Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and listen to post-game interviews
ESCANABA---A good weekend of baseball for the Escanaba Eskymos as they welcomed two downstate teams to Al Ness Field for a two-day, round-robin tournament.
And the Eskymos ended up taking three out of four games from Saginaw Swan Valley and Southgate Anderson, improving their record to 16-5 on the season.
ESCANABA 5, SAGINAW SWAN VALLEY 2---Friday's 5-2 win over Swan Valley was the most impressive. The Vikings are ranked seventh in the Michigan Super 20 rankings, and crossed the Bridge with a 22-2 record.
Eskymo ace Lenny Peacock got the ball, and he struggled in the first inning, throwing 28 pitches and walking three batters. Peacock was able to get out of the jam, though, allowing only one run and stranding the bases loaded. For the next three innings, Peacock tore through the Vikings batting order, and the Esky offense got going.
In the bottom of the second inning, Mikaiden Hughes and Graham Johnson got base hits, then with two out, Cannon Arnt came through with a hard-hit RBI single to tie the game at 1-1. Escanaba took the lead when #9 hitter Brian Boutilier dumped an opposite-field pop fly that was just out of the reach of the Swan Valley left fielder.
In the third inning, Ashton Rymkos walked, Hughes ripped a single to center field, and Peacock drove home Rymkos to make it a 3-1 game. A Graham Johnson sacrifice fly made it 4-1, and Peacock made that lead stand up, with help from his defense.
Swan Valley started to rally in the fifth inning when Jack Lagan had an RBI single to make it 4-2, but he was thrown out trying to advance to second base.
In the bottom of the inning, Brody Ison led off with a double, Rymkos moved him to third base with a fly ball. Then Hughes hit a fly ball to center field but Vikings center fielder Jaxon Hartley gunned Ison at the plate, keeping it a 4-2 game.
In the sixth inning, the Vikings tried to rally again, but the Eskymos turned a sweet 4-6-3 double play as Johnson fielded the hard grounder, got it to Alex Irving at short, who gunned it to Rymkos at first base to end the inning.
Escanaba added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning when Boutlier dumped another fly ball into the opposite field, bringing home Peacock, who had led off the inning with a base hit to right field.
In the seventh inning, Peacock gave up a single, but struck out the other three batters to end the game, his biggest in his four years in an Eskymo uniform. Peacock's seven strikeouts gave him 247 for his career, tying Brad Gauthier for the Eskymo all-time record for career strikeouts. Gauthier did that from 2003-2006.
Beckett Goldensoph pitched well enough for Swan Valley, but took the loss, giving up twelve hits and all five earned runs.
ESCANABA 14, SOUTHGATE ANDERSON 4---The Eskymos then faced Southgate Anderson, ranked 18th in the Michigan Super 20 rankings. This game started at 8:43 p.m., and didn't end until well after 11:00.
Escanaba got off to a good start with three runs on RBI hits by Rymkos, Peacock, and Johnson. Johnson's hit was a triple over the head of the Titan center fielder Trent Gartside, who initially came in on the fly ball and then had to sprint back to the fence to get the ball.
That gave Arnt a nice cushion to work with, but the Titans pressed him with hits by Peyton Laforet and Johnny Pardo in the second inning. He was able to get a groundout to end the inning, keeping it a 3-0 Eskymo lead.
The third inning saw the Titans load the bases on two hits and a walk, and Gartside hit a long fly ball into the right field corner. Ison caught it in foul territory, but Landon Kntzman tagged up and scored, cutting the Escanaba lead to 3-1.
Irving delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the third inning to restore the three-run lead, but the Titans scored an unearned run in the top of the fourth to cut it to 4-2.
Escanaba scored three runs on one play in the bottom of the fourth inning. Boutilier got another opposite field base hit, Bryce Bichler put down a perfect bunt for a single, and Ison drew a walk to load the bases. Rymkos then hit a grounder to third base that was bobbled, and then the throw to first base sailed down the right field line. All three runner scored to make it 7-2, and Peacock singled home Rymkos to make it 8-2.
The Titams got RBI singles by Gartside and Laforet (perfect bunt) in the top of the fifth inning, and Arnt maxed out at 105 pitches. That brought Joey Garcia in to pitch, with the bases loaded. Garcia got a ground out and strikeout, keeping his team in front, 8-4.
Garcia then worked a 1-2-3 top of the sixth inning, and in the bottom of the sixth, the Titans ran out of pitching. Pardo struggled, walking five batters and hitting another in the inning, to go along with four Eskymo hits. Hughes ended the game with a hard-hit single to bring in the 14th run, giving Escanaba a 14-4 victory.
Arnt got the win, throwing 4 1/3 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on nine hits. Garcia got the save, retiring all five men he faced, on just 12 pitches.
SAGINAW SWAN VALLEY 9, ESCANABA 4---The Eskymos were back on the field just eleven hours later on Saturday morning with a rematch against Swan Valley.
It was Ison's turn to pitch, and he threw a scoreless first inning. Ison was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the first inning, and on a pick-off attempt, he hurt his shoulder diving back into first base. He was taken out of the game, and Garcia was pressed into service on the mound.
Escanaba took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI double by Irving, but Swan Valley scored twice in the third inning as Garcia walked two batters and hit another. The hit batter, Hartley, came with the bases loaded, bringing home one run. A sacrifice fly brought in the second run, giving the Vikings a 2-1 lead.
Swan Valley pitcher Brady Stephens shut the Eskymo offense down, and the Vikings went to work against Garcia in the fifth inning. Hartley doubled home a run to make it 4-1, chasing Garcia from the mound and bringing in Boutilier.
Jack Gebauer greeted Boutlier with an RBI single to make it 5-1, and with two out, Nolan Selasky singled home another one to make it a 6-1 game. The Vikings added three more runs in the sixth inning to take a 9-1 lead.
In the seventh inning, the Vikings loaded the bases with one out, and Hartley hit a fly ball to right field. Garcia caught it, and as Selasky tagged up, Garcia threw to Peacock at first base, and Peacock gunned Selasky at the plate.
Stephens maxed out at 103 pitches, so the Vikings went to the bullpen. The Eskymos scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Garcia walked, Bichler followed with a double, and Hughes got an RBI single to make it a 9-2 game.
Escanaba scored two more runs on an error in right field off a fly ball by Johnson, making it 9-4. Arnt singled and Irving walked, keeping the last-ditch rally attempt going. But with the bases loaded, Boutilier flew out to center field, ending the game.
Garcia took the loss, giving up five runs on three hits and five walks in three innings of work. Boutilier was tagged with four runs on eight hits in two innings of relief.
For Swan Valley, Stephens got the win, allowing one run on three hits in six innings.
ESCANABA 6, SOUTHGATE ANDERSON 5---The final game of the day saw the Eskymos face Southgate Anderson again. The game started two hours later than scheduled because of a lengthy game between Anderson and Swan Valley.
That game was won by Southgate Anderson, 9-6, as Rico Valdoveros drove in three runs for the Titans. Lagan went 4-for-4 at the plate for Swan Valley.
The Escanaba-Anderson game started well for the downstate team. In the second inning, Valdovinos launched a grand slam home run to left field off Eskymo pitcher Rymkos.
Trailing 5-0. the Eskymos got to work. After leaving two men on base in the bottom of the second inning, Peacock singled home a run in the bottom of the third inning to put the Eskymos on the board.
In the fifth inning, Rymkos smacked a solo home run to left field, making it a 5-2 game. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, Kaiden Pastorick brought in another run with a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 5-3.
Boutilier followed with another opposite-field base hit, and the Titans committed two errors on the play. Two runs scored, and the game was tied at 5-5 as Anderson Manager Andy Green was reluctant to bring in more pitchers because of important games in the downriver area nearly every day next week, starting with Trenton on Monday.
The Eskymos got a 1-2-3 double play in the top of the sixth inning to keep the game tied, and then in the bottom of the sixth, the Eskymos completed the comeback. Rymkos walked, Hughes smacked a double, and Peacock hit a fly ball to bring in the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly.
Then in the seventh inning, Rymkos walked the leadoff man but struck out the next three batters, ending the game with a 6-5 win. After giving up the grand slam homer early in the game, Rymkos pitched a shutout the rest of the way. When he got his game-ending strikeout, Rymkos reached the 107 pitch mark, just barely finishing what he started.
Escanaba went 3-1 on the weekend, improving its record to 16-5. Southgate Anderson, which also edged Negaunee on Friday, 3-2, went 2-2 on the weekend. The Tians record is now 16-7. Swan Valley went 1-2 on the weekend, and has a 23-4 record.
