Braves Top Eskymos In Extra-Inning Pitcher's Duel

GLADSTONE---Elliot Danhoff and Justin Popelka hooked up in a dramatic pitcher's duel Thursday night as the Escanaba Eskymos and Gladstone Braves did battle. In the end, Danhoff and the Braves came through with a 2-1 win in eight innings.

It had all the hallmarks of a typical Escanaba-Gladstone game. A big crowd. Gladstone's Parent's Night. Two good pitchers. Two teams full of players giving it all. The fact that the game ended on a throwing error was perhaps the only downer in all of it.

Hunter Botruff singled to start the eighth inning, stole second, went to third on a ball in the dirt, and then scored when the throw on a Jack Stephenson grounder was wild from Eskymo third baseman Logan Lamb.

It ended Escanaba's 11-game winning streak.

"When you play enough games, that's going to happen to everybody that plays, especially when you play varsity baseball," Escanaba Coach Kirk Schwalbach said. "Logan feels bad about it. I feel bad for him because I know he's competitive. He's been playing great for us at third base. The ball just slipped out of his hand. But I told Logan, we didn't lose the game on that. The game was lost in the other 21 outs."

It may have been poetic justice, or the Baseball Gods' way of evening things out, that it was Stephenson who got the lucky break at the end. That's because earlier in the game, in the fifth inning, Stephenson appeared to score the go-ahead run when the ball got away from Eskymo catcher C.J. Barron. Barron scrambled to get the ball, and flipped it to Popelka covering the plate. Stephenson was called out to end that inning.

"You can call it karma or whatever," Schwalbach said. "But that play at the plate, I thought their kid was safe. He made a bad call. It's karma. They deserved to win anyway."

"But I think Timbers (Popelka) deserved better. He pitched a great game."

"Jack looked to be in there and he said he was in there," Gladstone Assistant Coach Kurt Lauscher said. "I think everybody saw the same thing. We had to fight past it to come back to get the win. They were upset about it, but missed calls are part of the game."

This game was about much more than just one error and one missed call. Danhoff and Popelka kept battling each other, almost pitch for pitch. Both kids gave up six base hits. Both kids gave up one earned run. And they did it with a big crowd watching it all.

Escanaba scored a run in the first inning when Parker LaMarch got an infield base hit and went to second on a single by Barron. Barron was later forced out at second on a Hunter LaMarch ground ball. With two out, Parker LaMarch scored when Popelka swung and missed at a 3-2 curveball, but the ball got away from catcher Braeden Lamberg.

"Braeden is a tough catcher back there, and that's a tough one for anyone," Lauscher said. "A curveball, 58 feet. That's a tough one to block. It skips the other way on you. It caught him on th wrist and it got past him, but he's OK."

The game stayed 1-0 into the middle innings, and the Braves, who were shut out in all three of their previous games, were still unable to score until the fourth inning. A.J. Lundberg led off with a walk, stole second, and scored on a single by Owen Hanson. The Braves finally had a run on the board.

In the top of the fifth inning, Danhoff got into trouble when he walked Parker LaMarch and Barron on 3-2 pitches. But after a visit from the dugout, Danhoff struck out Brandon Punzel, got Hunter LaMarch to fly out, and then caught Barron looking.

Both pitchers worked 1-2-3 sixth and seventh innings, leading us into extra innings. In the top of the eighth, Punzel led off with a single and was bunted to second by Hunter LaMarch. Popelka hit a slow roller on the infield that shortstop Ben Schwalbach had no play on. But Braves third baseman Noah Olsen got the ball and got the out.

Jack Valentine then flew out to end the inning, and the Braves won moments later.

"I just saw the ball going to short and I didn't think Ben could get it, so I tried to make the play myself," Olsen said, matter-of-factly. "It feels good to not mess it up, you know."

"That was a huge play for Noah to cut that ball off and get it over there," Lauscher said. "Otherwise, we're in big trouble. Ben was never gonna get there."

Schwalbach says that situation was just like many others for his team on Thursday.

"We just didn't get the timely hits," Schwalbach said. "Hats off to them."

The win was a big one for Gladstone, which has been struggling with injuries and inconsistent play, and came in with a 7-10 record.

"This feels great," Danhoff said. "It's a great lift for the team. Hopefully, this will spark a big winning streak for us going into the playoffs in the next couple of weeks."

BRAVES ON DECK---Gladstone hosts Sault Ste. Marie in a doubleheader on Friday. Game time for the opener is set for 4:30. The games will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on the Internet at www.rrnsports.com, starting at 4:15.

ESKYMOS ON DECK---Escanaba (13-6) will also be at home Friday, for a 6:00 game against Houghton. Then the Eskymos host the Lions Club Invitational on Saturday, with Bark River-Harris facing Houghton at 10 a.m. and the Eskymos facing Sault Ste. Marie at 12:30. The Eskymo games on Saturday will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.RRNsports.com. We will also post recaps throughout the weekend.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken by Laura Lamberg and Sandi Young. Thanks, ladies!