Broncos Run Out Of Pitching; Eskymos Win Again

BARK RIVER---For three innings, Escanaba Eskymos Baseball Manager Kirk Schwalbach was a bit worried. His Eskymos, on an eight-game winning streak in the past couple of weeks, had a thin 1-0 lead over the upstart Bark River-Harris Broncos.

But the next two innings would be nightmares for the Broncos, as they ran out of pitching and the Eskymos rolled out of Casino Country with a 15-1 victory.

"I just told the boys, you scared me for four innings," Schwalbach said. "You know, they're improving. I know (BR-H Coach Mark) Heimer's disappointed. They had a couple bad innings and they ran out of arms."

And one of those Bronco arms may be completely done. BR-H senior Drake Draze started the game and made it through the first inning, but his arm gave in and he couldn't continue.

Draze had missed the past few games with an injury, and it got worse during Monday's game.

"Drake blew his arm out," Heim said. "He's probably done for the year now. He had trouble all year. He's been fighting ailments in his elbow and triceps. We thought we'd try it, and it didn't work out. First pitch, I saw him grab his back pocket and I knew he was done."

Heim says his team looks up to Draze as the ace of the pitching staff, and the team plays it best defense when he's on the mound. But it appears that won't happen again.

"That's life," Heim said. "We move on. I talked to the kids out there and I said, 'Somebody's got to step up'."

Escanaba managed one run against Draze in the first inning as C.J. Barron ripped one past a diving Jace Briggs in right field, and he legged it into a triple. Barron scored on a two out, two-strile base hit to left field by Hunter LaMarch.

BR-H sophomore Mason Korhonen came on to pitch after Draze was injured, and he was able to keep the Eskymos off the board in both the second and third inning.

But he started to tire in the fourth inning, and the Eskymos put six runs on the board.

Three of the runs came home on bases loaded walks as Korhonen tired, and Briggs also struggled to throw strikes. Justin Popelka ripped a two-run double to the center field fence during that six-run rally.

The Broncos got their only run in the bottom of the fourth inning on an RBI single by Sam Hall. Hall had base hits in both of his at-bats, while Briggs and catcher Kadin Mustafa also had base hits. But the Broncos hit into a pair of 5-3 double plays turned by Logan Lamb at third, and LaMarch made a diving catch of a Cole Ray bullet.

All of that defense helped Eskymo freshman pitcher Craig Kamin, who tossed all five innings to earn the win...and to keep the rest of the pitching staff fresh. The Eskymos have six games on the schedule between Wednesday and Saturday.

"He needed to get some work and he gthrew well," Schwalbach said. "He threw strikes and he had good command with his curveball. We've got to work on the change-up, but I was really impressed with how Craig pitched today."

"He wanted me to keep the ball low and throw strikes," Kamin said. "I just mostly threw mostly fastballs and change-ps, and curveballs to keep them off-balance."

And what did the players hear from Schwalbach about playing a smaller school?

"He just said don't get too overconfident, get in there and get it done," Kamin said.

With the win, the Eskymos improved to 11-5 on the season. Bark River-Harris fell to 7-4 with the loss. Escanaba plays two games in Marquette on Wednesday, while the Broncos will also be in Marquette on Thursday to play two against the Marquette JV team.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and video highlights taken by Mike Dagenais, and to hear post-game interviews with Kamin, Heim, and Schwalbach.

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

4/11	5:00 PM	at Marinette Marines	1 - 4 (L)	0-1

4/15	6:00 PM	at Mauston, Wis.	7 - 4 (W)	1-1

4/16	10:00 AM	at Adams-Friendship, Wis.	4 - 5 (L)	1-2

4/16	2:00 PM	at LaCrosse Logan, Wis.	3 - 5 (L)	1-3

4/20	5:00 PM	Marquette Redmen	3 - 2 (W)	2-3

4/22	4:00 PM	at Kenosha Tremper High School	2 - 14 (L)	2-4

4/23	11:00 AM	at Westosha Central, Wis.	6 - 8 (L)	2-5

4/23	3:00 PM	at Seymour, Wis.	3 - 2 (W)	3-5

4/27	4:00 PM	Superior Central Cougars	12 - 0 (W)	4-5

4/27	6:30 PM	Superior Central Cougars	12 - 2 (W)	5-5

4/28	5:00 PM	Negaunee Miners	9 - 0 (W)	6-5

4/29	4:00 PM	Bark River-Harris Broncos	7 - 0 (W)	7-5

5/3	5:00 PM	Gladstone Braves	3 - 3 (T)	RAIN

5/6	5:00 PM	at Negaunee Miners	14 - 1 (W)	8-5

5/7	1:00 PM	at Shawano Hawks	12 - 2 (W)	9-5

5/7	3:15 PM	at Shawano Hawks	11 - 1 (W)	10-5

5/9	4:00 PM	at Bark River-Harris Broncos	15 - 1 (W)	11-5

5/11	4:00 PM	at Marquette Redmen	9 - 4 (W)	12-5

5/11	6:15 PM	at Marquette Redmen	8 - 5 (W)	13-5

5/12	4:30 PM	at Gladstone Braves	1 - 2 (L)	13-6

5/13	6:00 PM	Houghton Gremlins	11 - 1 (W)	14-6

5/14	12:30 PM	Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils	9 - 8 (W)	15-6

5/14	7:00 PM	Houghton Gremlins	6 - 2 (W)	16-6

5/18	5:00 PM	Norway Knights	2 - 0 (W)	17-6

5/21	12:30 PM	Kingsford Legion Blues	1 - 2 (L)	17-7

5/21	3:00 PM	Bark River-Harris Broncos	14 - 2 (W)	18-7

5/24	4:00 PM	North Central Jets	- (T)	RAIN

5/24	6:00 PM	North Central Jets	- (T)	RAIN

5/26	6:00 PM	Kingsford Legion Blues	1 - 2 (L)	18-8

5/30	6:30 PM	at Gladstone Braves	3 - 4 (L)	18-9

5/31	5:00 PM	Rudyard Bulldogs	5 - 5 (T)	18-9-1

6/3	12:00 PM	Petoskey Northmen	4 - 3 (W)	19-9-1

6/3	5:00 PM	at Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils	16 - 3 (W)	20-9-1

6/11	12:30 PM	Fremont High School	0 - 2 (L)	20-10-1