ESCANABA — The Bark River Bucs played the role of the opportunist in a big sixth inning here Monday night as they romped past the Escanaba Cubs 9-1 in an American Legion baseball game.

Bark River scored six runs, including three on wild pitches in the sixth. The Bucs also took advantage of four walks, a passed ball and an error in the inning.

Noah Gorzinski helped their cause by scattering four hits, striking out 11 and walking three through 6 2/3 innings before reaching his pitch count limit.

“Noah did a real good job,” said Bucs’ manager Matt Richer, Jr. “It’s nice to have a pitcher out there you can count on to go the whole game. We want to express our appreciation to (Esky manager) Jon Bintner and his entire team for getting the field ready. When we got here, I didn’t know how they going to be able to get the field ready, but they got it done. They were out there for about 1 1/2 hours.”

The start of the game was delayed nearly two hours by heavy thundershowers.

“That was not a good game,” said Bintner. “We lacked energy and had too many strikeouts. It’s hard to beat anybody when you don’t put the ball in play. The last couple games, we haven’t played up to our standards. We have to have a bounce-back game at some point.”

Riley Lamb, who pitched five innings before walking four in the sixth, absorbed the loss. He didn’t walk anybody until the sixth, fanned eight and gave up seven runs on five hits.

“Riley pitched so well for five innings, but a couple mental errors let us down,” said Bintner. “The fourth inning took a toll on his pitch count, and misjudged flyballs and miscommunication really hurt us.”

The Bucs (4-9) trailed going into the fourth before John Robinette tied the score on a fielding error. Ian Gorzinski then gave them a 3-1 lead on a two-run double to centerfield.

Esky (3-7) scored its run in the third on Jack McEvers’ single to left.

“Escanaba is a lot like Gladstone,” said Richer. “You have to bring your A-game. We played well tonight. We have enough talent. It’s just a matter of our guys showing up, and tonight, our hits came in crucial situations. They’re kind of our big rival. It’s nice to get a big W over here.”

Ian Gorzinski and Nick Javurek finished with two hits apiece. Javurek led off the sixth with a double to left, and Gorzinski added an RBI double to left.

Esky loaded the bases on two fielding miscues and a walk with one out in the sixth but failed to score.

Both teams finished with two errors.

The Cubs host Gladstone tonight at 7:30. The Bucs travel to Marquette for a doubleheader Thursday.