Cubs Lose Twice; Finish Green Bay Tournament 1-3

GREEN BAY, Wis.----The Escanaba Cubs lost twice on Saturday at the Green Bay Fathers Day Tournament at Southwest High School's Vanden Plas Field, and did not advance to Sunday's final rounds.

Escanaba lost to Ash-Port, 9-1, and then fell to the Green Bay Preble Shockers, 17-8.

Tyler Skufca pitched Saturday in relief.

In the opener, the game was scoreless when David Falish drove home Tim Lueneburg for the first run of the game.

But the Ash-Port team, filled with college-aged players and favorites to make it to Nationals, were in control from there and won on the tournament's eight-run mercy rule.

Brandon Punzel took the loss on the mound.

In Saturday's second game, Escanaba played the same Green Bay Shockers team that mercied the Cubs, 11-1, on Friday. This time, the Cubs hung in there for a while.

Escanaba fell behind 3-0 in the first two innings as Jeffry Lyle got the ball on the mound. But the Cubs scored four runs in the bottom of the second inning to take the lead. Hunter LaMarch drove in two of those runs with a base hit.

The Cubs still had the lead in the fourth inning when the Shockers chased Lyle from the hill with a four-run outburst. Tyler Skufca took over, and he held the game at 7-4 through the fifth inning, but had to leave the game with a pulled muscle.

Earlier in the game, Devin Olsen also left the game when he fouled the ball off the plate and it hit him in thew groin area. Ben Kleiman played in the outfield because he tweaked his injured ankle during Friday's game against Marinette.

David Falish is on second base vs Shockers.

Sean Bissell and Alex Ruatti both came on to pitch in the sixth and seventh inning, and the Shockers took advantage, scoring five runs in both innings. Lyle eventually had to come back to the mound in the seventh inning to put out the fire.

The Shockers had turned a 7-4 lead into a 12-4 lead in the sixth inning, which would have ended the game on the eight-run mercy rule.

But Escanaba closed to within 12-7 with three runs in the bottom of the sixth, as Lucas Barnhart had an RBI single.

Escanaba finished the tournament with a 1-3 record.

Keep reading the story below to get all of the details from the Cubs' Friday afternoon games.

The Cubs will open the Gregg Johnson Memorial Tournament at Al Ness Field next Friday with two games. The first will be against Chief Pontiac from suburban Detroit, at 5:30. The Cubs will then face Sault Ste. Marie (Ont). at 8:00 Friday night.

ESKY CUBS SPLIT SEASON-OPENERS IN GREEN BAY

GREEN BAY, Wis.---It was about as ugly of a baseball game as you could imagine for the Escanaba Cubs as the American Legion Baseball season got under way Friday afternoon in Green Bay. The Cubs made six errors, got just one base hit, and lost to the Green Bay Preble Shockers, 11-1, at Green Bay's Vanden Plas Field.

Escanaba Cubs catcher Sean Bissell.

But the Cubs, behind the pitching of Ben Kleiman, turned it around later in the day to beat Marinette, 3-0, to earn a split on the first day of the Green Bay Southwest American Legion Fathers Day Baseball Tournament.

"That was pretty bad, a poor performance," Escanaba Manager Tom Ohman said of the opening-game loss. "This game will drive you nuts if you don't have mental toughness when you play that poor. We needed to come back with a good game, and we did."

The first two innings against the Shockers went all right for the Cubs, as the game was scoreless as Devin Olsen allowed just one base runner in each inning.

But the wheels fell off the buggy defensively for the Cubs in the third inning as the Shockers batted around and scored five runs. Escanaba committed three errors in that inning, and four of the runs were unearned.

Nick Vandermissen scores against Green Bay.

In the fourth inning, it didn't get much better as the Shockers batted around again and scored six more runs, with two more Cub errors.

Escanaba's only base hit came off the bat of Brandon Punzel in the fourth inning. The Cubs' only run came home on an error as Nick Vandermissen scored on an overthrow.

Cubs pitcher Devin Olsen took the loss.

Olsen was removed from the mound in the third inning, and was charged with five runs on three hits. Only one of the runs were earned.

"Devin has a cut on his finger," Ohman said. "He was having a tough time right from the get-go, but we tried it. But, that wasn't Devin. Maybe hew could have made it an extra couple of innings but for the fact that he had to throw 20 extra pitches because we booted the ball around."

Tyler Skufca and David Falish finished up on the mound for the Cubs.

The second game of the annual Fathers Day Tournament went better for the Cubs, although the first few innings were frustrating because the boys couldn't get the big hit with men in scoring position.

Escanaba had two on with one out in the first inning, but the rally was stopped by a pop-fly double play. In the second inning, the Cubs loaded the bases with two walks and an error, but Dane Messersmith struck out and Ben Kleiman grounded out.

Hunter LaMarch comes home, but is out at the plate.

Then in the third inning, Punzel walked and Bailey Lamb singled. But with two out, Skufca popped up.

In the fourth inning, Hunter LaMarch was safe on an error and got bunted to second by Jeffry Lyle. With two out, Kleiman got a base hit, but LaMarch was thrown out at the plate, keeping the game scoreless.

Jeffry Lyle takes a pitch against Marinette.

The Cubs got good pitching from Kleiman throughout the contest, and the defense was good behind him, unlike in the opening game. Kleiman's curveball was dirty at times, and the Marinette batters were clearly off-balance.

Escanaba finally broke through in the top of the fifth inning. Falish led off with a double, and then Vandermissen followed with a single to put two men on base.

Punzel came through with an RBI single to score Falish, and then as Punzel stole second base, the throw from the catcher was poor and Vandermissen scored from third base.

Then with two out, LaMarch smacked a double to score Punzel, and it was 3-0.

That was really all Kleiman needed, as he tossed a complete-game three-hitter. It did get interesting in the seventh inning when he walked two batters, bringing the tying run to the plate for Marinette. But Kleiman was able to get two groundouts to end it.

Cubs pitcher Ben Kleiman interview

"My fastball wasn't really working today," Kleiman said. "It was high. So, it was change-up and curveball, pretty much, for a lot of the game."

The defense was much better against Marinette, highlighted by a play in the first inning when Marinette got two of its three hits against Kleiman.

Ben Kleiman threw well for the Cubs.

Scott Eldridge got a one-out single and then was forced out at second on a play that almost turned into an error for LaMarch at short. With Luke Kelly on base, Austin Belonga ripped one to the right field fence, and Kelly tried to score.

Punzel got to the ball in right field, threw to the cut-off man, Vandermissen. His throw to catcher Dane Messersmith was on target, and Kelly was out at the plate.

"That could have got us right back in the hole again if they would have scored there," Ohman said. "I realize that it's only one run, but the way we played in the first game, that would have really hurt us.

"What I liked the most is how we executed. Punzel threw a great shot to the 'cut guy', and then Vandermissen just threw a pea-rod to home."

Kleiman was relieved.

"It was right on line," he said. "It was a perfect throw. I couldn't ask for anything more. I think I hung a fastball, it was just right in his (Belonga's) wheelhouse."

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos taken by Sheila Olsen, and listen to highlights and interviews.

Bailey Lamb stretches out for the throw as Marinette's Austin Belogna comes down the line on Friday.

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

6/14	1:00 PM	at Green Bay Shockers	1 - 11 (L)	0-1

6/14	3:30 PM	at Marinette Marines	3 - 0 (W)	1-1

6/15	12:30 PM	at Ash-Port, Wis.	1 - 9 (L)	1-2

6/15	3:00 PM	at Green Bay Shockers	8 - 17 (L)	1-3

6/21	5:30 PM	Chief Pontiac	1 - 5 (L)	1-4

6/21	8:00 PM	Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario) Black Sox	10 - 2 (W)	2-4

6/22	4:45 PM	Marquette Blues	5 - 0 (W)	3-4

6/22	7:00 PM	Midland Berryhill	0 - 9 (L)	3-5

6/23	10:00 AM	Plover, Wis.	1 - 2 (L)	3-6

6/25	8:00 PM	Gladstone Indians	0 - 3 (L)	3-7

6/29	12:00 PM	Green Bay Blue Jays	6 - 7 (L)	3-8

6/29	6:30 PM	Watertown Legion	1 - 0 (W)	4-8

6/30	11:30 AM	Manitowoc Legion	1 - 11 (L)	4-9

7/3	6:00 PM	at Gladstone Indians	1 - 3 (L)	4-10

7/5	6:30 PM	at Marquette Blues	6 - 9 (L)	4-11

7/8	8:00 PM	Menominee Red Wave Legion	10 - 0 (W)	5-11

7/12	2:00 PM	Sudbury Ontario Legion	7 - 3 (W)	6-11

7/12	6:00 PM	at Eastern U.P. Travelers	2 - 8 (L)	6-12

7/13	10:00 AM	Alpena Wildcats	14 - 0 (W)	7-12

7/13	1:00 PM	Petoskey Legion	2 - 4 (L)	7-13

7/14	10:00 AM	at Eastern U.P. Travelers	1 - 9 (L)	7-14

7/20	2:00 PM	Kingsford Legion Blues	10 - 3 (W)	8-14

7/24	1:00 PM	Ishpeming Blue Storm	5 - 3 (W)	9-14

7/24	7:00 PM	at Menominee Red Wave Legion	1 - 2 (L)	9-15

7/25	2:00 PM	Eastern U.P. Travelers	2 - 1 (W)	10-15

7/27	11:00 AM	Marquette Blues	7 - 5 (W)	11-15

7/27	1:00 PM	Kingsford Legion Blues	4 - 1 (W)	12-15

7/27	5:00 PM	Hancock Legion	5 - 2 (W)	13-15

7/28	12:00 PM	Gladstone Indians	0 - 15 (L)	13-16

8/1	4:00 PM	Ida Legion	7 - 0 (W)	14-16

8/2	6:00 PM	at Hudson Legion	0 - 4 (L)	14-17

8/3	10:00 AM	at Gladstone Indians	1 - 0 (W)	15-17

8/3	12:00 PM	Hudson Legion	3 - 4 (L)	15-18