Escanaba Settles For DH Split With Ashwaubenon

ASHWAUBENON, Wis.---The Escanaba High School baseball team split a doubleheader with the Ashwaubenon Jaguars on Saturday in Wisconsin, winning the first game, 17-6, before losing the nightcap, 2-1.

Eskymo senior Johnny Schlenvogt had a home run and drove in four runs in the opener, and he threw five innings on the mound for the pitching win.

But the Eskymos could not get much going on offense against the Jaguar pitching ace Ben Wendorf in the second game, making a hard-luck loser out of Courage Krueger.

The score of the first game is deceiving, as Ashwaubenon led, 1-0, in the fourth inning before the Eskymos scored six times to take the lead. Schlenvogt's two-run single put Escanaba in front, 2-1, then Tyler Lawson capped the rally with a two-run single.

Then after the Jaguars got a run back on an Ian McLean RBI single in the bottom of the fourth, Schlenvogt came up again in the sixth inning and smoked a two-run home run over the left field fence, making it a 9-2 Escanaba lead.

The homer was Schlenvogt's first after many near-misses this season, mostly on his home field, where the wind constantly blows in and pushes his left-field shots foul.

But on Saturday at Ashwaubomay Park, there was no wind, and it was gone.

The score got out of hand in the top of the seventh inning as Escanaba scored eight runs on a bunch of walks and wild pitches. Grant LaMarche contributed a three-run, bases-clearing double during that seventh inning rally.

Schlenvogt allowed two runs in his five innings of work, fanning seven batters.

But in the second game, it was a different story, as the Jaguars scored single runs in each of the first two innings and then held on as Wendorf made it tough on the Escanaba hitters.

Ashwaubenon put nine guys on the field in the second game that did not play in the opener, and catcher Brady Wittig led the way by going 3-for-3 with a walk.

Krueger was able to wiggle out of trouble in those early innings, getting the Jaguars to strand the bases loaded in the first inning and leave two more in the second.

Krueger got stronger as the game went on, retiring eight batters in a row at one point and pitching six innings. He struck out eight batters and walked just one.

Escanaba, though, had three runners either thrown out trying to take an extra base, or get picked off. The Eskymos got their only run in the fourth inning on a pair of walks and a groundout by Austin Willette.

Despite getting only three hits in the game, the Eskymos had at least one runner in scoring position in six straight innings, but could not get the RBI hit.

Wendorf retired the Eskymos 1-2-3 in the seventh to end the game.

Escanaba (14-6) is home against Bark River-Harris on Tuesday for Senior Night. Bark River-Harris also played on Saturday, beating North Central in a wild game in Hermansville, 16-10. Ryan Arndt hit a home run for the Broncos as they took a 9-0 lead. Ben Snyder went deep for NCA.

Tuesday's Esky-BRH starts at 5:00. It will be broadcast live on Eagle 107.3 FM.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos taken by Sandi Young.