Escanaba Cubs Beat Manitowoc; End Tourney 2-2

MARINETTE, Wis.---The Escanaba Cubs American Legion Baseball team finished the Marinette Firecracker Tournament Sunday with a 5-3 win over Manitowoc, Wis.

The win gave the Cubs a 2-2 record in the three-day event. Escanaba Manager Tom Ohman was pleased with that, given the fact that four starters (Sean Bissell, Hunter LaMarch, Bailey Lamb, Jack Valentine) were not at the tournament for various reasons.

Escanaba scored in the first inning when David Falish was hit by a pitch, went to second on a bunt by Lewis Ostrander, and scored on a single to left by Nick Vandermissen.

Manitowoc tied it in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Kyle Staudt.

The Cubs took a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning as Jake Rodman, Falish, and Ostrander all got hits. Brandon Punzel's RBI ground out to short put Escanaba in front.

Manitowoc re-tied the game in the bottom of the fifth against Cubs reliever Adrew Sedlar. Dylan Urbanek doubled and scored on a ground ball by Brian Tiachac.

Escanaba's big inning was the top of the seventh. Rodman led off with a walk, then Sedlar tried to put down a bunt. His bunt was in the air, but Manitowoc third baseman BJ Andserson dove and missed. The ball landed, and then, Anderson tried to make the play at first base, but he threw wildly. That scored two runs, and Escanaba led, 3-1.

Vandermissen followed with a two-run double, and it was a 5-1 Cubs lead,

In the bottom of the seventh, Manitowoc made things interesting. Brett Bertche got a lead-off walk from Cubs pitcher Sedlar. Isaac Pehtan hit a grounder that was missplayed by Vandermissen at second base. Then, Sedlar hit Dylan Urbanic with an inside fastball.

That brough Olsen in to pitch for the Cubs. Watertown pinch hitter Logan Kettner got an RBI single on a 3-2 pitch to make it 5-3. But Olsen got busy from there, getting a pop up with the bases loaded and no outs against him. Then, a fly out. Still, no runs scored.

With two out, Olsen got into a huge battle with Manitowoc's Elliot Ebers. The two went pitch for pitch, with Ebers following off several offerings. With the 14th pitch in the at-bat, Ebers hit one slowly to Ostrander at third base. The runner was in front of him and temporarily blocked his view. But Ostrander made the play, and the Cubs won.

Also on Sunday, Memominee beat Green Bay, 2-1, to clinch a share of the tournament title. Marquette later beat Manitowoc, 7-4, to earn their piece of he trophy,

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS to see photos from the game, and from the Menominee-Green Bay game. Sheila Olsen photos.