WHAT A MOMENT: LeBlanc No-Hitter Leads EUP
Click the thumbnails to see videos from the game, including one of LeBlanc's nine strikeouts, and of the final out of the game. Also click to hear LeBlanc's post-game interview.
ESCANABA---It was a night to remember for a Brimley High School graduate as the Eastern Upper Peninsula Wood Ducks American Legion baseball team battled the Post 44 Legion Blues out of Marquette Thursday night in Escanaba.
Perry LeBlanc hooked up in a pitcher's duel with Marquette's Isaac Sarles in the most tightly-played game out of the eight that were played Thursday in the Zone Five Upper Peninsula Tournament Championships. It was also the most dramatic, and the most fun.
LeBlanc, who will play his ball at Delta College in Saginaw next spring, threw a no-hitter as his Wood Ducks shocked the Blues, 2-0, at Al Ness Field.
Sarles, who will play at Green Bay's Saint Norbert College next spring, was also spot-on, allowing eight hits but scattering them across seven innings.
The difference, besides LeBlanc being just a little bit better? Sarles had a couple of poor defensive plays behind him that led to two unearned runs for the Wood Ducks. And that was enough to keep the EUP alive in the tournament heading into Friday's games.
LeBlanc struck out nine batters, and walked just three, and when he got a fly ball out to end the game, it was on his 103rd pitch. And for the Brimley Bay, it was a moment of a lifetime as he had a personal milestone that he will never forget.
“It's my first-ever no-hitter,” LeBlanc smiled. “I've had two one-hit games, but this is my first no-hitter. I'm just extrenely excited. I just started catching fire. I knew my team had my back, so I was just throwing strikes, even when I got down in the count. I'd throw one in there for a strike, and they'd either hit it, or it went right to my team. We just executed.”
Early in the game, center fielder Ethan Chambers made a great catch to retire Owen Cardinal, one of five fly ball outs LeBlanc was able to get. But there was action on the ground as well, with Avery Willson making three plays at short, and...
“Brim-Cor at second base really saved me,” LeBlanc said, referring to fellow Brimley Bay Trey Lynn for a play that he made in the fifth inning at second base that preserved LeBlanc's no-hitter.
Even so, it was down to the wire as the Blues had a chance to win in the final inning when LeBlanc hit a batter and walked another, putting the tying runs on base. That's when Wood Ducks Manager Kris Bontrager called time, and visited the mound.
“He just said, 'you've still got some pitches to play with, I'm not gonna yank you, just breathe, you've got this, execute, you've got a good defense,” LeBlanc said. “Throw some strikes now!”
And he did, getting Gibby Jezewski to fly out to right field, and the celebration was on.
“I'm glad to know that the work I'm putting in is showing off,” LeBlanc said. “This no-hitter is just the first chapter, my first milestone. This is my first, all-time memory.”
LeBlanc struck out nine batters and walked just three. And Sarles, who has been the Marquette pitching ace for two years now, was unlucky, as both runs against him were unearned, and, obviously, he got no run-support.
The EUP runs came in the first inning when Wilson was safe on an error, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on another error. The second EUP run was in the sixth inning, when an error put a runner on base and Drew Adair's infield base hit scored Cale Bell with the insurance run that made it 2-0.
The Wood Ducks (6-9-2 overall) played with only nine players due to several players having to work at their summer jobs, or having other commitments.
The Blues (16-9-0), meanwhile, had a dugout overflowing with 20 players. In the end, though, it came down to the two men on the mound, and this time around, it was LeBlanc's moment.
The outcome throws the Zone Tournament standings into chaos, with the Blues and Wood Ducks both tied with 1-1 records. Escanaba is first with a 2-0 record, but if the Blues beat Escanaba on Friday, and the Wood Ducks beat winless Copper Country, there would be a three-way tie, with only two of those teams advancing to the Final Four.
But as the teams went all went to bed Thursday night, all that the Brimley Bays...errr, EUP Wood Ducks...could think about was the emotion of this no-hitter on such a big stage. LeBlanc, though, was the one to put it into perspective.
“One more to go,” he said.
