Cubs Win Twice; Stay Alive At 'A' State Tournament

ADRIAN, Mich.---The Escanaba Cubs lived to fight another day on Friday by picking up a pair of victories at the American Legion Class A State Tournament at Siena Heights University.

The Cubs eliminated Gladwin, 11-1, in five innings, and then beat mistake-prone Ida, 16-3, in six innings to advance to the state's final three. Escanaba will face the host Hudson team in the loser's bracket final at 10:00 Saturday morning, with surprising Menominee waiting at 1:00.

"The thing with us is we haven't played a U.P. team yet, which is nice," Cubs Manager Tom Ohman said. "Because when you go to a downstate tournament, you want to play other teams. We are hitting better right now, so hopefully this can carry over to tomorrow and Sunday."

Escanaba had 12 hits in the win over Gladwin, and 11 hits in the win over Ida. In the opener, the Cubs had four triples: by Brandon Punzel, Hunter LaMarch, Tyler Skufca, and Justin Popelka.

They took advantage of the large Siena Heights field, which is 400 feet to center field.

"Four hundred feet," Slufca said. "That's along ways. It's like (Milwaukee's) Miller Park. The same distance as Miller Park. When you hit it in the gap, you run forever."

Lefty Sam Hall threw all five innings against Gladwin, allowing only three hits. He walked just one batter and struck out four, three of them looking. Against Ida, Skufca threw all six innings, allowing three runs in the fourth inning but otherwise, he was in complete control.

"I struggled locating my fastball," Skufca said. "In the inning that I really struggled, they scored three, so I went to my curveball after that, and it worked pretty good from there on out."

Cubs catcher Sean Bissell, who along with Skufca is 19 years old and playing in his final Legion baseball games, said that playing on the artificial turf at Siena Heights was tough.

"One, it was hot out there, and two, the turf kind of gives you a burn, and stuff like that," Bissell said.

Ohman, in his 32nd year coaching the Cubs, liked what he saw from his two 19-year-olds.

"They struggled all year, but the biggest thing with those two, is they kept their heads," Ohman said. "We've got some 16 and 17 year-olds that need to learn from these guys, and we've just got to keep working."

"They spent the time and effort to get where they're at for this tournament."

Against Gladwin, the big inning was the third, when the Cubs scored five times to build a 7-0 lead. Skufca and LaMarch had back-to-back triples while Punzel and Jack Valentine had back-to-back RBI singles. Popelka's RBI triple past a startled Gladwin left fielder capped the rally.

LaMarch had two hits, a walk, a sacrifice fly, and three runs batted in against Gladwin. Skufca had three hits and scored three times. Lamb and Punzel both had two RBI.

Gladwin's Kyle Brice had two hits and his team's only run batted in.

Against Ida, the big inning was also the third inning for the Cubs, when they scored eight runs. Three Ida errors helped, including one play where the catcher tagged home plate on a ground ball thinking he'd get a force out. But there were only two runners on base.

The Cubs scored six more runs in the sixth inning, all coming after the shortstop and left fielder miscommunicated on a pop fly that landed in short left field.

In this game, Bissell had an RBI single and RBI double. Skufca had a single and a double, and Valentine had a pair of hits, including a two-run single.

Also in the tournament, Ida eliminated Upper Peninsula champion Kingsford, 10-2 (see separate story on this web page). Menominee kept its Cinderella story going by scoring four runs in the first inning and hanging on to beat the host Hudson team, 5-3. Levi Krumpa pitched a complete game for the Red Wave, who finished third in the U.P. tournament.

On Saturday, the Cubs will play Hudson at 10:00 a.m., and Menominee will face the winner for the state championship at 1:00. A second championship game, if necessary, would be held on Sunday at 10:00 a.m.

Also in Adrian, the Class AA State Tournament is being held at Adrian College for the larger programs. The only U.P. team in that tournament, the Eastern U.P. Travelers from Sault Ste. Marie, was eliminated on Friday, but not before quite a battle. The Travelers beat Stevensville-Lakeshore, 7-5, before losing to powerhouse Midland Berryhill, 6-5, in ten innings.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken by Sheila Olsen, and hear interviews with Bissell, Skufca, Ohman.