Click the thumbnails to see photos and to hear comments from Manager Mike Pankow.
ESCANABA---The Bay College Norse baseball team was on the home field Saturday for a doubleheader against the Milwaukee Area Technical College Stormers at the Wells Sports Complex. It was the first “fall ball” games for the new-look Norse, which has a large group of new players from across the Upper Peninsula.
The Norse lost the first game, 14-2, and had the lead for most of the second game before settling for a 10-10 tie. Norse Manager Mike Pankow says these games were not about wins and losses, but were more about getting as many guys on the field as possible.
“Getting a lot of these freshmen some game-like opportunities,” Pankow said. “No matter how many games they played in high school, that first college experience is always a big experience for them. So, trying to get that out of the way. And then getting these guys to play together.”
The Norse have more local players than they have had in recent years, including for Menominee Maroons, two Escanaba Eskymos, and two Marquette Sentinels, along with a scattering of guys from other UP schools. And, as usual, international students.
On Saturday, Marquette's Desmond Gleason threw a scoreless inning on the mound in the first game, while fellow Sentinel Alex Brennan gave up three runs on one hit and two walks in his inning on the bump. Menominee's Aiden Beal walked four batters in his one inning, but none of the pitchers were helped by seven errors behind them.
The second game saw Escanaba's Cannon Arnt start on the mound and he threw two innings, allowing three runs (only one earned) and left with his team leading, 7-2. Menominee's Lucas Beal gave up one run in his one-plus inning on the mound.
But errors will happen at this time of year, as the Norse made 13 of them in the doubleheader. One highlight for Bay was a home run by Shanuar Boekhoudt, who comes to the Upper Peninsula from the Caribbean nation of Aruba.
“We bring in people from all over the world, not just this country,” Pankow said. “Trying to have them come together as a team for the first time facing someone else. So, there's a lot of benefits from these scrimmages.”
The Norse are scheduled to play twelve exhibition games this fall, with one more home doubleheader in October against the Northern Michigan University club team.
