STREAK OVER: Eskymos Fall Twice In Wisconsin
SCHOFIELD, Wis.---Little things mean a lot. That was the message Escanaba Baseball Coach Kirk Schwalbach had for his team on Saturday after the boys lost both ends of a doubleheader to the DC Everest Evergreens, 7-6 and 12-5, in suburban Wausau, Wis. "You can't do these things when you play a good team," Schwalbach said. "A couple of mental mistakes cost us some runs (in the first game) that eventually led to the one-run deficit. I told the boys that we've got to clean that stuff up in tight games because that stuff really means a lot coming down to the end here." One play in particular in the opening game loss was in the bottom of the sixth inning after the Eskymos had clawed back to within 6-5. Pinch-hitter JJ Berdahl hit a long shot to the fence in this spacious ballpark, and when the throw came back in, the cutoff on the infield was botched. So, Berdahl was sent home, and a panicked throw home was high. "It was just a case of holding on to the ball," Schwalbach said. "At this level, you just can't do that. This is high school baseball. Kids are going to take advantage of it, and it was a gutsy call on their part. Aggressive. But we've got to be mentally-tougher than that." Trailing 7-6, Courage Krueger came up with the bases loaded and two out. He slapped one up the middle that went into the outfield, but shortstop Austin Gilge raced back, got to the ball, and flipped to second for the force. Game over. A 7-6 loss. Little things became big things in the final two innings of that doubleheader opener. Eskymo senior Parker LaMarch took the loss on the mound, going 5 1/3 innings, allowing six runs on nine hits. C.J. Barron finished up, allowing the Berdahl hit. "Parker struggled early and gave up some runs, but he battled," Schwalbach said. "He kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win. He just didn't get a lot of support in the field. We made way too many mistakes." LaMarch wasn't overly-thrilled with his performance, however. And his view of that game-saving play by the Evergreen shortstop? "That's what we told him (Krueger) to do, is just hit it up the middle," LaMarch said. "The kid made an awesome play." A highlight for the Eskymos was a solo home run to left field by Cody Frappier. And Johnny Schlenvogt had an RBI single and an RBI double. In the second game, the Eskymos jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but the Evergreens hit Schlenvogt hard, getting five runs in the bottom of the first. The Eskymos didn't fold, however, as Austin Willette smoked one to the fence to drive home two runs in the third inning. That brought Escanaba to within 6-4, but the Evergreens kept hitting, tagging Schlenvogt for eleven runs on eleven hits. Grant LaMarche finished up, pitching the final 1 2/3 innings, and allowed one run on three hits. DC Everest used three pitchers, with Nathan Jagodzinski getting the win. Escanaba's record fell to 9-9. DC Everest improved to 10-5. "There's a lot of good things to take out of this," Schwalbach said. "Cody had a home run and I thought he swung that bat good in both games." "Grant LaMarche got a chance to pitch and he threw strikes, so that's a positive," Schwalbach continued. "It's preparing for what it needs to prepare us for, and hopefully we clean it up, because we played good the last five games. We kind of stunk it up this weekend, but there's still positives that we can take out of it." The Eskymos are back in action on Monday with a game against Bark River-Harris, who beat Stephenson on Saturday, 18-6. Game time from Al Ness Field is 5:00. It will be broadcast live on WUPF-FM (107.3) and at www.radioresultsnetwork.com. Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken by Sandi Young. Also, listen to interviews with LaMarch and Schwalbach, and the radio call of the final out of the first game. |