Seven Is 'Unlucky' Number For Eskymos Vs Miners

ESCANABA---Seven is usually a lucky number.

But for the Escanaba High School Baseball team on Saturday, seven was a disasterous number as the Eskymos faced the Negaunee Miners in the championship game of the Escanaba Lions Club Invitational at Al Ness Field.

The Miners scored seven runs in the top of the seventh inning to snap a 0-0 tie, and the visitors went on to take the tournament trophy, 7-0.

Earlier in the day, Negaunee edged Marquette, 2-1, while Escanaba mercied Menominee, 10-0. Marquette then beat Menominee, 10-9, in the third place game.

Saturday's championship game was a pitcher's duel between Escanaba's Ben Kleiman and Negaunee's Tyler LaJoie. Kleiman, in fact, retired the first 13 batters that he faced, including five of them on strikes.

The Miners broke the perfect game with an Eric Lori base hit in the top of the fifth inning, but Kleiman managed to get the next two outs on ground balls.

Escanaba had a glorious chance to take the lead in the bottom of that fifth inning.

Corey McInernery double vs Negaunee

Sean Bissell was hit by a pitch, and then he stole second. Jack Valentine drew a walk, and Bissell stole third. With runners at the corners, Lewis Ostrander hit a ground ball to the left side of the infield.

Negaunee third baseman Grant Johnson threw to catcher Chad Larson, who threw to catcher Chad Larson, who tagged Bissell at the plate.

LaJoie still wasn't out of trouble. Tyler Hardwick followed with a sharply-hit grounder to left field, but it was hit so hard that Valentine was held at third base.

That brought up rookie Corey McInerney, who had broken up Lajoie's no-hitter with a double in the third inning. This time, McInerney hit the ball to the worst possible place.

He hit it to the mound. The result was a 1-2-3 double play that ended the inning.

It stayed 0-0 until the seventh inning when the Miners' best player, Tyler Jandron, smacked Kleiman's first pitch for a double to the warning track. Clean-up hitter Hunter Ridley was then asked to bunt, which he did, and Kleiman could not field it properly.

The error, the first of the game for either team, put runners at the corners for the Miners. Eric Lori then hit one to the right side of the infield and was thrown out at first, but the run scored from third base, putting Negaunee in front.

Miners Get Huge Double Play To Keep Game 0-0.

Jay Lori followed with a base hit to load the bases, and Kleiman managed to strike out Erik Wideman for the second out. But #8 hitter Shane Ring got an RBI single, #9 hitter Johnson put down a nice bunt single (remember, there were two outs).

Then LaJoie helped his own cause with a two-run single, and after Larson walked, Jandron came up again and smacked a two-run single to put the icing on the cake.

Negaunee had seven hits in the game, with five of them coming in that seventh inning.

The Eskymos got just four hits off of LaJoie, who did not strike out a single Escanaba batter, but was helped by errorless defense that turned three double plays.

Ostrander, normally an outfielder, played well at second base for Escanaba. He made six put-outs in the game. Kleiman struck out seven batters in his 6 2/3 innings.

ESCANABA 10, MENOMINEE 0---Earlier in the day, the Eskymos played their home opener against the Menominee Red Wave American Legion team.

Escanaba jumped to a big lead in the first two innings and then rode the pitching of Devin Olsen from there to post a 10-0 win.

Olsen allowed just three baserunners in six innings of work. He walked Mason Kewley in the second inning, but he fanned the next two batters.

Olsen's no-hitter was broken in the fourth inning when Matt Hanson's pop fly landed on the foul line near third base.

Menominee's only other hit came off the bat of Caleb Kleiman in the sixth inning.

Escanaba (4-6) scored three runs in the first inning on an RBI single by Tyler Skufca, a sacrafice fly by Jack Valentine, and the third run scored on an error.

Escanaba added two runs in the second inning on a Ben Kleiman double, a walk to Skufca, and a double steal. Two errors on the same play allowed another run to score.

Esky's Devin Olsen Strikes Out Miners' Mike Melchoir

The score stayed 5-0 until the sixth inning when the Eskymos scored five times off of relief pitcher Caleb Kleiman.

Olsen had an RBI double, and freshman C.J. Barron got his first Eskymo hit with a two-run single to right field. The game ended on an error.

Escanaba returns to action on Wednesday with a single game in Marquette. Game time is 5:30. It will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com, starting with the pre-game show at 5:15.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos taken by Mike Dagenais.

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

4/11	5:30 PM	at Appleton North Lightning	3 - 7 (L)	0-1

4/18	4:00 PM	at Bay City Central Wolves	6 - 4 (W)	1-1

4/18	6:00 PM	at Bay City Central Wolves	2 - 8 (L)	1-2

4/19	11:00 AM	at Essexville-Garber Dukes	7 - 16 (L)	1-3

4/19	1:00 PM	at Essexville-Garber Dukes	3 - 14 (L)	1-4

4/25	6:00 PM	at Kenosha Tremper High School	9 - 2 (W)	2-4

4/26	10:00 AM	at Waupun, Wis.	6 - 4 (W)	3-4

4/26	6:30 PM	at Fox Valley Lutheran High School	4 - 7 (L)	3-5

5/3	12:30 PM	Menominee Red Wave Legion	10 - 0 (W)	4-5

5/3	5:00 PM	Negaunee Miners	0 - 7 (L)	4-6

5/7	5:30 PM	at Marquette Redmen	10 - 4 (W)	5-6

5/8	4:30 PM	at Gladstone Braves	0 - 1 (L)	5-7

5/11	1:00 PM	Kingsford Legion Blues	5 - 4 (W)	6-7

5/11	3:15 PM	Kingsford Legion Blues	11 - 2 (W)	7-7

5/13	6:30 PM	at Kingsford Legion Blues	15 - 0 (W)	8-7

5/16	5:00 PM	Alpena Wildcats	7 - 2 (W)	9-7

5/16	7:00 PM	Alpena Wildcats	6 - 2 (W)	10-7

5/17	12:30 PM	Houghton Gremlins	7 - 2 (W)	11-7

5/17	5:00 PM	Negaunee Miners	6 - 7 (L)	11-8

5/22	4:00 PM	at Negaunee Miners	10 - 0 (W)	12-8

5/24	12:00 PM	Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario) Black Sox	9 - 0 (W)	13-8

5/24	2:30 PM	Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario) Black Sox	10 - 3 (W)	14-8

5/26	6:00 PM	Gladstone Braves	1 - 3 (L)	14-9

5/29	4:30 PM	Marinette Marines	5 - 7 (L)	14-10

5/31	12:30 PM	at Cheboygan Chiefs	19 - 3 (W)	15-10

5/31	3:00 PM	at Petoskey Northmen	5 - 3 (W)	16-10

6/7	10:00 AM	Newaygo High School	6 - 1 (W)	17-10

6/7	3:00 PM	Gladwin	1 - 4 (L)	17-11