TIMBERRRR! Eskymos Win Baseball District Title

SAULT STE. MARIE---He's been called Timber ever since he was a young lad, and not because he necessarily loves the Upper Peninsula's forest products industry,

Escanaba Eskymos junior Justin Popelka was a big Justin Timberlake fan back then, and nowadays, he's becoming more popular around town than that singer is anymore.

Popelka...aka "Timber"...was clutch all afternoon long on Friday as the Escanaba High School baseball team battled for a district championship in Sault Ste. Marie. Escanaba won a Division Two district championship, beating Petoskey, 4-3, in the semifinals, and then taking down Sault Ste. Marie, 16-3, in the final.

Popelka willed his team to victory by getting the pitching save in the opener, and then throwing a complete game in the final. After suffering a heartbreaking loss in the districts last year, Escanaba is now on its way to the regionals next week in Gladwin.

"I'm so happy for the boys," Escanaba Manager Kirk Schwalbach said. "I can't say enough about the kids. They were due. We've struggled so much in the last two weeks, and I knew they were due to break open, and they broke open today."

But not right away. Against Petoskey, the Eskymos managed only one hit, and no, Jordan Swiss was not pitching for the Northmen. Swiss is now at Saginaw Valley State University after having two wars with the Eslymos in the 2014 and 2015 districts.

Nope, this time, the Eskymos couldn't hit Peter Crittenden or Joel Wilson.

The only hit the Eskymos got was a C.J. Barron single in the fourth inning.

Fortunately, Escanaba got four runs on several Petoskey errors and bases-loaded walks. And then, they had to hang on as Brandon Punzel gave up three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Enter, Timber. With the bases loaded and one out for the Northmen, Popelka got John Kay to hit into a force play at the plate, then, he reacted quickly when Petoskey tried a two-out bunt to retire Peter Fila at furst base. Af ter Popelka retired the side in the sixth inning, he gave up a hit in the seventh inning. With the tying run on base, Popelka quickly picked Doug Daniel off of first base, and ended the game on a strikeout.

Then, Popelka and the guys had to sit through a three-hour-long game in the other semifinal, when Cheboygan made numerous errors in the bottom of the sixth inning, allowing Sault Ste. Marie to score six runs and post an improbable 7-6 win.

So, that set up a district championship game between the host Blue Devils and the Eskymos. And it was Popelka who wanted the ball again, and he got it.

"The first game was pretty emotional," Popelka said. "A lot of adrenaline pumping. We got into a tough situation and we won. I don't think I threw too many pitches, but the arm was probably a little sore. So, we had to wait for the long game, start warming up again, and see how it felt. I found out it felt pretty good, so I was able to throw today."

Popelka helped his own cause with a two-run double in the first inning, but in the bottom half, the Blue Devils scored three runs, helped along by a fly ball that Eskymo right fielder Craig Kamin lost in the sun.

But the Eskymo bats gradually woke up, battering four Sault High pitchers for 17 hits. They put the game away with seven runs in the top of the sixth inning, and then sealed the deal with three straight ground balls to second baseman Parker LaMarch in the bottom of the sixth inning. The game ended on the ten-run mercy rule.

"The first two just kind of came to me, so I was just like, 'come on, let'ts go," LaMarch said. "Me, Justin, C.J. (Barron), Nick Bink, and Tyler Willette. We won it when we were freshmen (in 2014), but we wanted to get this again. So, Justin was like, 'you got the first two, I'm gonna give you the last one'. And sure enough, it got to me, I pointed to him (Popelka) and I made a good throw to B (Punzel at first)."

Popelka ended up throwing 122 pitches in his two appearances, earning the save for Punzel in the opener, and getting the win in the title game.

"He's just a quality kid," Schwalbach said. "When he gets on the mound, he's all business. That's what I love about him. His mound presence is good. He's been our best pitcher all year. He's pitched some great games and didn't get the wins. To come in when I brought him in in a tough spot, I mean, he's a junior, but he plays like a senior."

Against the Sault, Hunter LaMarch had three hits and three RBI, while Popelka had three hits, two walks, and five runs batted in. Logan Lamb added two hits and two RBI, while Jack Valentine contributed three hits and one run batted in.

Logan Bailey took the loss on the mound for the Sault, which finished its season with a 13-17 record. The Blue Devils managed five hits off of Popelka.

Escanaba improved to 20-9-1, and will head to Gladwin for regionals next Saturday.

FRIDAY'S OTHER U.P. BASEBALL SCORES

Division One
Traverse City Central 3, Marquette 2

Division Four
Norway 7, Hancock 2
Final: Norway 20, Ironwood 10

Division Four
North Central 4, Stephenson 1
Newberry 6, Bark River-Harris 1
Final: Newberry 2, North Central 1

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken by Sandi Young, and to hear audio replays, interviews.

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