Click the thumbnails to see videos, and to hear comments from Cannon Arnt and Manager Scott Hanson.
MAUSTON, Wis.---The Escanaba High School baseball team opened the Wisconsin Dells tournament with a 4-1 win over the Aurora Catholic Central Chargers out of Illinois on Friday afternoon at the Woodside Sports Complex.
The Eskymos made the most of their offensive chances and rode the pitching of Cannon Arnt and Brody Ison to pick up their first victory of the season
Later on Friday, the Eskymos took a 2-0 lead against the Denmark (Wis.) Vikings, but didn't score again, losing 12-2.
Before that loss, though, Eskymo Manager Scott Hanson was happy with how his team opened the season against the Illinois squad.
“I don't think it could have gone better for a first game,” Hanson said. “A couple of mistakes on the bases that we've got to clean up, but that's going to happen in the first game. The kids did a great job of putting the bat on the ball, and Mikaiden (catcher Hughes) throwing a kid out early was huge, and the pitching was phenomenal.”
The Chargers threatened in the top of the first inning against Arnt as they got two men on base on errors after the first two batters were retired. Arnt struck out Luke Janosek to strand those runners, and the Eskymos grabbed the lead in the bottom of the inning on walks to Bryce Bichler and Ashton Rymkos, and an error on a throw from first to third.
Escanaba got another unearned run in the second inning, and then in the third inning, the Eskymos got their only offensive production.
Rymkos drew a one-out walk, Lenny Peacock followed with a double, and both came home on a solid base hit up the middle by Graham Johnson. Johnson, well-known for his scoring as the captain of the Eskymo hockey team, got his first-ever varsity base hit and RBI, and it was 4-0.
Aurora CC threatened in the sixth inning when Tyler Davis and Luke Torrance got back-to-back singles, but the game changed when Luke Janosek smoked a shot toward right field that was caught by Rymkos at first base. He dove on the bag for a huge double play.
Arnt threw four innings of scoreless and three-hit ball to earn the win, and Ison threw the final three innings, allowing one unearned run, to get the save.
“I felt good,” Arnt said. “My arm felt pretty good. The work that we put in over the winter, and even over the summer, it just pays off. I trust my guys with everything I've got. I've just got to throw strikes, and if they hit it, they hit it. We'll get the next out. My curve ball was working pretty good. Just fastball and curve ball today.”
In Saturday's second game, the Eskymos jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning against the Denmark Vikings. Johnson came through with a bases-loaded single, bringing home Hughes and Peacock. But the Eskymos did not score again.
It was a 2-1 Eskymo lead in the third inning before things unraveled. The Vikings scored three runs in the third inning, three more in the fourth, and put the game away with a five-run fifth inning. The mercy-rule loss saw four Eskymo pitchers take to the portable mound at the Woodside Sports Complex, with Rymkos taking the loss.
Escanaba actually outhit Denmark, 6-5, but the Eskymo pitchers walked ten batters and hit three others. All twelve runs against the Esky pitchers were earned.
Caden Kersten got the win for Denmark (4-0), throwing four scoreless innings after that rocky first inning. Caden Peterson drove in four runs for the Vikings.
Escanaba (1-1) returns to action Saturday afternoon against the defending state runner-up Kewaunee Storm. The Storm are ranked number one in Wisconsin in Division Three, and they defeated Gladstone, 22-0, on Friday.
