ESCANABA - Things may have looked a little shaky at first, but the Escanaba Cubs recovered in plenty of time Wednesday to post a 3-0 American Legion baseball triumph over Marquette Blue.
Bailey Lamb pitched six innings for the Cubs, who committed both of their errors in the first inning. He tossed a three-hitter, struck out one and walked two.
Devin Olsen relieved in the seventh, striking out one and allowing a leadoff single to left field to Nick Kamrada.
"This was one of our best games so far," said Esky manager Tom Ohman. "Our pitchers threw strikes and made our defense make plays. This was only Bailey's second start of the year. What a tremendous job. He pounded the strike zone, and we got into a rhythm on defense after the first inning."
Esky (5-6), which led 1-0 after 4 1/2 innings, finished the scoring on four consecutive hits in the fifth.
Justyn Doucette started Esky's fifth with a base hit to right and raced to third on Dave Falish's single to right on a hit-and-run play. Nick Vandermissen's single to left gave the Cubs a two-run cushion and Alex DeHaan's base hit to left made it 3-0.
"That's the first time we've done the hit-and-run all year," said Ohman. "I think we need to open our playbook a little more. Dave hit the ball in the right spot and Justyn was able to get the extra bag. We got timely hits when we needed them. We needed that separation."
The Cubs opened the scoring on a fielding error in the first.
Adam Gannon, who pitched the entire game, absorbed the loss. He fanned five, walked two and allowed six hits.
"We can't complain about our pitching," said Marquette manager Derek Swajanen. "Adam pitched well. Escanaba has good contact hitters.
"Their pitcher was throwing to contact. I think he threw only 66 pitches, which means they were making the plays. We hit some balls real hard early. Only, we didn't attack the way we should."
Doucette filled in at the leadoff spot for Austin Young, who's at the Upper Peninsula All-Star Classic training camp for Saturday's game at Northern Michigan University. Doucette and Vandermissen had two hits apiece.
"With Austin not here tonight, we felt Justyn was the best one to lead off and he did a nice job," said Ohman.
Esky is entered in the Kimberly, Wis. Invitational this weekend, opening against Appleton Friday at 4 p.m. (EDT).
Marquette (30-11) visits Channing tonight for a single game.