Escanaba sophomore Nolan Bink (14) safely slides into home during a doubleheader against Kingsford on April 24, 2024 at Al Ness Field in Escanaba. ("The Big Dog" Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press)

ESCANABA — What does a banana, The Beatles and Wednesday’s baseball doubleheader between Escanaba and Kingsford have in common?

They all split.

The Eskymos and Flivvers each walked away with a win and a loss. Kingsford claimed game one 9-1 and Esky claimed game two 9-2.

Game one, saw the Eskymos stumble out of the gate.

Senior Bon LaChance took the mound in the opener. His location was off, and the Eskymos’ defense did not help the cause.

Esky committed three errors in the first inning which resulted in three Kingsford runs to take a 7-0 lead.

“I hope we can’t play any worse than (we did in the first inning)” Escanaba coach Scott Hanson said. “Obviously (Kingsford) is a really good team. They earned some of it, and obviously some of that was given, and they took advantage of the situation.”

LaChance didn’t make it to the second inning, allowing seven runs (two earned) off three hits, four walks and a pair of strikeouts. LaChance, Cannon Arnt and Ben Johnson combined to issue 10 walks.

Rymkos scored the Eskymos lone run off an error.

“It’s baseball,” Hanson said. “Once in a while you have a bad day. We have a few of these games every year.”

To make matters worse, senior Eli Garnder exited game one after suffering what appeared to be a head injury after a collision at second base. No update was given on his condition at the time of publication. His status to start Saturday’s game against Appleton West is still unclear.

“Hopefully it’s not too serious,” Hanson said. “But if it is, we’ll just deal with it and move on.”

The Eskymos rested their usual starters for Wednesday’s finale. And the youth found success early and often.

Sophomore Nolan Bink stole third base with one out in the first frame, then proceeded to steal third base with ease. The throw to third was wild, Bink dashed and got even dirtier as he safely slid into home for a 1-0 lead. The Eskymos tacked on two more off a Flivvers error for a 3-0 lead after one.

Esky kept applying pressure, loading the bases with one out. Ashton Rymkos struck out swinging for the second out, but Mikaiden Hughes drew a walk to score a run. Then Reese Korhonen stepped up to bat.

Senior Chase Cloutier scored on a wild ball one. Korhonen cranked the next pitch into left field for a two-run single and a 7-0 lead after two.

Esky added two more in the third off a bases loaded walk and an RBI fielder’s choice from Hughes to lead 9-2 after three.

The Eskymos rattled off four-straight one out walks for a 10-2 lead to start the fourth. Taylor Asgaard scored off a Flivvers error, and an RBI sacrifice fly from Rymkos made it a 12-2 game and evoked the 10-run rule for the win.

Rymkos, Hughes and Korhonen finished with two RBI each. Cloutier, the Eskymos everyday starting catcher, assumed pitching duties for the finale, allowing two unearned runs off two hits with four strikeouts in four innings.

“I’m really not a pitcher. I haven’t pitched at all this year or last year in high school,” Cloutier said. “We didn’t plan on using as many arms as we did in the first game, so coach threw me out there and said ‘hey, have fun, throw strikes, see what happens.'”

The Eskymos hit the road Thursday for a doubleheader against Negaunee. After that it’s a matchup against Green Bay Notre Dame on Friday, Appleton North on Saturday and a home doubleheader against Marquette on Monday.

The immediate focus is shifted on Thursday’s matchup with the Miners.

“(Negaunee) is an absolutely huge game just to have some momentum with the quality teams we’re going to see this weekend,” Hanson said. “We can not lay an egg tomorrow. We need to play well.”