NEW CARLISLE - Having lost 10 of their last 12 games, the New Carlisle Newts (11-13) needed to get right against the Lynn Street Leprechauns (8-16) on Friday night at Migley Field. And that's exactly what they did during the first night series at the ballpark since 2017.
New Carlisle swept Lynn Street, 4-1, 7-0, 8-6, in front of another record-breaking crowd at the Friendly Confines. The 54 fans topped the previous record for an ORWBL game, 51, set last season against Emery's Army.
With the wind howling in, Koby Keck took the mound for the home team. Keck allowed three hits to Austin Traxler, and not much else in a complete game victory.
Despite the unfavorable hitting conditions, the Newts were able to put up four runs, all via solo homers. Garrett Curless lifted one over the fence in the second inning to give the Newts the early lead.
Lynn Street tied it up in the third with a Dylan Kegley sacrifice fly that scored Traxler from second base.
The game remained tied until the bottom of the fifth when Scott Soos led off the inning with a solo blast. Matt Soos matched his brother for back-to-back jacks. Curless added another later in the inning to give the game its final score.
Veteran southpaw Jared Emmons made his second start of the season in game two. The two-time Cy Young winner turned in a much better outing than his previous start against the Magic on June 6. Emmons allowed just two hits in the ballgame.
The Newts offense was silent the first time through the lineup, but New Carlisle got on the board in the third. Noah Shail singled to lead off the inning, and two outs later, Scott Soos brought him home with a two-run dinger.
Shail and Soos provided more offense the following inning with a pair of solo bombs to make it 4-0. Emmons piled on with a three-run homer in the fifth to run it up to 7-0.
After a brief delay to allow the sun to fully set, Curless took the ball for New Carlisle in the series finale under the lights. Traxler welcomed him in the first inning with a line drive over the right field fence for an early 1-0 Leps advantage.
In the bottom half, Aidan Cotter checked in with a two-run homer to flip the score, starting a back and forth affair.
Lynn Street tied the game in the second courtesy of a generous Newts defense, and Traxler put the Leps ahead with a two-run homer in the fourth.
New Carlisle answered in the bottom half, manufacturing runs for the first time all night. After Emmons and Shail singled, Cotter doubled to get things cooking and cut the deficit to one. Keck dropped a single into shallow right field to tie it, and a Touhey ground out gave the Newts a 5-4 lead.
The Leps roared back to regain the lead with a Nate Hansen two-out, two-run homer in the top of the fifth.
Shail tied it back up with a solo blast in the bottom half.
After pitching a clean sixth inning, Curless got on base with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, which set the stage for Shail.
Shail belted a liner deep into the night sky, sending the Newts bench and Migley crowd into a frenzy.
New Carlisle is back at home next Sunday, July 11 against South Bend. First pitch is scheduled for the more traditional 1:20pm ET start time.