Needing just two more outs to secure a second straight district title, Kingsford was unable to shut the door on Escanaba in the bottom of the seventh as the Eskymos rallied for three runs in their final at-bat and walked off with a stunning 5-4 victory in the MHSAA Division 2 District 33 final Friday afternoon at sizzling Gary Spigarelli Memorial Field.

Bryce Bichler singled in the tying and game-winning runs with the bases loaded and one away in the seventh, lacing a 1-2 pitch to the gap in shallow right center. Players and coaches poured out of the dugout in jubilation as Lennox Peacock crashed in head first at home in a cloud of dust with the winning run.

“Hats off to them,” Flivvers head coach Joe Kriegl said. “Three games against them this season and we had one bad inning in each game and it cost us the win in each one of them. This one hurts the most obviously because it meant the most. I mean, we played great. We hit the ball hard. We did everything we needed to do to win the game. We needed two more outs and just couldn’t get them.”

After catching the entire 8-5 semifinal win against Houghton earlier on what was one of the hottest days of the season with temps in the high 80s, Kingsford senior Jack Kriegl (named the conference’s co-offensive player of the year earlier in the week) turned in a truly gutsy performance on the mound in the title game. He fanned 10 Esky hitters, allowing just three hits and one earned run before reaching his 105-pitch limit with one away in the sixth.

Escanaba’s Lennox Peacock dives home with the game-winning run after a two-run walk-off single by Bryce Bichler in the bottom of the seventh Friday afternoon at Lodal Park. (Ron Deuter photos)

Junior Jonah Doenier came on in relief and escaped the sixth inning unscathed, leaving two Esymos on the base paths, but he ran into trouble right off the bat in the seventh. Graham Johnson opened the frame with a blast, one-hopping a double over the fence in left. A walk and a single by Mikaiden Hughes loaded the bases for Escanaba.

Doenier got a ground ball on the next at-bat, with shortstop Domenic Frederickson tossing over to senior Jacob Deuter at third for the inning’s first out, but a run came in to make it a 4-3 game. Boutilier came up next and singled to right on a 1-2 pitch to reload the bases ahead of Bichler’s heroics.

“We just can’t load the bases with no one out and the meat of their order due up,” Kriegl said. “But I’m extremely proud of this team. I’m extremely proud of our two seniors Jacob and Jack. They played awesome today. I thought everyone played a great game. We did what we had to do to put ourselves in position to win.”

With Escanaba (24-8) winning the toss to be the home team for the game, the teams traded runs in the first inning. Junior Noah Trulock put Kingsford on the board first with a grounder to the right side to bring home freshman Luke Rice on the fielder’s choice.

Kingsford took a 3-1 lead in the fourth. Junior Logan Grondin led off with a single to center, moved to second thanks to a sacrifice bunt by Deuter and scored when junior Bradlee Bottesi lined a double to left. Bottesi then bolted home when freshman catcher Colin Olsen broke for first on a dropped third strike and Esky botched the play trying to retire Olsen at first.

Esky answered with one in their half of the fourth on a wild pitch, but the Flivvers got that one back in the fifth when Bottesi came through again with a sharp single to left to score Kriegl who led off the inning with a single and made it to third via a single by Grondin and fielder’s choice by Deuter.

The Flivvers totaled eight hits against Esky hurler Cannon Arnt, who went the distance. Along with Bottesi, Kriegl and Grondin also had two hits each. Arnt finished with 10 Ks against just two walks, charged with two runs. Esky ace Peacock – the Great Northern Conference Pitcher of the Year – allowed just four hits while whiffing eight to hold off Negaunee 3-2 earlier in the other semifinal.

Kingsford had to battle from behind twice in their semifinal win over a feisty Houghton squad. The Gremlins (also the home team) took a 3-0 lead in the first and were ahead again 5-4 through four before Kingsford broke through for good, scoring three in the fifth and one more in the sixth. Bottesi provided the go-ahead hit in that one with a two-out liner to right for an RBI single to make it 6-5 in the fifth, scoring later in the frame on a passed ball.

Rice went 3-for-3 in the semifinal, driving in three including dumping a two-run single into center in the fourth to score junior Jack Spreen and Deuter and tie the game up 4-4. Bottesi and Deuter each had two hits, Deuter smacking a lead-off double over the left fielder’s head and up against the fence and later scoring as the Flivvers put up their first two runs in the second. Kriegl and Spreen also added hits, Spreen knocking in Deuter during the two-run second.

Frederickson went five innings to earn the win against Houghton, allowing eight hits and two earned runs and just one walk while striking out eight. He came through with big strikeouts to end threats in first, second, third and fifth innings. Doenier earned the save working the final two innings with three hits, four strikeouts and no walks including fanning the side in the bottom seventh after yielding a lead-off single.

The Flivvers, recovering for a dreadful 0-9 start to the season, finished the year 15-12. Along with Kriegl’s Offensive Player of the Year honor, several other Flivvers earned accolades. Trulock, Doenier and Grondin all made the Dream Team. Rice, Frederickson and Olsen made second team, while Spreen and Bottesi received honorable mention.