Eskymos Break Skid With 6-2 Win Over Marquette

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos, and hear comments from Trent Lawson, and the two head coaches.

ESCANABA---The Escanaba High School baseball team broke a three-game losing streak with a 6-2 win over the Marquette Redmen Wednesday night at Al Ness Field.

Trent Lawson pitched a complete game to earn the victory. He is a sophomore, but pitched like an upperclassmen, using a wicked curveball to entice the Redmen batters to swing early in the count. Lawson needed only 90 pitches to throw all seven innings, allowing just one earned run and walking nobody.

"I was pretty relieved that they kept swinging at the first pitch," Lawson said. "I was getting pretty easy fly balls in center, and in right, and a couple in left. My outfield was doing me a favor. They weren't really hitting anything too hard or over anyone's heads. That one dude (Peter VandenAvond) had a nice double, but that's about it."

"Boy, for a sophomore, he's pitched really well for us this year," Eskymo Manager Scott Hanson said. "I really like his curveball. We ask the kids to throw strikes and let your defense play, and he's just doing a super job. It's good stuff when we can get pitching like that."

The Eskymos couldn't shake the Redmen, however, as they struggled to get a big hit with men in scoring position.

They had the first two men on base in four innings, but only scored in one of those innings. That was the third inning, when Escanaba scored three times to break a scoreless tie. Hunter Lancour brought in the first run with a suicide squeeze bunt and was safe on a wild throw.

Casey Bray dumped an RBI single into the outfield to make it 2-0, then Nick Kolich grounded out to bring home the third Escanaba run.

Marquette battled back with two runs in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Alex Applecamp and a rocket to the right field fence for an RBI double off the bat of Peter VandenAvond.

Lawson got a fly ball to his older brother Tyler deep in right field to keep it 3-2, and he later made a great play on defense when he barehanded a tap between the mound and second base by Ashton Demboski. Lawson threw to first to get the out, ending the fifth inning.

Escanaba had the chance to blow it open with the bases loaded, but they couldn't get the big hit again as Kolich hit a pop fly on the infield that Marquette pitcher Brady Wright overran. The ball landed but Kolich was out on the infield fly rule.

Hanson sent Lancour from third base, but Lancour was easily tagged out at the plate.

"That was my mistake, big time," Hanson admitted. "Coaches make mistakes, too. I never heard them (umpires) call it (infield fly rule) so I just assumed that they didn't call it. I never should have sent him."

Escanaba finally put the game away with three unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Marquette defense fell apart, committing three errors.

"We had situations with runners on first and second where we've got to get that runner to third," Hanson said. "We gave them some opportunities ad they actually played pretty well. Their pitcher did a pretty nice job. It was just a weird game. I thought we had a couple chances to break it open and we just never did."

Wright finally ran out of his 105 pitch count with one out in the sixth inning. He allowed only two earned runs and took the loss. Erik Johnson got the final two outs for Marquette.

For Marquette, it was an improvement over the team's 17-3 loss to Escanaba in the season opener. Jacob Knauss was 3-for-3 for the Redmen and Wright had two base hits.

"Every game, we've been learning more and more about the game of baseball," Marquette Manager Derek Swajanen said. "We have some kids who haven't played in three, four years. So the key is, when they leave the ballyard, they've learned something from the game that day, and they just get better every day."

In the junior varsity game, Escanaba beat Marquette, 2-1, in eight innings. Chase Cloutier had the walk-off RBI single to bring home Trent Turchin in the bottom of the eighth inning. A video of that hit is included in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above.

Escanaba (13-3) broke a three-game losing streak with the win. The Eskymos conitnue their homestand with a doubleheader on Thursday against Menominee. The first game starts at 5:30, with the second game to follow. The Eskymos host Manistique Friday night and then take on Gladstone in a doubleheader on Parent's Night Saturday morning.

Marquette travels to Sault Ste. Marie for two games on Friday.