Baseball

Escanaba at Iron Mountain

IRON MOUNTAIN — The Escanaba baseball team held off an Iron Mountain rally Saturday to earn a 7-5 victory in Iron Mountain.

“I think it was a great baseball game,” Esky coach Scott Hanson said. “We had a couple lopsided games to start. I think Iron Mountain is going to be one of the best teams in the U.p. Even when we were in the beginning, the coaches were all talking saying that it (the lead) might not be enough. They’re a pretty dangerous team.”

The Eskymos scored early and consistently to lead 5-1 after four.

However, Iron Mountain added two in the bottom of the fifth to cut its deficit to 5-3.

“They got to us a little bit later in the game,” Hanson said. “Nick LaFave made a game-saving catch. If he doesn’t make that catch, it’s probably two runs, and we’re having a different conversation now.”

At the top of the sixth, Esky’s Collin Arnt hit a hard ground ball to bat one in, and Ben Johnson hit another grounder to score Arnt, push their lead to 7-3 and seal the game.

Hunter Lancour earned the win for the Eskymos over five innings. He allowed four hits and three runs (two earned) while striking out 10.

Trent Lawson pitched two innings in relief, allowing one hit and two runs while striking out four.

“Hunter Lancour pitched a superb game,” Hanson said. “He went a little longer than I probably wanted him to, but he wanted to stay in there and finish. He did a super job.”

Escanaba travels to North Central Tuesday.

Softball

Escanaba at Various

The Escanaba softball game played a series downstate Saturday, finishing the weekend 2-1. The Eskymos dropped their weekend opener against St. Joseph 11-7, they got revenge from a Friday loss (6-4) against Jackson Northwest 7-1 and earned a late win against Three Lakes 11-9.

Esky took an early lead against St. Joseph, leading 7-3 after three innings.

St. Joseph then hit its stride and held the Eskymos to no run while earning nine more of their own to seal the game.

“They changed pitchers after 3, she had a pretty good changeup that the girls failed to adjust to,” Esky coach Andy Fields said.

Freshman Anna Boutilier also earned an RBI triple for her first high school at-bat.

In the revenge win against Jackson Northwest, the Eskymos stayed consistent with scoring, earning one or two runs in four of seven innings. Combined with defense that saw Jackson score just one run in the sixth, Esky triumphed.

Boutilier made herself known again, earning her first home run in the third.

“For any Freshman to hit a 220-foot home run to dead center on a pitcher of that caliber we were facing, it’s special,” Fields said. “McKayla Mott, in her first career high school start, pitched phenomenal and got her first career win. One pitch got away from her that went over the fence, but a lot of her pitches were biting down. They (Jackson) struggled with it.”

Editor’s note: due to technological error, the details for the final game of Escanaba’s series were not accurate. A corrected version will run in Tuesday’s edition of the Daily Press.

Gladstone at Beaverton, vs. Various

BEAVERTON — The Gladstone softball team played three games in Beaverton Saturday to finish the day 1-2. In the opener, The Braves fell behind Unionville-Sebewaing early and were defeated 15-0 in three and a half innings. Beaverton jumped out to a 9-2 lead after the first three in the next game and sealed the game at 12-2 after five and a half. Gladstone picked up its sole win of the weekend against Reese, 5-4, during the nightcap.

In the opener, U-S earned five runs in the second, one in the third and nine in the fourth to shut out the Brave who went three-and-out in each inning.

“One of our goals walking into the weekend was just improvement individually and as a team,” Braves coach Rick Pepin said. “I like to tell the girls, ‘Growth takes place outside your comfort zone.'”

The Braves got on the board in the second game in the third.

Kenzington Pepin hit an RBI triple for Gladstone’s first run of the weekend. Immediately after, Alaina Trudeau grounded out but allowed Pepin to make it across home plate to let the Braves trail 9-2.

Gladstone wasn’t able to capitalize on the momentum, and three runs from Beaverton in the top of the fourth — along with a runless fifth — finished the game.

In the bottom of the seventh, the game was tied at four in Gladstone’s final game against Rees, and the Braves already accumulated two outs.

Gladstone’s Addie Trombley reached on an error, and a walk just after put two on.

Then, Montgomery Pepin doubled on a line drive to center to score Trombley and earn the win on a walk-off.

In the sixth, Trudeau scored two on a double to take the lead and enable the win.

“Alaina Trudeau hit a double to centerfield to score two RBIs to tie the game in our last game,” coach Pepin said. “It was a senior stepping up for us and a timely hit.”

Overall, coach Pepin believes the weekend was worthwhile.

“We finished on a positive note,” he said. “We brought a really young team to Beaverton this weekend. We definitely showed our youth and inexperience. We brought 13 players, and I believe eight of those are freshman and sophomores.”

Gladstone hosts Kingsford Thursday.