FINALLY AT HOME: Norse Split Baseball Twinbill
Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos taken by Brad Landis, and hear post-game comments from Nick Goebert, Grant Craft, Dalton Graham, and Manager Mike Pankow.
ESCANABA---The Bay College Norse baseball team finally played a home game on Friday after playing their first 28 games not only on the road, but entirely outside of the State of Michigan.
The Norse welcomed the home cooking by blasting the Minnesota Post Grad club baseball team, 21-0, in a five-inning mercy-shortened game at the Wells Sports Complex. But the Minnesota boys turned the tables on the Norse in the second game, scoring seven runs in the seventh inning to stun the home team, 9-5, earning a doubleheader split.
“As disappointing as it is to have a (5-2) lead and lose it, we didn't beat ourselves,” Norse Manager Mike Pankow said. “We threw strikes, they had to come out and take advantage. We put pressure on their kids to swing the bat and hit the ball, and they took advantage and did what they were supposed to do. But, we didn't beat ourselves (with errors and mistakes) is the big thing, and that's the battle we've been fighting all year long.”
In the first game, Nick Goebert threw perhaps his best game in his three-year Bay College career. He limited the Minnesota team to two base hits, walked only three batters, and struck out ten over the five innings on the mound.
“Nick has struggled with us, but he came out and did what we expected him to do for us for the past three years,” Pankow said. “He came out with velocity, hit his spots. He had that little forearm (injury) thing that slowed him down at the beginning of the year, but it was good to see him fully recover and pitch like he can. He put some video together and maybe he will get some offers that he should be getting from that one game.”
“It was great to play on our field after being on the road for so long,” said Goebert, who hails from Germany but is now an honorary Yooper. “Mainly, I was able to get ahead with my fastball. Just get the first-pitch strikes and get out in front. Throw the ball over the plate and not worry about the rest. Just let my fielders do everything for me.”
Goebert had plenty of run support.
Xavier Whittle doubled home a run in the first inning, and then in the second inning, Dante Sartorelli had a nice at-bat with a two-strike base hit to left field to bring home a pair of runs. Then Dalton Graham unloaded on a long two-run homer to make it 7-0.
“I'm pumped,” said Graham, a Sault Ste. Marie native. “The pitch was middle-in, and I just reacted to it. Over the steel monster (high right field fence).”
Escanaba put the game away with a 13-run fourth inning, That was highlighted by a grand slam home run by Australian Grant Craft.
“It was a little in, and I was lucky because I thought I was going to strike out,” Craft said. “That would've been embarrassing at this point in the game. But it was a little in, and I got jammed a little bit, but the wind just took it out. That's the first grand slam I've ever hit. I've hit everything but a grand slam, so that I finally got it over with. I've had a couple (bases loaded) situations like that and hit deep flyouts.”
Craft had five runs batted in and Graham had four RBI.
In the second game, Matt Bush from Pickford High School got the start on the mound, and he scattered six hits over the first six innings of the game. Graham had a two-run single in the first inning to give Bay a 2-1 lead, but Marcus Sundrust tied it up with an RBI single in the top of the fourth inning for MPG.
Bay regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Ritsuki Nonomura, Bay's first-ever player from Japan, reached base on an error and scored on a wild pitch. Parker Maki added a single and scored on a double by Hector Araguayan, a second-year Norse infielder from Venezuela.
Then in the sixth inning, Bay looked to put the game away when Nonomura led off with a double, Maki walked, and Menominee's Keaton Uecke came through with a single to load the bases. With two out, Sam Williams, a first-year player from downstate Oxford, smacked a base hit to bring home Nonomura.
Maki also tried to score, but stopped halfway around third, tried to get back to the bag, and was tagged out. That kept Bay's lead at 5-2, rather than having the bases loaded with Graham at the plate.
“That was NOT a base running mistake,” Pankow said. “That was a coaching mistake. I was wheeling Parker around and then tried to hold him up too late. That's on me. I was trying to be aggressive. Their left fielder (Rowan Glasgow) played the ball very aggressively. He came up with a good play and a good throw.”
The Norse still had a three-run lead but the MPG offense woke up against Bush in the top of the seventh. Devin Petry led off with a single, then Glasgow followed with a double. Ahmad Young was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs.
Brendon Haverlock hit a fly ball to right field that was caught, bringing in the third MPG run. Then after battling in the count, Tanner Rowe won the battle by smoking a double to the center field fence, scoring two runs, and tying the game at 5-5.
“Matty Bush pitched a heck of a game for us,” Pankow said. “He just missed some of his spots there and he just kind of ran out of gas. He wishes he had those pitches back. It was one of those tough decisions. Maybe we should have pulled him there (entering the seventh inning), but his sixth inning looked like one of his best innings out there. His pitch count was still in the 80's. So we gave him a chance, and he kind of ran into some bad luck there with those first two batters in the seventh.”
Jared Crow, a third year pitcher from Gladstone, walked Daniel Lopez to reload the bases, but was able to strike out Ryan Strutzel for the second out.
Bishop Beeston was brought on to pinch hit, and on the 2-1 pitch, Besston smoked a three-run homer to center field to give MPF an 8-5 lead.
And for icing on the cake, Christian Petry followed with a solo home run to make it a 9-5 final.
Bay College (4-26) will host the Minnesota team in another doubleheader on Saturday, starting at 11 a.m. ET. Both games will be broadcast live on WCHT-FM/AM (93.5/600 Escanaba), WMIQ-AM (1450 Iron Mountain) and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.
