Adam Hinch Daily Press
Cubs Bon LaChance fouls off a pitch in Thursday’s game.
ESCANABA — The 2023 Greg Johnson/Al Erickson Memorial Tournament kicked off on Thursday at Al Ness Field with a matchup between Escanaba Cubs and Gladstone Indians with the Cubs coming away with a 6-5 win.
The Indians got off to a good start with a lead-off single by Tyler Darmogray and an RBI single by Braden Sundquist to give the Indians a early 1-0 lead. The Indians broke the game open in the third inning scoring scoring four runs on five hits. Casey Alworden, Braden Sundquist and John Soderman all had singles in the inning and Isaac Ketchum and Aedan Creten both had Doubles that produced runs.
“I was just trying to keep my swing level and get hits,” Creten said.
The Cubs mad their big impact in the fourth inning scoring four runs on four hits. Adrian Mercier got things started with a huge lead-off double.
“It felt good out there made solid contact just looking to get on base every time up,” Mercier said.
Jack McEvers and Bryce Blixt, each had back to back hits that scored runs. Then Ben Johnson, who came of the bench to relive starting pitcher Eli Gardner, blasted a RBI single to cut the Indians lead to 5-4.
The Cubs tied the game in the seventh inning on a RBI single by Jack McEvers.
“It is always great to play Gladstone they always a tough team to beat and for us to come back from five runs down is huge for this team,” McEvers said.
Nick Chiu then hit a groundball and reached on the over throw at first by shortstop Tyler Darmogay that brought McEvers home for the winning run.
“I don’t really know how to feel my teammates picked each other up very good team effort to get the win,” Chiu said.
The Cubs scored six runs on five hits in the game and committed no errors in the field.
“This could seem to be a script for us these games between these teams are always close. We defiantly didn’t get the start we wanted but the team fought hard and we got a win always nice to be on that end,” said Cubs coach John Bintner.
“We all stayed cool, calm and collective no one panicked just went out there and took care of what we had to do,” Blixt said.
The Indians scored five runs on 10 hits and committed one error.
“This is a great game if your a fan of baseball you can’t ask anymore than a game that goes down to the end. We will regroup and get ready for the rest of the season,” said Indians coach Scott Kwarciany.
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