ESCANABA---"Six" was all the Escanaba Cubs needed in both games on a dreary night in Escanaba, as the boys beat Manitowoc, 6-0, in the Cubs' first game of the Gregg Johnson Memorial Tournament behind a gem from Tyler Skufca on the mound.

The Cubs then went on to post an impressive 6-3 win over Plover, Wis.
 

In the opener, Skufca went all seven innings allowing only two hits and striking out six. Escanaba had seven hits in the game and walked twice at the plate.

Skufca went one-two-three in the top of the first to retire the side and Dave Falish started the game off with a triple to right field in the bottom of the inning.

He later scored on a Nick Vandermissen 4-3 putout to begin the scoring for the Cubs.

The pitcher, Brett Bahrs, singled to begin the top of the 2nd, but Skufca got the next hitter...Kyle Staudt...to ground into a beautiful 6-4-3 double play turned by Hunter LaMarch, Nick Vandermissen and Bailey Lamb.

“Sean (Bissell) was calling fastballs early in the count so I could get ahead, then he wanted me to throw the curveball and changeup,” Skufca said.
 

Sean Bissell with the tag at the plate vs Plover

Then, on the next at-bat, LaMarch made a beautiful putout to his right in the hole between third base and second base and fired across the diamond to retire the right fielder Brent Landon and end the half inning.

Both teams went another inning without scoring a run until the bottom of the third when Lewis Ostrander reached base on an error by the second baseman.
 

Ostrander advanced to second on a wild pitch and David Falish followed with a walk. he later scored from second on an RBI single by Sean Bissell and the Cubs got another run in the inning on a sacrifice fly from Vandermissen.

In the top of the fourth, Manitowoc again had their leadoff hitter on first after a single by the third baseman BJ Anderson but could not score the run.

The next batter, Elliot Ebert, flied out to right and the Cubs had a "strike 'em out throw 'em out" double play when pitcher Brett Bahrs struck out while Anderson tried to steal second base.

Skufca then retired the final nine batters in the last three innings and the Cubs got all the insurance runs they needed in the sixth inning.
 

Nick Vandermissen squeezes home Dave Falish vs Plover

“I haven’t pitched since the (High School) Regional championship, but I felt like I had good control of all four pitches,” Skufca said.

Vandermissen, Lamb, and Punzel all singled to load the bases to start the inning. Skufca followed with a big two RBI single that scored Nick and Bailey. Hunter LaMarch grounded into a 6-3 fielder’s choice that scored Punzel from third.
 

Skufca went all seven innings striking out six Manitowoc batters while walking none. He also had a hit and two RBI at the plate. Dave Falish scored two runs and also hit a triple.

Vandermissen went 1-2 with two RBI.

The losing pitcher for Manitowoc was Bahrs who went six innings striking out seven and walking two. The Cubs had one more game on the day against a good Plover team.

The Cubs defeated the Black Sox 6-3 behind a gutsy pitching performance by Devin Olsen. Plover is known as one of the top teams in the tournament every time they come up and are the defending champions from last year.

The Cubs did not let that stop them as they played their best game of the day.
 

Sean Bissell hit vs Plover

Olsen struggled through the beginning as Plover had the first two batters on first and second to start the game.

“I just focused on hitting my spots right and changing up speeds on my fastball and getting the curveball down and my changeup was actually pretty good today,” Olsen said.
 

Olsen then got Cal Giese to fly out to Falish in center field and then struck out Sterling King and Alex Slowey to get out of the jam.

In the bottom of the inning Escanaba’s first two batters were retired but Vandermissen walked and Bailey Lamb singled to start a two out rally.

The pitcher Nick Cilienthal got out of the jam with no runs scored.

Plover struck first on the scoreboard in the top of the second as Eric Zelhoffer singled, stole second, and scored on an RBI single by TJ Schrank.

The Cubs then answered in the bottom of the inning with some fundamental baseball as Skufca ripped a double to left center, moved to third on a beautiful sacrifice bunt by Jack Valentine, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Devin Olsen.
 

Nick Vandermissen defensive play

Olsen got into another jam in the top of the third as the Black Sox had the bases loaded with one out.

Plover then tried to suicide squeeze with DJ Drohner at the plate and the bunt was missed Bissell made a tremendous block at the plate and was able to retrieve the baseball to tag out the runner coming for home plate and getting out of the inning unscathed.
 

The Cubs took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning as Falish led off the inning with a single, advanced to third on a Bissell single and scored on a Vandermissen 4-6-3 double play.

Olsen then retired six straight Plover hitters in the fourth and fifth innings and Esky tacked on to their lead in the fourth.

“It was nice and cool out and when the rain started falling it felt pretty good, actually” Olsen said.

Valentine singled and advanced to second on a passed ball, then advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Olsen. Valentine came in to score from third on another wild pitch by Cilienthal to make the score 3-1.

Plover answered with a run in the sixth as Drohner singled and advanced on a wild pitch, then the next batter Zelhoffer walked. Nalbach sacrifice bunted them both over to set up a second and third situation with one out.
 

David Falish RBI double

The Cubs then took an out for a run as Drohner scored on a TJ Schrank groundout.

The biggest play of the game came as Vandermissen came in on a slow rolling groundball to second base.

He quickly transitioned from the glove to his throwing hand and made a swift throw to get the runner in time for the third out of the inning.
 

The Cubs then got three huge insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth as Olsen singled
with one out, Ostrander walked to set up a first and second situation.

Falish came through with a clutch RBI double to right center to score Olsen. With runners on second and third base, Bissell hit an RBI single just over the second basemen to score Ostrander.

“The top of the order did their job and especially when there are two 19 year olds at the top of the lineup, they have to,” Cubs Manager Tom Ohman said.

Vandermissen came up clutch again as Ohman put the suicide squeeze sign on and Vanermissen put down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Falish from third and make the score 6-2. Olsen was pulled with one out in the seventh for Lewis Ostrander.
 

Sean Bissell RBI hit

"I tried to convince him (Ohman) not to pull me at first but he said you’re at 125 (pitches) you better stop” Olsen said.

Plover scored one run in the top of the seventh but with runners on first and third and two outs, Valentine showed off his range in the outfield as he came in to make a running catch to his left.

“Fundamentally sound game today,” Ohman said.
 

Bailey Lamb bunt single vs Manitowoc

The winning pitcher was Olsen as he went six and a third innings striking out four and walking three while giving up eight hits. The losing pitcher for Plover was Nick Cilienthal who went five and a third innings, striking out four and walking four while giving up nine hits.

Falish had two hits and scored two runs with one RBI for Esky.

Bissell had three hits and Bailey Lamb had two.

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Story written by Trent Schwalbach.