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END OF THE LINE: Esky Loses To Sault In District
 PETOSKEY---The baseball season ended Tuesday for the Escanaba Eskymos as the Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils got strong pitching, perfect defense, and timely hitting to post a 3-1 victory in the MHSAA Division Two District tournament opener in Petoskey.  Logan Bailey threw six strong innings for the Blue Devils, serving up nine ground outs and striking out four batters while scattering five Eskymo hits along the way. But he got into trouble in the seventh inning and it was a wild finish as Escanaba tried to rally. The Eskymos entered the final inning down, 3-0, but Jake Anderson led off with a single and Craig Kamin drew a walk. That's when the Blue Devils brought Shane Thompson into pitch, and he retired the first two men he faced. Thompson got ahead of Eskymo lead-off man Josh Bruntjens 0-2, but the sophomore smacked a base hit to right field to bring home the first Eskymo run. Freshman catcher Tyler Lawson then followed with a shot toward left field that appeared ready to bring the Eskymos to within run. But Blue Devil third baseman Alex Morehouse dove, stopped the ball, and threw it to first base to end the game.  That wasn't the only defensive gem for the Blue Devils. In the second inning, after Johnny Schlenvogt singled to start the inning, Grant LaMarche smoked one that was headed toward the left field fence. But Soo left fielder Kyle Huskey raced back for the over-the-shoulder catch. Courtesy runner Noah Lancour was doubled off of first base on the play. "I thought that was over the kid's head," Hanson said. "He made a great play. We hit the ball hard at people. And we made a couple of baserunning mistakes." And Thompson, the Sault shortstop who has committed to Muskegon Community College, made five strong plays up the middle. Perhaps the best was the one on a Jake Anderson bouncer behind the bag at second that ended the fourth inning with two Eskymos on base.  The first run came in the third inning when when Bailey earned a walk off of Eskymo pitcher Johnny Schlenvogt. He stole second, but moments later, Schlenvogt appeared to have Bailey picked off of the base, but his throw was not caught by the usually-reliable Courage Krueger at second. Bailey moved to third, and scored when Schlenvogt was called for a balk (as Thompson was ripping a double to the fence on the play). In the fourth inning, the Blue Devils scored again when Hunter Coneset led off with a single, and when first baseman Austin Willette missed Schlenvogt's pick-off throw, the ball hit Coneset's foot and bounced away for another error. Matt Knowles came through with a two-out RBI single to give Sault a 2-0 lead. The final run for the Soo (17-11) came in the fifth inning when Thompson singled with one out, stole second, and scored on a two-out hit by Avery TenEyck. Then it came down to the play at third base by Morehouse, who has committed to play on next year's first-ever Bay College Norse team, along with Bailey and TenEyck.  "Johnny pitched a whale of a game," Hanson said. "I couldn't ask for anything more." Krueger got the final out of the sixth inning in relief for the Eskymos, who finished their season with a 17-7 record. Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos taken by Sandi Young, and hear comments from Coach Scott Hanson.  |
