The Escanaba High School softball team, had a successful trip below the Bridge on Saturday as the girls took two out of three games at the Petoskey Invitational. The girls started the day with a tough 5-4 loss to the Reese Rockets. But Escanaba rallied to beat Detroit Country Day, 7-5, and then the girls beat the host Petoskey Northmen, 12-2. Escanaba will face Petoskey in the first round of the district tournament in three weeks.
The Gladstone Indians welcomed Matt Weyers home from college on Saturday, and the 19-year-old fit right in with his younger teammates as the Indians swept the Menominee Red Wave, 3-2 and 15-3, at Menominee's Spies Field. Weyers pitched four innings of relief and scored the winning run in the first game, then rookie Levi Cunningham picked up his first Legion victory in the nightcap. Pictured: Justin Jurek at the plate last weekend. He had the game-winning hit on Saturday. Click the above headline to read more details about Saturday's games.
It was an idea several years in the making: a high school track meet under the lights. And they pulled it off Friday night in Gladstone, as the Braves hosted Norway, Rapid River, Bark River-Harris and Stephenson in both boys and girls track. There were no team scores kept. Click the above headline to see some of the individual winners, and a bunch of pictures and videos from the event.
Manistique High School Senior Mike Nagy is in the spotlight as the Michigan High School Athletic Association chose him as its top story for the week. Nagy is a golfer, and he is the best in the Upper Peninsula this spring. He has signed to play college golf at the University of Tennessee. Click the above headline to read the story, written by the MHSAA's Geoff Kimmerly.
The Gladstone High School tennis team posted a 5-3 win over the Menominee Maroons Thursday in Menominee, as the #1 doubles team of Cody Frazer and Bryce Wolf rallied to win a three-set match. Meanwhile, further north, in Negaunee, the Escanaba Eskymos ran into a buzzsaw, falling to the Negaunee Miners, 7-1. Pictured: Escanaba's Kyle Pinozek teamed up with his partner Nate Belanger to provide Escanaba's only win. Click the above headline to read about both of Thursday's matches.
The Escanaba Eskymos pounded out 14 base hits, and despite making several defensive errors, beat the Marquette Redmen, 14-3, Thursday evening in Marquette. Bailey Lamb hit a three run homer and Austin Young had three hits, backing the pitching of Devin Olsen and Andrew Sedlar. Pictured: Eskymo first baseman Bailey Lamb jumps over Marquette's Alex Piatrowski as he tries to catch a bad pick-off throw. Click the above headline to read the game story, listen to audio, and see more pictures.
The Escanaba High School boys golf team won its own invitational on Thursday, edging the Gladstone Braves by one stroke to win the five-team event. But Gladstone cruised to the victory in the girls meet, easily outdistancing second place Marquette and third place Escanaba. Marquette golfers won the medalist honors in both the boys and girls meets. Click the above headline to see details.
The Gladstone Indians got home runs from Jake Pearson and Cody Frazer, then held off a late Escanaba Eskymo rally to post a 5-4 win at Don Olsen Field. Gladstone freshman Justin Jurek came on to pitch in the seventh inning with two men on and no outs, and retired three of Escanaba's beat hitters to preserve the victory for winning pitcher Blake Ballard. Click the above headline to read the game story, see pictures and videos, and listen to radio replays.
A downstate lawmaker is trying to raise awareness of the dangers of kids getting concussions in sporting events, and then going back into the game. State representative Tom Hooker (R-Byron Center) says his legislation could help to save a kid's life. he says that the days of telling a kid "boy, you got your bell rung, get back in the game" are over. There's a growing awareness of the dangers of sports concussions amongst Michigan sports coaches, and Hooker says that his law would require that all coaches get trained on concussion safety. Click the above headline to read more details.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association's Representative Council met Monday in Gaylord, and voted to send a proposal to its member schools allowing for waivers to the MHSAA's 19-year-old age limit rule. This comes amidst public pressure to allow Ishpeming High School student Eric Dompierre to play for the Hematities this next school year. Ballots will be mailed to schools this week, and it will take a two-thirds vote of the schools to change the rule and allow kids like Dompierre to play. Click the above headline for the story, and listen to audio.
The Escanaba High School boys golf team finished in fifth place at the Kiwanis Invitational Tuesday at the Wawonowin Golf Course near Ishpeming. There were 13 teams at the event. The Eskymos had 349 strokes, one behind fourth place Houghton. Eskymo senior Kevin Gendron shot a 79, good for second place overall behind medalist Mike Nagy of Manistique, who shot a 74. Click the above headline to see all of Escanaba's scores.
The Gladstone High School tennis team barely broke a sweat on Monday as the boys defeated the Ishpeming Hematites, 8-0, at Pfotenhauer Park. Three of the Gladstone wins were by 6-0, 6-0 scores, while three others went 6-0, 6-1. Also on Monday, Escanaba beat Iron Mountain in a make-up match, 5-3. Click the above headline to see all of the scores. Pictured: Gladstone's #1 singles player Aaron Parmet did not lose a game all afternoon long on Monday.
Jake Pearson tossed a complete-game three-hitter and Jared Stenson had two doubles and a sliding catch in left field as the Gladstone Indians beat the Channing Railroaders, 10-0, in American Legion Baseball action on Sunday. Peyton Jurek had a triple and a single, but suffered a severe knee injury in the third inning as he advanced to third base on his little brother's sacrafice bunt. Click the above headline to see more pictures and read the game story.
Alex DeHaan tossed a five-hitter as the Eskymos slipped past the Negaunee Miners, 3-2, on Saturday, and then Ben Kleiman threw a two-hitter in the tournament championship game as the Eskymos beat an improved Marquette Redman team, 7-1. Click the above headline to see more photos, read the story, and listen to audio.
Gladstone High School graduate MacKenzie Shepeck worked five perfect innings to preserve Western Michigan University's 4-2 win over Northern Illinois on Sunday. Shepeck entered the circle to start the top of the third inning , trailing 2-1. She went to work, striking out three batters, forcing four ground outs, two pop outs and six fly outs during her five perfect innings. Shepeck also hit a home run over the right field fence to put WMU into the lead, 3-2. Photo of Shepeck courtesy of Western Michigan Univ.
The Escanaba High School softball team wrapped up a two-day trip to Wisconsin by winning two of three games at the Pulaski Invitational on Saturday. The girls smacked Freedom High School, 15-4, before losing a tough game to Wausau, 4-3, in eight innings. The girls finished up by shutting down the host Pulaski team, 3-0. Escanaba improved to 8-7 on the season, after losing twice in Oconto Falls Friday. Meanwhile, the Escanaba JV's won four games at Lemmerand Park on Saturday. The junior Eskymos beat Gladstone, 3-1, Marquette, 13-1, Kingsford, 9-0, and the Houghton varsity, 3-1.
The LPGA Futures Tour returns to the Upper Peninsula in late June, with some of the world's best lady golfers comping to compete for money...and a possible spot on the main LPGA Tour next year. There will be 150 golfers representing at least 30 countries at the Island Resort and Casino Championship, which will be held June 29th through July 1st at the Sweetgrass Golf Course in Harris. Click the above headline to read more, and to listen to audio soundbytes from one of the golfers who was in Escanaba on Thursday to promote the event.
The Gladstone Braves tennis team was a bit shorthanded on Friday, and that's not a good thing to have happen when the Kingsford Flivvers come to town. The Braves played without Dan Williams at #2 singles, and the Flivvers cruised to a 7-1 win at Pfotenhauer Park. Gladstone's only win was at #1 doubles, as Bryce Wolf and Cody Frazer (pictured above) beat Kingsford's Aidan Wienke and Dalton Allen. Click the above headline for the details.
The Escanaba High School baseball team scored four runs in the top of the first inning, but it wasn't enough as the Eskymos lost to the DePere Redbirds, 6-5, Friday in suburban Green Bay. The loss kept the Eskymos winless against Wisconsin teams this season (0-5). David Falish pitched a complete game five-hitter, but was hurt by three missplayed pop flies that led to three unearned runs. Click the above headline to read the whole story and to see photos.
The conditions were less than ideal, but four high school golf teams managed to get in a quadrangular meet Thursday at the Escanaba Country Club. In the girls meet, Escanaba edged Gladstone 207-208, with Marquette third and Kingsford fourth. In the boys meet, Marquette won with 316 strokes. Escanaba was second with 331.Kingsford was third and Gladstone was fourth as the boys shot the "back nine" twice in the rain. Click the above headline for all of the results.
The Rapid River Rockets won two more games on Thursday, beating the Manistique Emeralds, 18-5 and 14-2 in Manistique. In the first game, the Emeralds managed to keep it a 3-3 game in the fourth inning before the Rockets blew it open. Averi Kanyuh got the pitching win, with Neena Brockway throwing the last three innings. Brockway also had five hits (including three doubles) in the game. In the second game, Savannah Stenlund pitched all five innings to earn the win. Haley MacGregor took the pitching loss in both games for Manistique. Click the above headline for more details.
A 19-year-old Ishpeming High School student fighting for the right to play basketball next school year testified before a Senate committee on Wednesday. Eric Dompierre has Down Syndrome, and is trying to convince the Michigan High School Association to waive a rule that forbids him to play because he is too old. The committee unanimously approved State Senator Tom Casperson's resolution on the issue, urging the MHSAA to change the rule for those students who have disabilities. Click the headline to read more.
Blake Ballard pitched a complete-game one-hitter and the Gladstone Indians smacked 13 hits and stole nine bases on the way to an 11-1 win over the Marquette Redmen Wednesday night at Don Olsen Field. The win on Opening Night was the first for Jim Groleau, who took over as manager of the team after Dennis Darling stepped down last fall. Click the above headline to read more details from the game.
Devin Olsen tossed a three-hitter, stiking out 11 batters, to lead the Escanaba Eskymos to a 12-2 victory over the Stephenson Eagles Wednesday night in Daggett. Olsen threw 97 pitches over 6 1/3 innings before Andrew Sedlar got the final two outs. Pictured above: Coach Kirk Schwalbach sends Ian DeMarse home, scoring all the way from first base on an Olsen hit. Click the above headline to read the story, and see more photos.
The Gladstone Braves won all four singles matches and pulled off a match-clinching win at second doubles to beat the Escanaba Eskymos, 5-3, in a dual Tuesday in Gladstone. Aaron Parmet, Dan Williams, and Neal Sabin all won in straight sets, while Hans Ahola needed three sets to beat Kyle Pinozek at #4 singles. Escanaba's Dave Fix and Jake Eastin won in straight sets at #1 doubles. Click the above headline to see more pictures and video replays from the match.
It was a split decision on Tuesday as the Escanaba Eskymos and Kingsford Flivvers got together in a track meet at the Escanaba High School Track. The Eskymos won the girls meet, 101-36, while the Flivvers won the boys meet, 99-38. In the girls meet, Olivia Nash won the 100 meter dash and the high jump. Morgan Mathieson won the discus and the shot put. In the boys meet, Escanaba's Andrew Stenberg won both the 1600 and 3200 meter runs, while teammate Jake Walker won the 800. Click the headline for results.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association is facing mounting public pressure to make changes to its rule that forbids kids who turn 19 years old after September 1st from playing varsity sports. This rule came to light with the case of Eric Dompierre, an Ishpeming High School student who has Down Syndrome and wants to play basketball for the Hematites in his senior year. Click the above headline to read the entire story, and to listen to our interview with Senator Tom Casperson.
The American Legion Baseball season gets under way for the Gladstone Indians this Wednesday night when the Indians host the Marquette High School baseball team at Don Olsen Field. The Indians will play a mixture of high school and Legion teams early in the season before ramping up the schedule this summer. Click the above headline for more about the team.
The Rapid River Rockets rolled to a pair of softball victories on Monday, beating the Negaunee Miners, 8-0 and 6-3, in the Iron Town. Neena Brockway earned the victory in the opener, pitching a complete-game shutout, striking out 12 batters along the way. Heather Sanderson had an inside-the-park two-run home run to break a 0-0 tie in the third inning of the opener.
The Escanaba High School baseball team turned in its two best performances of the year on Saturday as the boys competed in the Saginaw Baseball Showcase in Lower Michigan. Escanaba pounded out 15 hits to beat the host Saginaw Heritage Hawks, 7-3, and then even more impressively, battled the highly-touted Mt. Pleasant Oilers down to the wire before losing, 5-2. Pictured: Austin Young steals second in the game against Saginaw Heritage. (Kevin Lyle photo). Read the full story, listen to audio, and see more photos by clicking the above headline.
