Miners Earn First Win Of Season; Esky Gets Split

Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and for interviews with Negaunee pitcher Keith Judici and Miners Manager Jason Siik.

ESCANABA---Keith Judici pitched a complete-game three-hitter as the Negaunee Miners won their first baseball game of the season, 3-1, Thursday, in Escanaba.

The Eskymos bounced back to win the nightcap, 11-2.

"It feels great, first win of the year," Judici said. "I feel great for my teammates. They played a heck of a game. I just trusted them, and they performed. My curveball felt really good. My changeup actually felt really good today. I think with the weather warming up, my change-up was really good."

"I can't say enough about Keith Judici," Negaunee manager Jason Siik said. "He pitched with his heart. The entire team was behind him. The guys on the bench were part of the game (cheering). It was a wonderful performance for him. I think the intensity picked up toward the end for him, you know, sniffing that first win, against a really good team, well-coached team. It's great for our kids. Great momentum. Great confidence-builder."

Escanaba pitcher Trent Lawson was also good, throwing five innings with no walks and four strikeouts. He allowed two runs, however, one more than Judici did.

Negaunee took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single by Judici, but the Eskymos tied it in the third inning on a Nick LaFave base hit, after Scott Hiller had reached base (and advanced to third) on a pair of Negaunee errors.

The Miners regained the lead in the the top of the fifth innin when Gatin Karvonen led off with a single. He moved to second on a wild pitch, went to third on a groundout, and scored on a grounder to a drawn-in shortstop Hunter Lancour, who's throw to the plate was late.

Negaunee got an insurance run in the top of the sixth inning against the relief pitcher Hiller, with Brenten Belanger leading off with a hit and eventually coming home on two Escanaba errors.

Judici retired the Eskymos 1-2-3 in the final inning to seal the Miners' first win of the season after an 0-5 start.

The second game saw the Miners grab a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on hits by Evan Gauthier and Matt Peters, and two Eskymo errors. Escanaba got a run back in the bottom of the inning when Matt Zimmerman was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Escanaba scored five runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 6-2 lead, with Hiller doubling home two runs. Lawson walked with the bases loaded, another run scored on a Bon LaChance groundout, and Zimmerman brought home another with a sacrafice fly.

Escanaba put the game away on the mercy rule with five more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, with walks, errors, and hit battsmen bringing home those runs. Negaunee made six errors in that second game, and the Eskymos were charged with three errors.

Tony Derkos pitched all four innings to earn the win for Escanaba. He allowed two runs, both of them unearned, on four hits. He struck out six batters and did not issue a walk.

Hank Tincknell took the loss for Negaunee, allowing all 12 runs on eight hits.

Escanaba improved to 6-4 on the season while Negaunee dropped to 1-6.

Escanaba continues its homestand with a doubleheader against Sault Ste. Marie on Friday. Game time is 4:00. Catch both games live on FM-93.5, AM-600 and rrnsports.com.