Adam Hinch Daily Press Escanaba’s Eli Gardner delivers a pitch in the district championship.

ESCANABA — The Escanaba Eskymos faced off in district action on Friday, defeating Kingsford 1-0 in the first game followed by the Sault Blue Devils defeating Houghton 13-1 and the Blue Devils defeating Esky in the title game 6-5.

The first game saw two of the best pitchers in the U.P. square off in a pitcher’s duel. Esky’s Lennox Peacock struck out the first two hitters of the game, and Kingsford’s Andes Finley grounded out to end the top of the first. Kingsford’s Gavin Trevillian recorded strikeouts to Esky’s first two batters and got a flyout by Trent Lawson to end the inning.

Esky got on the board in the second inning scoring the only run of the game on a double by Bon LaChance. Esky’s Nick Chiu smashed a double into the outfield to score LaChance. “It was perfect timing got on it and drove it who knew it would be the only run of the game,” Chiu said.

The two pitchers will defiantly have great duels in the years to come. Lennox Peacock got the win allowing zero runs on zero hits and 13 strikeouts. “It felt great love the atmosphere one runs games are amazing that’s what baseball is,” Peacock said.

Gavin Trevillian got the loss, allowing one run on two hits with eight strikeouts. “Got to give Escanaba credit. They are a tough team. We struggled at the plate,” Trevillian said.

The Eskymos played Kingsford three times this season and all three games came down to the wire. “It’s two of the best pitching teams in the U.P. Kingsford played a great game this is tournament baseball,” said Eskymos coach Scott Hanson.

“These are two teams that are going to be fun to watch over the next couple of years. They got us this year we will work hard to get back here again,” said Kingsford coach Joe Kriegl.

The day concluded with the Eskymos facing the Blue Devils for the district title. Escanaba jumped out to a 2-0 lead after four walks and a batter hit by pitch. The Sault responded with three runs in the second inning and then added two more runs in the top of the fourth to extend the lead to 5-2.

Escanaba cut into the lead in the bottom of the fourth on a RBI double by Trent Lawson that cut the lead to 5-3 in the fifth. The Eskymos were not done as the Eskymos put two more runs on the board and brought the game to a 5-5 tie.

The game remained tied until the top of the ninth when Swagat Bajgain came through with a RBI double which would be the winning run. “I started the game rough, but to come through with the winning run against a very good team like Escanaba is amazing,” Bajgain said.

It marks the second consecutive season Esky falls by one run in the district championship. “It was a super competitive game. We gave up some momentum, left some runners on base and lead off walks didn’t help us,” Hanson said.

“Great game, hats off to Escanaba. They are a great team. It’s always fun to come and play them. Just a great game played by both teams. It’s a shame someone had to lose,” said Blue Devils coach Kris Bontrager.