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Another War: Indians Top Cubs At U.P. Finals, 3-2
 MARQUETTE---The last time the Escanaba Cubs and Gladstone Indians played an American Legion Baseball game, it went 14 innings. The Indians pulled out a win that night, after a four-hour game. Well, on Thursday, the two Delta County rivals met at the U.P. Zone Championships in Marquette.  Both teams scored two runs in the first inning, and then the Indians scored a run in the fifth inning to post a 3-2 win. It turned out that Escanaba had just one hit in the game off od Indians pitcher Sam Pouliot. But the game still went down to the wire in the final inning as Escanaba rallied. Escanaba took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a couple of Gladstone errors. But in the bottom of the inning, Justin Jurek singled, and scored on a double by Hunter Garling. Then after Hayden Hardwick was hit by a pitch, Jake Pearson hit a double to tie the game. From there, Pouliot retired ten straight battersm and Escanaba's Devin Olsen matched him pitch for pitch.  Hardwick's sacrafice fly put the Indians in front, 3-2. But the Cubs had a rally in them in the seventh inning. Bailey Lamb was hit by a pitch, and was bunted to second by Hunter LaMarch. Sean Bissell drew a walk, and then Olsen walked to load the bases. That brought up David Falish. Falish hit one to Pearson at short, and the force play at second base ended the game. Olsen pitched the whole way for Escanaba, giving up nine hits but just the two runs. Pouliot allowed just one hit...a two-out single to Tyler Skufca in the sixth inning. This tournament has a bizarre format. The six U.P. teams are broken down into two pools with three teams each. But nobody plays anybody in their own pool. So, it is possible that three teams in one pool could go 3-0 and three teams in the other pool could go 0-3. The top two teams in each pool advance to the U.P. Zone semifinals, so it's possible that an 0-3 team could make the semifinals and a 3-0 team could be left out of the Final Four. The top three U.P. teams make the state tournament. Escanaba and Gladstone both play twice on Friday. Thursday's Zone Five American Legion Scores Gladstone 3, Escanaba 2 Menominee 5, Hancock 2 Marquette 11, Ishpeming 1 Marquette 16, Hancock 1  |
