GLADSTONE----All night long, you just knew that the game would not be decided until the final batter came to the plate.
The Escanaba Eskymos and Gladstone Indians hooked up in a typical Escanaba-Gladstone battle Wednesday night, and the two teams went back and forth for seven innings before the Indians emerged with a 5-4 win at Don Olsen Field.
Cody Frazer and Jake Pearson hit solo home runs as the Indians took a 5-2 lead, but the Eskymos rallied for two runs in the sixth inning and then had two men on with nobody out in the seventh.
That's when Gladstone freshman Justin Jurek stepped to the mound, making his first-ever mound appearance for the varsity Legion program.
It was a rousing success. Jurek got Nick Vandermissen to fly out to right field for the first out. Then Jurek was locked in a long struggle with David Falish before getting the strikeout on the eleventh pitch of the at-bat.
And then, with runners at second and third, Jurek caught Alex DeHaan looking to put an exclamation point on a big Indians victory.
"All I threw was fastballs," Jurek said. "I was waiting for (catcher, Cody) Frazer to call a curveball, but he never did. But I wasn't gonna shake him off. I was gonna let him call the game. And the fastballs worked. Frazer gave me the target and I hit it, I guess."
"I knew he was nervous, and I didn't want to call for too much junk," Frazer said. "So, I kept straight fastballs. He was throwing harder than Blake (Ballard) was, and I knew that they couldn't catch up to it. So, we just kept it low, and it worked." Indians Manager Jim Groleau liked the poise of his young right-hander.
"We've talked this situation over many times, and I know that he hates to come in and close," Groleau said. "He's a starter. Gus gave me that look when I came out and gave him the ball. (But) he's baseball-smart beyond his years. He doesn't make many mistakes."
On the other side of the field, Eskymo Manager Kirk Schwalbach was seeing what he has seen too many times this season: another one-run loss.
"It was a battle," Schwalbach said. "I give Justin Jurek credit for stepping in. He made some big pitches with Dave and Alex up, and he got the outs. That's impressive."
When the game started, Escanaba had a chance to score right away when Austin Young was safe on an error. But Ben Kleiman hit into a 6-4-3 double play. Vandermissen followed with a double, but he was caught leaning too far off the bag a moment later and was picked off.
Then in the bottom of the inning, Frazer hit a solo home run to left field off Eskymo starting pitcher Falish to make it 1-0.
"Dave has a really good curveball, so you have to watch for that all the time," Frazer said. "I just got lucky that he only threw me one of them. I was kind of glad about that. He threw me a change-up, which he has a good one when he throws it in the dirt, but he hung that one. I was just trying to get a hit with two strikes on me, and it kept going."
"I think, with the count 0-2, Dave gave him way too much of the plate," Schwalbach said. "We'll get better at that. If you're gonna miss, miss 'away'. He laid it right down the middle of the plate, Cody saw it, and he just drove it."
Escanaba got an unearned run in the second inning on a walk, a wild pitch, and an error on Jurek at second base. But in the third inning, Luke LaCosse walked, went to second on an excellent bunt by Jurek, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a single by Frazer. It was Frazer's second RBI of the game.
In the fourth inning, Vandermissen led off with a walk, and moved to third base on a double by Falish. That brought up Cam Beversluis, who hit a three-run homer in the Eskymo win over Marquette last Saturday. Beversluis hit one toward the center field gap, but was robbed of a hit by a diving Christian Groleau. Vandermissen tagged up and scored to tie the game at 2-2, but Indians pitcher Blake Ballard got a pop up and a strikeout to end the inning tied.
And in the bottom of the inning, Jake Pearson hit Falish's first pitch over the left field fence for a solo home run to give the Indians a 3-2 lead. Then, in the fifth inning, the Indians added two runs with a two-out rally to take a 5-2 lead. Frazer singled and scored on a Jared Stenson double. After Pearson walked, fellow Rapid River student Hayden Hardwick smacked a single to left field to score Stenson. It was 5-2.
But the Eskymos did not roll over. Falish started the inning with an infield hit, and then Beversluis walked. Pinch-hitter Bailey Lamb came through with a base hit to score one run, then as Beversluis went into third base, Frazer's throw from the plate went into left field, scoring Beversluis to cut the Indians lead to 5-4.
There were still no outs in the inning, and Lamb was on second base. But Ballard got tough. He got pinch-hitter Tyler Skufca to pop up, and then Ian DeMarse and Jeff Lyle both hit ground balls to end the threat, with Gladstone still in the lead.
Austin Young relieved Falish on the mound in the bottom of the sixth and retired the Indians in order. Then came the wild top mof the seventh. Young led off with a single and then he stole second. Kleiman drew a walk to put two men on, ending Ballard's night on the mound and bringing in the freshman, Jurek.
"I'm not really good at coming in to save games," Jurek said. "I proved that in Iron Mountain when I blew a game against Esky (when he was younger). When Coach handed me the ball, I made sure that he knew that I hated him. Haha."
Ballard won his second pitching decision of the season, tossing six innings, scattering five hits and allowing all four runs (only two were earned). Jurek got the save by getting the final three outs.
Falish took yet another tough loss on the mound for the Eskymos. He allowed five runs on seven hits in five innings. Schwalbach says a few "little things" did Falish in.
"We knew that Dave was gonna throw a lot of curveballs," Jim Groleau said. "So we told the kids to keep the hands back, keep the weight back, and just punch the ball."
The win was emotional for the Indians, playing for the first time without senior Peyton Jurek, who blew out his knee in Sunday's game against Channing. Jurek underwent surgery on Tuesday, and he is still holding out hope of returning before the Legion season ends in July.
Colin O'Neal was out with a thumb injury, and Matt Weyers and Paul Tomaszewski were both gone because they are still in college.
"It's a nice way to start the season," Jim Groleau said.
Schwalbach said that DeHaan felt bad about the way the game ended.
"I asked him 'how much do you get paid to play?" Schwalbach said. "There are guys who are paid to play who strike out with runners on second and third. And I put Alex in a bad spot there. Maybe I should have let Cam bat."
And the game itself was a repeat for the Eskymos: another close loss.
"When you get in the one and two run games like this, you've got to make plays," Schwalbach said. "Ben (Kleiman) missed a bunt. We had the squeeze on and Dave missed it and it went foul. Those are the little things. You've got to get the bunts down and move the base-runners. They made the plays, and we didn't. Hats off to Gladstone."
Gladstone (3-0) travels to Menominee for a doubleheader on Saturday. Escanaba (12-7) is back in action on Thursday with a road trip to Marquette.
The Eskym0-Redmen game starts at 5:30 and will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and rrnsports.com.
Click the above thumbnails in the "ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS" box to see photos and videos from the game, courtesy of Holly Bockman. You can also listen to the radio replays of several plays by clicking those buttons.
The Escanaba Eskymos and Gladstone Indians hooked up in a typical Escanaba-Gladstone battle Wednesday night, and the two teams went back and forth for seven innings before the Indians emerged with a 5-4 win at Don Olsen Field.
Gladstone's Lucas LaCosse is safe at third.
That's when Gladstone freshman Justin Jurek stepped to the mound, making his first-ever mound appearance for the varsity Legion program.
It was a rousing success. Jurek got Nick Vandermissen to fly out to right field for the first out. Then Jurek was locked in a long struggle with David Falish before getting the strikeout on the eleventh pitch of the at-bat.
And then, with runners at second and third, Jurek caught Alex DeHaan looking to put an exclamation point on a big Indians victory.
"All I threw was fastballs," Jurek said. "I was waiting for (catcher, Cody) Frazer to call a curveball, but he never did. But I wasn't gonna shake him off. I was gonna let him call the game. And the fastballs worked. Frazer gave me the target and I hit it, I guess."
Justin Jurek strikes out Alex DeHaan
"We've talked this situation over many times, and I know that he hates to come in and close," Groleau said. "He's a starter. Gus gave me that look when I came out and gave him the ball. (But) he's baseball-smart beyond his years. He doesn't make many mistakes."
On the other side of the field, Eskymo Manager Kirk Schwalbach was seeing what he has seen too many times this season: another one-run loss.
"It was a battle," Schwalbach said. "I give Justin Jurek credit for stepping in. He made some big pitches with Dave and Alex up, and he got the outs. That's impressive."
Esky's Austin Young gets a base hit.
Then in the bottom of the inning, Frazer hit a solo home run to left field off Eskymo starting pitcher Falish to make it 1-0.
"Dave has a really good curveball, so you have to watch for that all the time," Frazer said. "I just got lucky that he only threw me one of them. I was kind of glad about that. He threw me a change-up, which he has a good one when he throws it in the dirt, but he hung that one. I was just trying to get a hit with two strikes on me, and it kept going."
Cody Frazer home run
Escanaba got an unearned run in the second inning on a walk, a wild pitch, and an error on Jurek at second base. But in the third inning, Luke LaCosse walked, went to second on an excellent bunt by Jurek, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a single by Frazer. It was Frazer's second RBI of the game.
Cam Beversluis robbed by Christian Groleau
And in the bottom of the inning, Jake Pearson hit Falish's first pitch over the left field fence for a solo home run to give the Indians a 3-2 lead. Then, in the fifth inning, the Indians added two runs with a two-out rally to take a 5-2 lead. Frazer singled and scored on a Jared Stenson double. After Pearson walked, fellow Rapid River student Hayden Hardwick smacked a single to left field to score Stenson. It was 5-2.
Eskymos gather during a time-out; Gladstone's Jared Stenson eavesdrops.
There were still no outs in the inning, and Lamb was on second base. But Ballard got tough. He got pinch-hitter Tyler Skufca to pop up, and then Ian DeMarse and Jeff Lyle both hit ground balls to end the threat, with Gladstone still in the lead.
Austin Young relieved Falish on the mound in the bottom of the sixth and retired the Indians in order. Then came the wild top mof the seventh. Young led off with a single and then he stole second. Kleiman drew a walk to put two men on, ending Ballard's night on the mound and bringing in the freshman, Jurek.
"I'm not really good at coming in to save games," Jurek said. "I proved that in Iron Mountain when I blew a game against Esky (when he was younger). When Coach handed me the ball, I made sure that he knew that I hated him. Haha."
Bailey Lamb RBI Pinch-Hit for the Eskymos
Falish took yet another tough loss on the mound for the Eskymos. He allowed five runs on seven hits in five innings. Schwalbach says a few "little things" did Falish in.
"We knew that Dave was gonna throw a lot of curveballs," Jim Groleau said. "So we told the kids to keep the hands back, keep the weight back, and just punch the ball."
Falish scores as Frazer goes for the ball.
Colin O'Neal was out with a thumb injury, and Matt Weyers and Paul Tomaszewski were both gone because they are still in college.
"It's a nice way to start the season," Jim Groleau said.
Schwalbach said that DeHaan felt bad about the way the game ended.
"I asked him 'how much do you get paid to play?" Schwalbach said. "There are guys who are paid to play who strike out with runners on second and third. And I put Alex in a bad spot there. Maybe I should have let Cam bat."
And the game itself was a repeat for the Eskymos: another close loss.
"When you get in the one and two run games like this, you've got to make plays," Schwalbach said. "Ben (Kleiman) missed a bunt. We had the squeeze on and Dave missed it and it went foul. Those are the little things. You've got to get the bunts down and move the base-runners. They made the plays, and we didn't. Hats off to Gladstone."
Justin Jurek Interview
The Eskym0-Redmen game starts at 5:30 and will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and rrnsports.com.
Click the above thumbnails in the "ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS" box to see photos and videos from the game, courtesy of Holly Bockman. You can also listen to the radio replays of several plays by clicking those buttons.
