Escanaba Works Late To Win Baseball Tournament

ESCANABA---It was a long day that stretched into the night, but the Escanaba High School baseball team emerged with the championship of the Lions Club Invitational at Al Ness Field on Saturday. The Eskymos needed extra innings to turn back Sault Ste. Marie, 9-8, and then worked into the darkness to beat Houghton in the title game, 6-2.

It wasn't a perfect end to the week, but it was a successful one. The Eskymos won every game they played this week, with the exception of Thursday's setback in Gladstone.

"It was cold," Eskymo Manager Kirk Schwalbach said about Saturday's games, played under temperatures in the upper 30's with occassional snow flurries. "I like the way we came back again. That first game was a real battle. The kids hung in there."

That game was a 3-hour-and-3 minute-long marathon that didn't end until Jack Valentine's base hit to left field that took a high hop past the third baseman in the bottom of the ninth inning, scoring two runs and allowing the Eskymos to advance to the championship game against Houghton, which beat Bark River-Harris, 6-0.

And it was a see-saw game that saw the Blue Devils score two runs in the top of the first inning when leadoff batter Logan Bailey was hit by a Brandon Punzel pitch and score on a wild pitch. Riley Alaspa's sacrafice fly made it a 2-0 Blue Devil lead.

Escanaba scored three runs on five hits off of Sault ace Nick LaCross. Valentine had a two-run single and Parker LaMarch added an RBI hit during that inning. But Sault High regained the lead with two runs in the third inning as Punzel hit two more batters. One run scored on a delayed steal and the other came home on a two-out hit by Alaspa.

Escanaba scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning on a two-run homer by Logan Lamb. Lamb would go 4-for-4 in this game with three runs batted in, less than 48 hours after his throwing error allowed Gladstone to beat the Eskymos in extra innings.

"Baseball is a humbling game, where one day you have a game like that and the next game, you have the game of your life," Schwalbach said. "Logan was down (Thursday) and I shot him a text to tell him 'believe in yourself, because we all believe in you'."

Lamb's home run would not be the game-winner, though. Far from it. The Blue Devils tied the game with an unearned run in the fifth inning, and then took a 7-5 lead in the sixth inning when Eskymo reliever Craig Kamin walked the bases loaded and gave up a two-run single to Logan Bailey which landed only a couple of feet fair.

But the Eskymos battled back when they were down to their final out in the bottom of the seventh inning. Punzel led off with a single, but the next two batters went out, bringing Valentine to the plate. Punzel scored on a passed ball to cut the deficit to 7-6, and Valentine was hit by a pitch. He stole second, bringing Lamb to the plate.

Lamb kept the game alive by ripping a base hit past a diving Soo third baseman.

"He's been working hard on his hitting," Schwalbach said. "I knew he was better hitter than that. It was just a matter of time before his bat came around. He did a nice job and really hit the ball well this weekend, so I'm happy for him."

In the ninth inning, though, LaCross became the fifth hit-batsman of the game to lead off the inning. He was bunted to second by Ben Skinner, and then Darren Langedorf had an infield hit. Shane Thompson was asked to squeeze home the run, but he fouled it off. But with two strikes, Thompson was asked for a do-or-die squeeze, and he got it down.

So the Eskymos were behind again, but Hunter LaMarch led off the bottom of the ninth with a booming double. Justin Popelka drew a walk, LaMarch went to third on a passed ball, and Popelka stole second. That brought up Valentine, who smacked a two-strike pitch past a drawn-in third baseman. It was a shot that looked a lot like it hit artificial turf. Maybe it was the lip of the infield. Or maybe it was the hand of the Baseball God.

Either way, the Eskymos earned a huge victory to advance to the championship game, but they didn't get to play for a long, long time. That's because the third place game between Bark River-Harris and Sault Ste. Marie lasted more than three hours, with the Blue Devils (7-15-1) winning, 17-11, with many of their players gone for the prom.

Escanaba strolled past Houghton, 6-2, in the championship as Courage Krueger got his first pitching start as an Eskymo. He made it into the fifth inning, when he walked two batters and was relieved by C.J. Barron.

Barron walked the first man he faced, and the Gremlins were within 2-1 before he got a strikeout and a flyout to end the threat.

The Eskymos scored two runs in a slopping bottom of the fifth inning, but in the sixth, Barron walked three straight batters with two out.

The Escanaba 4-1 lead was in doubt, with the tying run on base, but Barron struck out Kevin Bostwick to end the sixth inning.

Escanaba scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth on RBI hits by Lamb (again) and Cody Frappier. That pushed the lead to 6-1, and even though Barron allowed a double to Reid Pietala and walked two batters in the seventh, the Gremlins got just one run.

Krueger earned the win, with Barron getting the save. Pietala took the pitching loss.

Escanaba (16-6) returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts the undefeated Norway Knights in a single game at Al Ness Field. Game time is 5:00 ET. It will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos taken by Sandi Young, and hear radio highlights from extra innings.

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