Mistake-Prone Cubs Lose Twice; Out of Tourney

ESCANABA----Tom Ohman just sat there Saturday night in the locker room area inside the Al Ness Field press box, shaking his head.

The veteran Escanaba Cubs coach could not understand how his team fell apart during Saturday's games in the Gregg Johnson Memorial Tourament.

And he couldn't explain his team's lack of passion as the boys tried to earn a spot in the tournament semifinals while playing against Midland Berryhill and Chief Pontiac.

Cubs pitching coach Jon Bintner (5) talks with Trent Schwalbach against Midland.

The Cubs hung with Midland through five innings, holding that powerhouse downstate team to just one run and one base hit. But the wheels fell off the buggy in the sixth inning as Berryhill scored seven unearned runs and posted an 8-0 victory.

And despite that loss, the Cubs still were in line for a spot in the tournament's Final Four when they took the field against Chief Pontiac.

But the Cubs committed six errors and lost to that Metro Detroit team, 7-1. So, the Cubs were out of their own tournament.

"We just can't field the ball right now," Ohman said about the nine errors his team made on Saturday. "And we can't throw it either. I mean, fielding, throwing, that's two crucial parts of the game of baseball. I just told the kids tonight that our whole goal is to win the U.P.'s, so we just have to work on getting better from here on in."

Against Midland, Trent Schwalbach got the ball and things looked bad early on. Adam Fitzgibbon singled to start the game, then Ben Kleiman made an error on Chase Krager's grounder. Schwalbach walked Josh Bailey to load the bases with no outs.

But Schwalbach got Alex Rapanos to hit one to third base, which Andrew Kausak turned into a 5-3 double play. A run scored, but it helped to settle the situation. The next batter hit a fly ball that Austin Young tracked down, and the Cubs were out of trouble.

Who knew that this would be the only run on the board for most of the game?

Austin Young takes a big swing.

Midland threw its top pitcher, Keegan Akin, and the lefty struck out six batters in the first two innings. He did have some control troubles, though, but the Cubs could not make solid contact against him.

The best chance for Escanaba to score came in the bottom of the fourth inning, when the Cubs got two walks and an error.

The bases were loaded with two out, but the Cubs had inexperienced Kyle Berres at the plate. Berres battled hard against Akin, getting to a 2-2 count and fouling off several pitches. But Akin won the battle with a called third strike, so it was still a 1-0 game.

Kleiman relived Schwalbach in the third inning on the mound and he kept the big Midland bats in check. It was still 1-0 when Midland batted in the sixth inning.

"Trent (Schwalbach) went out and pitched two good innings, but his arm started getting tight," Ohman said. "That's to be expected because he did throw the day before. And Benny Kleiman was just phenominal. He may have run out of gas, too, but when you can play with one of the better teams in the state, that's good."

Nick Vandermissen catches a pop fly.

As Kleiman's luck would have it, the skies opened up and rain started pouring down as he pitched that sixth inning. Midland's Krager hit one to Kausak at third, and he threw wildly to first, putting a runner on second base. Kleiman got the next batter, but Rapanos made the Cubs pay with a base hit that drove home Krager for a 2-0 game.

Kleiman hit the next batter, but got Logan Madill to bounce one to Matt Jensen at shortstop. Jensen booted the ball, and everyone was safe.

Josh Moody followed with a two-run single to make it 4-0, then Steve O'Boyle hit a sacrafice fly and it was 5-0.

Fitzgibbon then got a two-run double and Krager followed with an RBI single. All of a sudden, the Cubs were down 8-0 in a game that looked like might be a nailbiter to the end. All eight runs that Midland scored were unearned.

Meanwhile, Akin was on cruise control, and finished off his no-hitter in the sixth inning.

CHIEF PONTIAC 7, ESCANABA 1---The Cubs still were in good shape, though, thanks to the EUP Travelers beating Chief Pontiac, and Gladstone giving up a bunch of runs in losses to Midland and Ash-Port. All the Cubs needed to make it to the tournament semifinals was a win against the Chief Pontiac team from suburban Detroit.

And the Cubs scored first as Nick Vandermissen doubled and scored on a single by Trent Schwalbach in the bottom of the first inning.

Blurry, but this is Austin Young's catch.

But in the second inning, Logan Richards was safe on an error by Ben Kleiman at short, and scored on an error by catcher Dane Messersmith on a stolen base attempt.

Alex DeHaan was on the mound for the Cubs (pictured above), and he kept the game tied at 1-1 despite giving up a leadoff double to Austin Karbowski in the third inning.

DeHaan was helped by a remarkable catch by center fielder Austin Young on a pop fly by Nick Mazone. Young raced in from the outfield, and as you can see in this photo, he slid on his behind and caught the ball just a few feet from the infield.

So, it was still 1-1, but Richards greeted DeHaan with a solo home run to start the fourth inning, and Chief Pontiac had the lead. One out later, Schwalbach booted an easy grounder at third base and the man who hit the ball, Ryan Slaughter, scored on a hit by #9 hitter Blake Oridway. It was 3-1 Chief Pontiac.

Things really went wrong for the Cubs in the fifth inning. Dylan Peck led off with a hit for Chief Pontiac, and Ohman took DeHaan off of the mound.

Young took over, but he gave up a hit to David McNeely, and then Kleiman made another error on a Richards ground ball.

Chief Pontiac's Ryan Slaughter steals second base in the fourth inning.

Tyler Owen made the Cubs pay with a two-run single. That made it 5-1, then Kleiman made another error at short to score Chief Pontiac's sixth run. It was a rough inning, not only for Kleiman, but for the whole team.

Ohman was unhappy with his team's attitude as this game played out.

"They just looked lathargic," Ohman said. "A Cub team hasn't played on Sunday (in the tournament semifinals) in a lot of years. This team had an opportunity to do it tonight. All they had to do is put together one good game and get a win.

"But, there was just no excitement."

The Cubs fell to 4-6 on the season.

Escanaba will host the Marquette Blues Wednesday night at Al Ness Field. Marquette won two games at the Firecracker Tournament in Marinette on Saturday.

Wednesday's game starts at 6:30. It will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and will be streamed on-line at www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the 'ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS' box to see more photos. Thanks to Sandi Young (and others) for their assistance!

Friday, June 22 At Escanaba Al Ness Field
Midland Berryhill 9, Kingsford Blues 2
Midland Berryhill 7, Eastern U.P. Travelers 1
Kingsford Blues 7, Escanaba Cubs 6 (9 Innings)
DePere, Wis. Panthers 6, Sault Ste. Marie (Ont.) Black Sox 0
Escanaba Cubs 8, Sault Ste. Marie (Ont.) Black Sox 0 (5 Innings)

Friday, June 22 At Gladstone Don Olsen Field
DePere, Wis. Panthers 5, Chief Pontiac Post 377 2
Chief Pontiac Post 377 vs Ash-Port, Wis., ppd.
Gladstone Indians 5, Eastern U.P. Travelers 4 (8 Inn.)
Ash-Port 11, Gladstone Indians 1 (5 Inn.)

Saturday. June 23 At Escanaba Al Ness Field
DePere, Wis. Panthers 7, Eastern U.P. Travelers 0
DePere, Wis. Panthers 9, Kingsford Blues 0
Ash-Port, Wis. 13, Kingsford Blues 4
Midland Berryhill 8, Escanaba Cubs 0
Chief Pontiac Post 377 7, Escanaba Cubs 1

Saturday, June 23 At Gladstone Don Olsen Field
Ash Port, Wis. 14, Sault Ste. Marie (Ont.) Black Sox 0
Midland Berryhill 10, Gladstone Indians 2
Eastern U.P. Travelers 5, Chief Pontiac Post 377 3
Gladstone Indians 11, Sault Ste. Marie (Ont.) Black Sox 6

Sunday, June 24 Final Rounds
Ash-Port, Wis. 2, Chief Pontiac Post 377 0
Semifinal: Midland Berryhill 5, Ash-Port, Wis. 1
Semifinal: De Pere, Wis. Panthers 6, Gladstone Indians 5 (9 Inn.)
Championship: DePere, Wis. Panthers 7, Midland Berryhill 3

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

6/15	1:00 PM	at Green Bay Shockers	0 - 8 (L)	0-1

6/15	3:30 PM	at Kaukauna Legion	3 - 0 (W)	1-1

6/16	1:00 PM	Manitowoc Legion	7 - 8 (L)	1-2

6/16	6:00 PM	Sheboygan Legion	8 - 7 (W)	2-2

6/17	11:00 AM	Kaukauna Legion	7 - 10 (L)	2-3

6/19	6:30 PM	at Marquette Blues	11 - 9 (W)	3-3

6/22	3:00 PM	Kingsford Legion Blues	6 - 7 (L)	3-4

6/22	8:00 PM	Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario) Black Sox	8 - 0 (W)	4-4

6/23	5:15 PM	Midland Berryhill	0 - 8 (L)	4-5

6/23	7:30 PM	Chief Pontiac	1 - 7 (L)	4-6

6/27	8:00 PM	Marquette Blues	3 - 0 (W)	5-6

6/29	4:00 PM	at Appleton Post 38	0 - 10 (L)	5-7

6/30	4:00 PM	at Highland, Indiana	0 - 10 (L)	5-8

6/30	6:30 PM	at Kimberly, Wis.	8 - 10 (L)	5-9

7/6	1:15 PM	at Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario) Black Sox	17 - 0 (W)	6-9

7/6	8:00 PM	at Eastern U.P. Travelers	5 - 7 (L)	6-10

7/7	10:00 AM	Petoskey Legion	9 - 3 (W)	7-10

7/7	3:00 PM	Alpena Wildcats	3 - 4 (L)	7-11

7/19	8:00 PM	Gladstone Indians	0 - 3 (L)	7-12

7/22	1:00 PM	Eastern U.P. Travelers	3 - 1 (W)	8-12

7/22	3:30 PM	Eastern U.P. Travelers	5 - 2 (W)	9-12

7/24	8:00 PM	at Menominee Red Wave Legion	16 - 3 (W)	10-12

7/26	2:00 PM	Marquette Blues	13 - 3 (W)	11-12

7/26	7:30 PM	Menominee Red Wave Legion	2 - 5 (L)	11-13

7/27	12:00 PM	Eastern U.P. Travelers	15 - 4 (W)	12-13

7/28	10:30 AM	at Gladstone Indians	7 - 6 (W)	13-13

7/28	2:00 PM	Kingsford Legion Blues	17 - 3 (W)	14-13

8/2	10:00 AM	Menominee Red Wave Legion	5 - 6 (L)	14-14

8/3	9:30 AM	Marquette Blues	0 - 8 (L)	14-15