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ROUGH OPENER: Kingsford, Esky Fall In Tourney
 Click the thumbnails to see photos and video highlights. Defensive mistakes and lack of timely hitting were the themes for the Escanaba Cubs and Kingsford Greens, as they both ended Friday's play without a victory. ESCANABA CUBS LOSE FIRST GAME Escanaba entered the game with a 6-0 season record, and Sheboygan had already played a game earlier Friday in which they fell behind DePere, 10-1, and lost, 10-7. The Cubs had Bon LaChance on the mound, and he threw three shutout innings, striking out four batters and not allowing a hit. Eli Gardner, Cannon Arnt, and Cooper Curtis followed him on the mound. They combined to strike out 13 batters, but terrible defense led to five unearned runs for the visiting team. Escanaba took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, cashing in on two walks with a sacrifice fly by Ashton Rymkos. But Sheboygan's big left-handed pitcher Rhett Albright was able to keep the Cubs off-balance with a mixture of mostly off-speed pitches all night long. Sheboygan tied the game in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Lucas Brandis. The Cubs had two great scoring chances. In the third inning, the power-hitting LaChance was at the plate with two men on base, but he hit one to third base, and it was turned into a 5-3 double play. In the fifth inning, the Cubs had their best chance, when Owen Fields and Gardner got back-to-back base hits and Adrian Mercier drew a walk. With the bases loaded, LaChance hit into another double play, ending the threat. Colin Thorne and Levi Mills added RBI singles for Sheboygan. Escanaba plays two games on Saturday night: at 6:00 against Niagara, and 8:30 against DePere. Both games will be broadcast on WCHT-FM/AM (93.5/600) and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.
KINGSFORD LOSES, TIE CLOSE GAMES Kingsford had a great chance to get on top in its opener, with 15-year-old Florence High School pitcher Mason Koski carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning. But Maverick Williamson broke up that no-no with a base hit to right field, and after an intentional walk, Koski hit Justin Kruse with a pitch to end the game. Koski only allowed one base hit, but he hit five batters and walked two others. Later, the Greens played the Plover Black Sox from Wisconsin, and Gavin Trevillian struggled with the umpire strike zone, and the leaky defense behind him. Trevllilan walked seven batters, struck out six, and allowed only one base hit, before he reached his pitch limit with one out in the sixth inning. Three dropped fly balls in the outfield, including two on back-to-back plays, cost Kingsford three unearned runs. Kingsford was down, 4-2, in the seventh inning, when Andres Finley was hit by a pitch and Trent McLain drew a walk. They both stole on a double steal, and Trevillian grounded out to third base to bring home Finley. The first baseman throw was a bad one to third base, and so McLain scored to tie the game at 4-4. In extra innings, McLain, on in relief for Trevillian, got a 1-2-3 inning with the “ghost runner” on second base. So, the Greens had the chance to walk it off in the bottom of the eighth when they got their free runner on the international tiebreaker rule. McLain did his job, bunting Jonah Donier to third base. Garrett Brown, however, couldn't get down the walk-off squeeze bunt, and Donier was hung out to dry off of third base. He was tagged out for the second out of the inning. Brown was able to draw a walk, but he was thrown out trying to steal second base to end the game. The game ended in a 4-4 tie on the tournament's time limit rule. Kingsford plays its final pool play game on Saturday against the Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario) Black Sox. The game will be played on Bay College's field in Wells Township at 3:30 ET/2:30 CT. It will be broadcast live on WZNL-FM (94.3 The Breeze) and at www.radioresultsnetwork.com/breeze.
FRIDAY SCOREBOARD
STANDINGS AFTER DAY ONE POOL A
POOL B
SATURDAY'S GAMES  |
