ROLE REVERSAL: Eskymos 'Ten-Run' Braves, 12-1

GLADSTONE---The Escanaba Eskymos took advantage of eight Gladstone Braves errors and rolled to a 12-1 victory on a cold, windy afternoon Tuesday in Gladstone.

It was a complete switch from the teams' previous meeting two weeks earlier, when the Braves beat the Eskymos, 10-1, at Al Ness Field.

"We're maturing a little bit," Escanaba Manager Kirk Schwalbach said. "The kids are having better at-bats, and we're getting some timely hitting now. This is kind of a mirror on the game in Escanaba. We ran out of pitching, and they took advantage of some miscues and some walks and some errors."

"I think today was kind of the same thing, but we were on the other end of the stick this time."

"Just too many errors," Gladstone Manager Don Lauscher said. "When you have eight errors, you're never going to win any games. Everybody was flat. I still don't understand how you can be flat when you're playing your arch-rival Escanaba, but they were."

"I just told the kids that we have to get a whole lot better, in a hurry."

Escanaba scored three runs in the fourth inning, five in the fifth, and four runs in the sixth inning. Of those 12 runs, only two were earned against three Braves pitchers.

"Brandon Cooper sure deserved a whole lot better," Lauscher said of his starting pitcher, who took the loss while allowing only two earned runs.

The two teams played three scoreless innings before the defense fell apart for the Braves in the middle innings.

And there was actually some good defense in those early innings as Gladstone's Ben Schwalbach, Lucas Weinert, and Tyson Seymour turned in ground ball double plays to end both the first and second innings.

And in the fourth inning, left fielder Owen Hanson made the play of the game: a diving catch of a Josh Bruntjens bullet with the bases loaded that that would have scored at least two runs for Escanaba.

"That Owen Hanson, eh's just an incredible athlete," Lauscher said. "Incredible baseball player. He puts everything on the line every time he steps on the field."

But that was about all for Gladstone highlights, as the rest of the afternoon belonged to the Eskymos, who have now won four straight games after dropping six in a row.

''We've turned the corner here," Kirk Schwalbach said. "It's a confidence builder. It's one game. We'll enjoy it today and then go to work tomorrow."

Escanaba pitcher Justin Popelka was in charge, as usual. The senior right hander allowed only three base hits in six innings of work. He struck out eight and walked two.

"We've played with a lot of really good teams," Schwalbach said. "The Eau Claire North's and the Waukesha Catholics. We just haven't be able to get the big hit or give him any support. Timber is as good as anybody out there. You put him out there, and he gets six, seven innings."

"Quality starts. He's a machine. Iron Justin."

"It feels pretty good," Popelka said. "They hit the ball really well, solid defensively. We've finally got our hitting together, put a lot of runs on the board, and I was able to pitch a pretty good game. So, it's always nice to get a win against Gladstone."

The biggest plays of the game was in the fifth inning, when the Braves were already trailing, 3-0. With ten games on the schedule over the next six games, Schwalbach was asked to get some outs, and he served up five straight ground balls. The problem is two of them, hit right back to Schwlabach, ended with errors instead of outs.

With the bases loaded, Cody Frappier hit one toward the mound and Schwalbach fell down, throwing late to the plate.

Parker LaMarch scored on that one. Then, Aaron Young also hit one back to the hill. Schwalbach threw to the plate for the force, but the umpire ruled that catcher AJ Lundberg hadn't touched the dish for the force.

Then, to make matters worse for Gladstone, his throw sailed down the right field line. So instead of a 1-2-3 double play, three runs scored, making it a 7-0 Eskymo lead.

It never got better from there for the Braves, who fell to 7-3 on the season, playing their first game in more than a week because of weather cancellations.

"The eight days of rest, it showed," Lauscher said. "I'm not going to make any excuses, though."

For Escanaba (8-7), Frappier, C.J. Barron, and Parker LaMarch all had two base hits. The Braves got hits from Daniel Martin, Nick Trudeau, and Carson Shea.

The Eskymos are getting used to playing in frigid conditions, after playing a doubleheader in Kewaunee, Wis., last Saturday with temperatures in the 40's and wind chills in the 30's.

So, which game was colder?

"Kewaunee was," Popelka laughed. "It was worse from my perspective because I wasn't pitching so I couldn't stay quite as warm out there. It felt a tad bit warmer today, but not by much!"

"Kewaunee," Frappier agreed.

Escanaba is off until Friday when the team travels to Negaunee, and then on Saturday, the boys travel to Wausau, Wis., for a doubleheader against D.C. Everest. Those two games on Saturday will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (NewsTalk 600).

Gladstone is back in action on Wednesday with a make-up doubleheader at home against Negaunee. First game starts at 4:30. The twinbill will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (NewsTalk 600), as well as Thursday's doubleheader against Marquette.

The games will also be broadcast live on-line at www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos taken by Brenda Crow and videos taken by Mike Dagenais.