Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and to hear post-game comments from Brett Paulsen and Escanaba Manager Scott Hanson.
MAUSTON, Wis.---It had all the makings of being the best game of the Woodside High School Challenge when the Escanaba Eskymos met the Kewaunee Storm Saturday evening in Mauston. But one man ended up stealing the show.
In a pitching match-up between Escanaba's Lenny Peacock and Kewaunee's Brett Paulsen, it was Paulsen who dominated and the Storm beat the Eskymos, 9-0.
Paulsen threw a perfect game: 21 Eskymo batters up, 21 Eskymo batters down. And 19 of them went down on strikes. It was an even more dominating performance for Paulsen than he turned in last year when he led his Storm team to the WIAA Division Three state championship game.
“I've had a lot of bullpens this off-season, and at the start of the year, and during the ramp-up,” Paulsen said. “I've had bits and pieces that made me confident that I could do this, but it was really about putting it together. I didn't have an outing to my liking on Thursday, so today was a 'go-get-em' type of day. The approach was just to put everything together. It was just do my stuff.”
And he did. Only two Eskymos put the ball into play in fair territory.
Brody Ison came close to breaking up the perfect game when he hit one back up the middle. Shortstop Diesel Bosdeck got to the ball and made a great throw to first, beating Ison by a half-step. Then in the seventh inning, freshman Alex Irving hit a long fly ball to center field that was caught. Besides that, 19 guys struck out.
“The kid pitched a heck of game,” Escanaba Manager Scott Hanson said. “Seems like a great kid, too. He's just a worker and is humble as heck. He's got a lot of potential. Frustrating for us. But we'll bounce back. We ran into a buzzsaw today. That's a really, really good Kewaunee team and obviously a pitcher who just pitched incredible.”
It was frustrating for Peacock, the Eskymo ace and Western Michigan University recruit who was looking forward to this game all week. But just as what happened last year when he faced Kewaunee at this tournament, he was not his usual self. Peacock used 83 pitches in three innings and was charged with six earned runs on seven hits.
“Lenny will bounce back,” Hanson said. “It is what it is. I'm not going to make excuses. I'm not worried about him.”
Even in defeat, it was a coming-out party for Irving at shortstop. He made several difficult plays to record outs as the Storm hit the ball hard, and often. And Irving was one of only two Eskymo batters to put the ball in play offensively.
“He went in there kind of fearless as a Nine Hitter against a kid who was dealing,” Hanson said. “Shout out to Alex for being a freshman and stepping up like that.”
It was also a good performance behind the plate for catcher Mikaiden Hughes.
“He basically threw out two kids, but we dropped the ball at the base,” Hanson said. “That's frustrating for him. But he handled himself well behind the plate.”
Dane Harrell was the big stick for the Storm (5-0). He had a single, pair of doubles and drove in four runs. Bosdeck had a two-run single, and Paulsen helped his own cause with a two-run single of his own.
In the end, it all boiled down to an unreal pitching performance by Paulsen, who will play ball at NCAA-II Wisconsin-Parkside next fall.
“Last year, same weekend, I pitched against these guys,” Paulsen said. “They were a tough team for sure, but I remember I had problems later in the game that year. So I was really just focused on keeping everything going from the third inning on. I had their number today, but I'm sure they'd get me back next week if they had the chance.”
Escanaba (1-2) will be back in Wisconsin for two more games. The Eskymos will play BayPort in Green Bay on Thursday, and then head back down US-41 to face Green Bay Preble on Saturday.
