Braves Shut Down Eskymos Again To Sweep Series

ESCANABA---The Battle of Delta County was certainly that on Monday as the Escanaba Eskymos and Gladstone Braves faced off in baseball for the second time this month.

And the result was pretty much the same as the first meeting earlier this month, when the Braves won, 1-0, as Justin Jurek outdueled Devin Olsen in a tense rivalry battle.

This time, the Braves scored three runs in the third inning and held off the Eskymos, 3-1, to sweep the two-game season series.

Three Gladstone pitchers limited the Eskymos to just one base hit, after Jurek had tossed a no-hitter in the previous match-up.

"It was another great game," Gladstone Manager Don Lauscher said. "I just want to say that Escanaba played a real good game, too."

"They are always a great rival, and Shooby and I, I consider him a good friend. I am just glad that we can do this every year before districts, and it is just great for both of us."

"Defensively, I can't complain," Escanaba Manager Kirk Schwalbach said. "The kids did well. They did what I asked them to do. I just can't put my finger on the hitting. Are the kids pressing at the plate or are trying too hard? Or is their pitching just that good? I mean, they've given up one hit in 14 innings. So, tip your hat to their kids."

Jake Peterson post-game comments

This game was different, because both teams are just a few days away from the start of district tournaments. So, they both used several pitchers, rather than having one boy go the entire game. This game was the same, though, because both teams played well.

For Escanaba, Ben Kleiman got the ball, and threw well in the first two innings, striking out four and allowing just one hit (a bunt single by Jake Peterson).

For Gladstone, Sam Pouliot retired the first nine batters he faced, setting up what could've been a pitcher's duel. But, again, this game was different, with districts coming.

Lauscher had no intention of letting Pouliot do what Jurek did two weeks ago, even though Pouliot did have a no-hitter going.

But Lauscher did let Pouliot, and his son Kurt (pitching coach Lauscher) talk him into letting Pouliot throw the fourth inning.

Pouliot walked two batters, but did not give up a hit in that fourth inning. Lauscher, though, said at that point, enough was enough.

"I was gonna pull him the inning before," Lauscher said. "I thought that if we kept him under 50 pitches, it would have been perfect. But you see what happens when you give that 'one more inning'. Next time, I will just listen to what I say!"

Hunter Garling two-run homer

Earlier, Gladstone took a 3-0 lead with a two-out rally in the third inning. Christian Tackman singled, and then rode home on a long home run by Hunter Garling.

"It felt really good off of the bat," Garling said. "He (Kleiman) threw me a high fastball. Usually, when we play Esky, I always get curveballs, so it was kind of weird to get a fastball. We had a three-and-a-half hour practice yesterday, and so I guess it paid off. We worked on hitting, really hard."

"That looked like something that Kurt (his son) hit back in the day," Lauscher said. "That was out, over the cars. It had to have landed out over the road over there. That was an absolute missile. He got every bit of that. That was something to see, because that is what really got us going. Hunter is just an awesome athlete."

Kirk Schwalbach says that Kleiman threw the pitch that he was told to throw.

"Ben was in command at that point," Schwalbach said. "We called the pitch, Tony (Punzel) and I.

"We know that Hunter kind of struggles with the curveball. But he sits on a fastball as good as anybody. We called the pitch, and Ben threw it, and they don't always throw it where you want them to. I thought that Ben pitched really well.

"But he (Garling) got a hold of it, and he hit it a long way."

That was the first home run to be hit out of Al Ness Field this season.

After Garling's home run, Justin Jurek and Drake Draze each got base hits, and then Ben Schwalbach singled Jurek home to make it 3-0.

Sean Bissell throws out stealing runner

With that 3-0 lead, Lauscher removed Pouliot from the mound, bringing in fellow senior Tackman. The no-hitter was gone when Bailey Lamb hit one over the bag at third base into left field. Tackman walked the next two batters to load the bases, so Lauscher had Peterson come in to deal with the situation.

Peterson did walk in one run, but he got two strike outs and a ground ball to end the threat. Escanaba never threatened again, as Peterson retired the final six men in a row to end the game, earning a save. Pouliot got the pitching win.

"I think that was a big turning point in the game," Coach Schwalbach said. "We had a couple of kids come up, and they struck out.

In that situation, you hope they put the bat on the ball, maybe get a sac fly or something. Then, it's a 3-2 game, and you put a little more pressure on their pitcher. But it didn't happen."

"Rizzo, I swear, he has ice water in his veins," Lauscher said of Peterson. "He comes in and nothing rattles him. He appologized ten times for walking that one guy.

'For the situation he was in, it was absolutely awesome to see what that young man can do."

Peterson says that he wasn't nervous coming into that tough position.

"I was just thinking to try to throw strikes, let them hit the ball, and the guys have got my back," said Peterson, aka "Rizzo". "Unfortunately, I walked one, but whatever, we still got the win. He (Lauscher) just handed me that ball and said, 'lets go'."

Manager Kirk Schwalbach post-game comments

For Escanaba, Kleiman takes the loss. He gave up three runs on six hits in three innings. Olsen tossed three innings, giving up two hits and three walks, but no runs. Tyler Skufca threw the final inning, walking two, but allowing no runs or hits.

For Gladstone, Pouliot threw four innings of no-hit ball, allowing two walks. Tackman did not retire a batter in his appearance, and Peterson threw the final three innings, allowing just that one walk and fanning three batters along the way.

Manager Don Lauscher post-game comments

"It was a great game," Kirk Schwalbach said. "It was a fun game. You always want to come out on the other end, but, hats off to them and their program. They're good kids, well-coached. We have a ton of respect for them.

"I wish them luck at districts."

Gladstone improved to 24-3 on the season, and the Braves will close out the regular season on Tuesday with a game at Green Bay Notre Dame. Escanaba fell to 14-9, and the Eskymos will finish their season at home on Thursday against Marinette.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos from the game, taken by Lori Jurek. And to hear replays and interviews.

Coaches meeting between Escanaba's Kirk Schwalbach (left) and Gladstone's Don Lauscher (right).

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

4/18	4:00 PM	at Reed City High School	12 - 2 (W)	1-0

4/18	6:00 PM	at Reed City High School	9 - 0 (W)	2-0

4/19	11:00 AM	at Kingsley Stags	5 - 1 (W)	3-0

4/19	1:30 PM	at Kingsley Stags	6 - 7 (L)	3-1

4/22	4:30 PM	Negaunee Miners	6 - 4 (W)	4-1

4/23	4:30 PM	Norway Knights	5 - 1 (W)	5-1

4/26	2:00 PM	at Charlevoix Rayders	8 - 4 (W)	6-1

4/26	4:00 PM	at Charlevoix Rayders	9 - 6 (W)	7-1

4/28	4:00 PM	Superior Central Cougars	22 - 4 (W)	8-1

4/28	6:00 PM	Superior Central Cougars	12 - 1 (W)	9-1

5/5	4:00 PM	at Norway Knights	13 - 0 (W)	10-1

5/5	6:00 PM	at Norway Knights	4 - 1 (W)	11-1

5/8	4:30 PM	Escanaba Eskymos	1 - 0 (W)	12-1

5/9	4:30 PM	at Oconto Falls Panthers	6 - 4 (W)	13-1

5/10	11:00 AM	Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario) Black Sox	7 - 3 (W)	14-1

5/14	4:00 PM	at Negaunee Miners	16 - 6 (W)	15-1

5/14	6:00 PM	at Negaunee Miners	4 - 2 (W)	16-1

5/15	5:30 PM	Stephenson Eagles	15 - 5 (W)	17-1

5/17	12:00 PM	at Green Bay Notre Dame	1 - 11 (L)	17-2

5/19	4:00 PM	at Superior Central Cougars	15 - 0 (W)	18-2

5/19	6:30 PM	at Superior Central Cougars	14 - 3 (W)	19-2

5/20	4:00 PM	Houghton Gremlins	11 - 3 (W)	20-2

5/20	6:30 PM	Houghton Gremlins	7 - 3 (W)	21-2

5/22	5:30 PM	at Stephenson Eagles	7 - 4 (W)	22-2

5/23	4:30 PM	Marquette Redmen	2 - 3 (L)	22-3

5/23	7:00 PM	Marquette Redmen	12 - 4 (W)	23-3

5/26	6:00 PM	at Escanaba Eskymos	3 - 1 (W)	24-3

5/27	6:30 PM	at Green Bay Preble	3 - 6 (L)	24-4

5/30	1:00 PM	Negaunee Miners	4 - 2 (W)	25-4

5/30	7:00 PM	Houghton Gremlins	10 - 0 (W)	26-4

6/7	10:00 AM	at Traverse City St. Francis	10 - 2 (W)	27-4

6/7	4:00 PM	Boyne City	5 - 2 (W)	28-4

6/10	12:00 PM	Muskegon Oakridge	3 - 2 (W)	29-4

6/13	2:30 PM	Decatur Raiders	1 - 2 (L)	29-5