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Eskymos Shiver, Sweep Doubleheader In Kewaunee
 KEWAUNEE, Wis.---It was more like hockey weather in eastern Wisconsin on Saturday as the Escanaba Eskymos and Kewaunee Storm met for the first time ever on the baseball field. With temperatures in the 40's and a cold wind blowing in off of Lake Michigan, the two teams played twelve innings of baseball at a brisk pace. When it was over, the Eskymos came home with a pair of victories, 5-0 and 11-0.  "It's really cold, and when we had to get the hands moving, get the feet moving a little bit," LaMarch said. "Once we got moving, it wasn't too bad, though." LaMarch walked two batters in the first inning, but got a strikeout and flyout to get through the inning unscathed. From there, LaMarch retired 12 of the next 14 men he faced, including three straight strikeouts in the second inning. "After the first inning, I kind of settled in and understood where I had to put it," LaMarch said. "He wasn't really calling a lot of outside pitches (for strikes). I thought a couple of my curveballs were strikes, but he didn't call them, so I just had to stay in more." In fact, LaMarch said that his curveball was his most effective pitch all game long. On offense, Escanaba managed six base hits, with freshman Josh Bruntjens getting three of them in the No. 9 spot in the batting order. Bruntjens scored three of the team's runs.  Kewaunee made five errors which contributed in all five Eskymo runs. In the second game, Escanaba took advantage of more Kewaunee errors in taking a 3-0 lead in the opening inning. Two men were hit by pitches, and LaMarch and Popelka both had singles during the rally. The Eskymos blew the game open in the third inning with six more runs, as Bruntjens had another two-RBI base hit to right field. Johnny Schlenvogt was the beneficiary of the Eskymos' rare burst of offense. He allowed only two base hits (both of them in the second inning), while striking out eight batters. Schlenvogt was lifted with one out in the final inning due to pitch count concerns, and Popelka came in to get the final two outs of a chilly doubleheader sweep. Kewaunee had a total of six base hits in the twinbill, and catcher Travis Miller had three of them. Miller also made several nice catches on foul pop flies. Escanaba improved to 7-7 on the season. The Eskymos will travel to Gladstone on Tuesday for a Battle of Delta County. The game will start at 5:00, and it will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (NewsTalk 600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com. MARQUETTE LOSES TWO DOWNSTATE---The Marquette High School baseball team lost two games at a tournament in Saginaw on Saturday. The Redmen fell to DeWitt, 14-4, and Traverse City Central, 10-5. Marquette started its downstate trip on Friday with a 3-1 win over Saginaw Nouvel Catholic Central. Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken by Micky LaMarch, and hear Parker LaMarch interview.  |
