OH, SO CLOSE! Cubs Nearly Take Down Berryhill

ESCANABA---There have been many times over the years when the Escanaba Cubs played in their home tournament on Friday and Saturday, but not being able to make it to Sunday's championship round.

Or, on the occassions when the Cubs did make it to Sunday, they were almost out of pitching and lost to teams with lots of pitchers available.

But this time, the Cubs not only made it to Sunday, but they made it with one of their top pitchers, Brandon Punzel, ready to chuck it.

The Cubs took an early lead against a downstate powerhouse American Legion baseball team from Midland, but couldn't hold on, as Midland Berryhill slipped past the Cubs, 3-2, at Al Ness Field.

When the Cubs went out 1-2-3 in the seventh inning on Sunday, Cubs Manager Tom Ohman was disappointed to lose, but happy with his team's performance against such a strong opponent.

Berryhill is traditionally one of the top teams in the Midwest, with a deep bench.

The Cubs took a 2-0 lead in the first inning against Midland starting pitcher Ty Jones. The first run was scored by Parker LaMarch on a wild pitch, and the second run came home on a Punzel groundout, scoring C.J. Barron. Unfortunately for the Cubs, that was all they would getagainst Jones, who threw six shutout innings the rest of the way.

Berryhill scored a run in the bottom of the first inning, and then tied it in the f0urth inning on a sacrifice fly by Gabe Denton.

The game was still tied in the bottom of the sixth when Punzel got into trouble, with the bases loaded and no outs. Denton came up with another sacrifice fly, as left fielder Jack Valentine made a shoestring catch.

And yet, the Cubs couldn't get on the board again, so it was a loss. But it was a "good" loss, with Punzel throwing a strong game, and some good defense behind him.

The best play on defense was a double play with two men on base in the fifth inning. Punzel snared a ground ball, and caught a runner off of third.

Catcher Sean Bissell dove to tag the runner trying to get back into third base, and then the throw back to second was in time for the second out.

Punzel ended up throwing a four-hitter. Jones also threw a four-hitter for Midland.

Escanaba finished 3-2 in the tournament, and will be involved in another tournament next weekend: the three-day Firecracker event in Marinette, Wis.

The Cubs face the host Marinette team in the opener next Friday night at 8:00 ET. The game 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 and videos taken during Sunday's game.