Kingsford’s Garrett Brown tries to haul in a high throw as an Escanaba baserunner slides into second on Tuesday at Lodal Park. (Ron Deuter photo)

KINGSFORD — Kingsford left eight men on base as Escanaba pulled away late and tightened the Great Northern Conference varsity baseball standings with a 6-2 victory over the Flivvers Tuesday afternoon at Gary Spigarelli Memorial Field.

The Flivvers, who dumped Escanaba 9-1 earlier in the season and also edged the Eskymos 3-2 last Saturday, slipped to 5-2 in league play but still have a chance to come out on top of the league standings with just one GNC game remaining on the schedule, May 20 at Menominee.

The Flivvers and Eskymos will both head to Cheboygan the first weekend in June to battle with Cheboygan and Sault Ste. Marie for a MHSAA Division 2 district title.

“We had our chances, but we stranded too many runners,” Flivvers head coach Joe Kriegl said. “We had guys got on in crucial spots but couldn’t produce. In order to beat good teams, you have to capitalize on those opportunities and we did not. Bottom line.”

Kingsford fell behind 1-0 after one when Esky’s Bon LaChance singled in Ben Johnson for the game’s first run.

The Flivvers knotted it up in the third when Garrett Brown roped a RBI single into center. Kingsford had a chance for more after Kriegl moved Brown to second with a grounder and Andres Finley drew a walk. Gavin Trevillian flew out to right to move the runners into scoring position, but that’s as far as they got.

Escanaba reclaimed the lead in the top half of the fourth. A lead off walk followed by a double over the center fielder’s head to the fence by LaChance made it 2-1.

A couple of wild pitches allowed LaChance to make it home for a 3-1 Esky advantage.

A couple of two-out walks in the bottom of the fourth loaded the bases for Kingsford, but Escanaba starter Cannon Arnt got a ground ball to short for a fielder’s choice at second to end the threat.

Anrt escaped major damage again in the bottom of the fifth, as an error at short, and an infield hit to the left side by Nolan Hendrickson gave Kingsford two on with one out. Joey Weber brought in one run with a groundout to the right side of the infield, but Arnt got the next batter to fly to right for the final out.

Arnt threw five complete, allowing six hits while walking four and fanning five for the victory.

Esky plated three insurance tallies in the top of the sixth. LaChance opened the inning with a drive to center that was ruled an error. Ashton Rymkos followed with a double to center to bring home LaChance. He scored after some fielding miscues by the Flivvers, and Brody Ison added an RBI single.

Lennox Peacock whiffed the first two batters in Kingsford’s final at-bat before yielding a double down the left field line to Brown. Jack Kriegl then shot a single to left, but Brown was gunned down at the plate to end the game.

Gavin Grondin suffered the loss for Kingsford, tossing five innings with three hits, three walks and four strikeouts. Weber was on for the sixth, allowing two hits and four walks.

“We’re our own worst enemy sometimes but we’re going to learn and move forward,” Kriegl said. “It’s baseball. You learn from the mistakes, put your best foot forward the next game and make things happen. I believe in these guys. I’m not worried. We’ll bounce back.”

Brown’s two-bagger was the only extra base hit for Kingsford. He finished 2-for-2 with two walks. Trevillian, Jacob Deuter and Grondin also had hits for the Flivvers.

Kingsford earned a 9-3 win in the second game, played between Kingsford’s younger lineup and Escanaba’s JV squad. Brown and Noah Trulock each had two hits, Brown collecting two RBIs. Deuter, Caleb Erickson and Noah Trulock and Jimmy Myers punched RBI hits. Brock Flamino and Bradlee Bottesi also had hits.

Flamino, Erickson and Jake Lockhart allowed six hits while striking out six.

Tuesday was Kingsford’s last scheduled home game of the season. The Flivvers head to Houghton Thursday before the league game against Menominee on May 20 and a final matchup with Iron Mountain on May 23.