Escanaba senior Bon LaChance swings at a pitch against Southgate Anderson on May 4, 2024 at Al Ness Field. (Adam Hinch/Daily Press)

ESCANABA — It was a tough day here Saturday afternoon as Escanaba baseball dropped a doubleheader to Southgate Anderson 9-4 and 1-0.

The Titans got a lead-off single on a line drive to right by Juan Llanes, followed by a single by Dylan Berrios. Jaydon Walerski smashed a grounder past the shortstop to bring in a run. Freshman Memphis Davenport hit a ground ball to third and reached on an error by Chase Cloutier that allowed another run to score and the Titans led 2-0. With two outs junior Logan Lynn hit a two-run single to extend the Titans lead to 4-0.

The Eskymos answered back in the bottom of the third inning as Nolan Bink and Clouiter each drew a walk. Ben Johnson then hit a groundball to the shortstop and reached on an error to load the bases. On the next at bat, Bon LaChance smashed a line drive single to right that scored two runs and the Eskymos cut the deficit to 4-2.

The Titans got the bats going again in the top of the fourth inning as Llanes and Berrios each picked up their second hits of the game and another run on the board. Walerski was next up to the plate and was hit by the pitch and Davenport followed it up with his second hit on an RBI single to extend the Titans lead to 6-2.

The Eskymos trailed 9-2 going to the bottom of the fourth, but Davenport continued his good performance on the mound as he struck out the Eskymos in order.

With runners on first and second Eskymos senior Nick Chiu hit a ground ball to the pitcher and reached on an error that allowed Mikaiden Hughes to score and Ashton Rymkos also reached on an error on a ground ball that scored Brody Ison and the Eskymos cut the deficit to 9-4, but that is as close as it got. “That is a very good team they have,” Eskymos’ coach Scott Hanson said. “We schedule like this on purpose. It may not show up right away in the win column but all of our kids gained important experience.”

Davenport pitched a complete game allowing four runs on five hits with five strikeouts and four walks. Lennox Peacock got the start for the Eskymos and pitched three and one-third innings allowing nine runs on 13 hits with two strikeouts and two walks.

The second game of the doubleheader was a pitchers duel between Eskymos senior Ben Johnson and Titans senior Luke Anderson.

Johnson worked effectively in the first inning getting ground balls and letting his defense behind him make plays. The Eskymos also went down in order and the game was scoreless after one.

The Titans got on the board in the second inning as Walerski drew a lead-off walk and Thomas Laskowski singled on a liner to right and Walerski advanced to third base. Lynn dropped down a sacrifice to the pitcher to bring in a run and the Titans led 1-0.

The Eskymos had back-to-back innings with chances to tie and possibly take the lead. In the bottom of the fifth with two outs and runners on second and third, Chiu popped up to the catcher to end the inning. In the sixth inning with one out and runners again on second and third Bon LaChance smashed a liner that was gloved by the third baseman Walerski to preserve the lead for the Titans. “That is a really, really good baseball team we played today,” Titans coach Andy Green said. “We have played six ranked teams in the state this year and they are every bit as good as any of those teams we played.”

The Eskymos got one more shot in the bottom of the seventh but went down in order. “We had our chances,” Johnson said. “We got runners on base, unfortunately we couldn’t manufacture any runs but on the defensive side of the ball I couldn’t be more proud of my guys.”

The Eskymos return to action Wednesday at Marquette.