Todd Rose | Daily Press Escanaba’s Drew Rodman pitches against Sault Ste. Marie Friday during a Gregg Johnson-Al Erickson Memorial Legion baseball tournament in Escanaba.

ESCANABA — The Escanaba Cubs absorbed a 7-1 loss Friday night against the Sault Ste. Marie Wood Ducks in a Gregg Johnson-Al Erickson Memorial Legion baseball Tournament game in Escanaba.

It was win number two of the day for the Wood Ducks as they also beat Hancock 9-5 in Gladstone.

“First of all, you have to give credit to Dalton Graham,” said Sault Ste. Marie manager Kris Bontrager. “He pitched a gem. He was dealing out there, and everyone made the plays behind them.”

Graham pitched all seven innings for Sault Ste. Marie and had eight strikeouts and gave up just two hits for one earned run.

The game went scoreless through three innings before the Wood Ducks cracked things open with four runs in the fourth, and a single from Michael Bontrager ushered Vinny Febles across the plate for the first Wood Ducks run of the game.

Michael Bontrager then scored when Matt Lumsden hit a sacrifice fly ball to centerfield.

Graham reached second on a throwing error to drive in Ethan Chambers and Avery Wilson.

Kris Bontrager noted Michael Bontrager’s performance as well.

“(He) had a couple of timely, timely, hits to start breaking some things open and get it going,” he said. “Timely hitting, defense and pitching is going to win you a lot of baseball games.”

Noah Lancour started atop the mound for the Cubs and pitched into the fourth before being replaced by Trent Lawson. Lawson was then relieved by Adam Willette and Willette by closer Drew Rodman.

Pitching-wise, the Cubs allowed a total of four hits for seven runs. Defensively, they tallied three errors.

“It’s not matching intensity,” said Cubs manager Jon Bintner. “I don’t think we matched their intensity. The pitcher for the Sault pitched at Bay a little bit, and he just wanted it more.

“I’m not saying that Noah pitched bad. He pitched a good game, too, and he gave us a chance to win, and he hasn’t pitched much either. So, for his first start, I was happy with the way that went.”

Noah Lancour was also the sole run scored by Escanaba.

After leading off the bottom of the fifth with a double to left field, he scooted to third on a passed ball and made it home when Willette reached first on a dropped third strike when the throw ricocheted off of first base.

Bintner added that base on balls and errors did not help the Cubs’ cause.

“The hit by pitches and walks; every time we put a guy on base they scored it seemed,” he said. “And that’s baseball. You can’t walk a lead-off hitter. You’ve got to make them put the ball in play, and it just seemed like the Sault made plays when they needed to.”

Escanaba is in action today hosting two games at Al Ness against Hancock at 4:30 p.m and Green Bay at 7:00 p.m.

Sault Ste. Marie sees Iron Mountain in Wells at 10:30 a.m. and Bark River in Escanaba at 1:30 p.m.