Eskymo Defense, Kleiman Shut Down Marinette

ESCANABA---The last time the Escanaba Eskymos played the Marinette Marines, it was a night to forget at the Pedersen Ballpark in Wisconsin. It was last spring when the Marines spanked the Eskymos, 13-1. And on the mound for Escanaba: Ben Kleiman.

Well, one year later, Kleiman and the Eskymos got their revenge. The Eskymos beat the Marines, 2-0, Tuesday evening in a well-played game at Al Ness Field.

"We emphasize first-pitch strikes and Ben was 18 out of 25," Escanaba Coach Kirk Schwalbach said. "I don't know if I've ever seen a kid throw better than that, consistantly, for seven innings. It's amazing."

Ben Kleiman threw a shutout Tuesday.

"Yeah, my curveball started to work pretty good," Kleiman said. "I was pitching faster because I was so hot. I'm dying right now!" It was 68 degrees at game time.

Kleiman was helped along by two outstanding defensive plays.

In the second inning, first baseman Bailey Lamb sprinted deep into the right field foul territory to catch a fly off the bat of Alex Servatius.

Then in the fifth inning, Jake McMahon smoked one that was on its way into the left field corner. Third baseman Tim Lueneburg leaped up and caught it. Kleiman was thankful for the help.

"When it went to Bailey, I didn't think he'd get there in time," Kleiman admitted. "That was sweet. And I didn't know that Tim could jump that high. I was surprised. I thought that one was gonna be a double into left field."

"He just reacted, gut instinct there," Schwalbach said of Lueneburg's catch. "Nick (second baseman Vandermissen) came in and said 'I didn't even know he had it'. Tim made a couple of other nice plays, kept the ball in front of him, and made some good solid throws to second base."

And Lamb's running catch deep in foul territory?

Bailey Lamb applies the tag at first base.

"Bailey with all the wheels," Schwalbach laughed. "We sometimes wonder if he's gonna catch them, but he was solid on that one. I was happy for him."

Kleiman seemed to get stronger as the game went on, with a dirty curveball that left the Marines players guessing. Kleiman fanned six batters in the last two innings.

"He got better command of his curveball," Schwalbach said. "Couple of times, 3-2 (count), we threw change-ups and he kept the ball down and just located it perfectly. I'm proud of him. Last year, we lost 13-1 and he didn't have a very good outing."

Marinette pitcher Ty Bebo threw well, scattering six base hits and allowing just one earned run in a complete-game effort. The only runs of the game came in the second inning on a two-out RBI single by Lamb, and in the fifth inning on an RBI hit by Brandon Punzel, also with two out. That hit happened after Marinette committed two errors.

Punzel, a freshman, was the only player to have two hits in the game.

Hunter LaMarch had one of Esky's six hits.

The Marines had six seniors and three juniors in the line-up, while the Eskymos had two freshmen and a sophomore amongst its nine players.

Escanaba, which lost every game it played against a Wisconsin team in 2012, improved to 3-2 against Wisconsin teams this season, with trip to Shawano still on the schedule.

Marinette, playing its first non-conference game, fell to 7-5 on the season. Lead-off hitter Derek Klegin led the Marines offense with two hits, one of them on the infield.

Escanaba (9-2) travels to Marquette Wednesday night to take on the Redmen. Game time is 6:00, and you can hear it live on WCHT-AM (600) and on rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see pictures taken by Sheila Olsen, and to listen to audio highlights from the game.

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

4/20	10:45 AM	at Whitehall Vikings	4 - 2 (W)	1-0

4/20	6:00 PM	at Remus Chippewa Hills	12 - 3 (W)	2-0

4/26	5:00 PM	at Kenosha Tremper High School	3 - 14 (L)	2-1

4/27	1:00 PM	University School of Milwaukee	12 - 2 (W)	3-1

4/27	7:00 PM	Prairie Du Chien Blackhawks	12 - 1 (W)	4-1

4/29	5:30 PM	at DePere Redbirds	1 - 5 (L)	4-2

5/4	12:30 PM	Marquette Redmen	16 - 0 (W)	5-2

5/4	5:45 PM	Gladstone Braves	5 - 1 (W)	6-2

5/5	12:00 PM	Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario) Black Sox	14 - 4 (W)	7-2

5/5	3:00 PM	Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario) Black Sox	13 - 3 (W)	8-2

5/7	5:30 PM	Marinette Marines	2 - 0 (W)	9-2

5/8	6:00 PM	at Marquette Redmen	11 - 2 (W)	10-2

5/9	6:00 PM	Gladstone Braves	14 - 8 (W)	11-2

5/17	5:00 PM	Alpena Wildcats	3 - 4 (L)	11-3

5/17	7:30 PM	Alpena Wildcats	10 - 9 (W)	12-3

5/18	12:30 PM	Gladstone Indians	5 - 0 (W)	13-3

5/18	5:30 PM	Alpena Wildcats	3 - 4 (L)	13-4

5/21	4:30 PM	at Shawano Hawks	1 - 2 (L)	13-5

5/21	6:30 PM	at Shawano Hawks	3 - 2 (W)	14-5

5/25	10:00 AM	Shepherd	3 - 2 (W)	15-5

5/25	12:30 PM	Alpena Wildcats	11 - 4 (W)	16-5

5/25	2:30 PM	at Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils	4 - 5 (L)	16-6

5/28	6:30 PM	at Gladstone Braves	3 - 3 (T)	16-6-1

6/1	12:30 PM	Petoskey Northmen	0 - 2 (L)	16-7-1