innings. Alex Thramer came on to record the final out picking off an attempted base stealer. The Irish gave up one run in the 1st inning but responded with five first inning runs to take control of this one. The Irish would plate two more in the 3rd and three in the 4th. 

Jacob Long led the offense on the night as he went 3-3 with three RBI’s. Other hits came from Appleby, Krysl, and DeLaO.

"The Irish defense was solid as they committed no errors on the night and had nice catches in the outfield from Tye Hilker, Jacob Long, and Dennis Herrera," Coach Greg Appleby said.

On Friday night at 7 p.m., the Irish will host Creighton at “The Fred” in O'Neill with the winner earning a spot in the championship on Sunday.