#TBT: Escanaba Streaks into History
May 21, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Thanks in part by “lanky righthander” Harlan Breitzman and his 14 pitching wins over the 1954 and 1955 seasons, Escanaba entered the spring of 1956 having won 43 straight games.
Statewide news at the time, that streak ended in the season opener with a 6-4 loss to rival Marquette. But it remains one of the longest in MHSAA baseball history – and certainly the longest in terms of seasons, stretching over six during the early decades of high school baseball, when many teams played far fewer games than at present and with the start of an MHSAA Tournament for the sport still two decades away.
Escanaba won 43 straight beginning with its third game of 1950 through the end of the 1955 season. The team played eight games at most during those seasons – but strung together five straight perfect runs. According to a Detroit Times story previewing the start of Escanaba’s 1956 campaign, five of the team’s eight 1955 wins were shutouts. The Times also reported that Breitzman, a graduate the previous spring, had signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
At the time, the Eskymos’ streak would’ve ranked behind only that of Muskegon’s 1941-45 teams that won 55 straight. Homer owns Michigan’s longest (and the nation’s third longest) baseball winning streak: 75 games from opening day 2004 until a 7-6 loss to Saginaw Nouvel in the 2005 Division 3 Final.
(Research courtesy of MHSAA historian Ron Pesch.)
PHOTO: An Ironwood Daily Globe headline announces the end of the Escanaba baseball team's winning streak at the start of the 1956 season.
Performance of the Week: Flint Powers Catholic's Isaac Sturgess
May 31, 2024
Isaac Sturgess ♦ Flint Powers Catholic
Senior ♦ Baseball
Sturgess hit a three-run home run and threw two hitless innings – getting all six outs by strikeout – to pick up the save as Division 2 top-ranked Powers came back from five runs down Monday to defeat Goodrich 6-5 and win the Greater Flint Baseball Tournament.
That championship closed a memorable finish to the regular season for the Chargers (30-6), as a week earlier they swept Midland Dow to clinch the Saginaw Valley League title for the first time, with Sturgess setting his school’s career hits record that evening. A two-time Division 2 all-state first-team selection – and all-state Dream Teamer as a junior outfielder – Sturgess will continue his career at Michigan State University.
@mhsaasports ⚾️POW: Isaac Sturgess #baseball #flintpowerscatholic #letsgo #homerun #pitcher #part1 #highschoolsports #tiktalk #interview #performanceoftheweek #mistudentaid #fyp #MHSAA ♬ original sound - MHSAA
@mhsaasports ⚾️POW: Isaac Sturgess #tiktalk #questiontime #part2 #sourpatchwatermelon #baseballbat #shoes #cryingemoji #phone #performanceoftheweek #mistudentaid #fyp #mhsaa ♬ original sound - MHSAA
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Past 2023-24 Honorees
May 30: Abby Russell, Allen Park track & field - Report
May 23: Isabel Thelen, St. Johns tennis - Report
May 16: Ally Katinas, Novi lacrosse - Report
May 9: Peter Roehl, Rochester Adams golf - Report
May 2: Lilah Smith, Richland Gull Lake soccer - Report
April 25: Mason Mayne, Lawton track & field - Report
April 18: Alli Wright, Jenison softball - Report
April 11: Chloe Wishart, Trenton soccer - Report
March 28: Jenna Maki, Ishpeming basketball - Report
March 22: Jaremiah Palmer, Niles Brandywine basketball - Report
March 15: Leah Hodge, North Farmington gymnastics - Report
March 8: Darius Marines, Detroit Catholic Central wrestling - Report
March 1: Rylee Smith, Zeeland West bowling - Report
Feb. 22: Caleb Lewandowski, Traverse City West skiing - Report
Feb. 15: Jadin Mix, Onaway basketball - Report
Feb. 8: Onalee Wallis, Cadillac skiing - Report
Feb. 1: Abbey DeGraw, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek competitive cheer - Report
Jan. 25: Ewan Todd, Riverview swimming - Report
Jan. 18: Ashley Weller, Jackson Northwest basketball - Report
Jan. 11: Michael Baldwin, Saginaw Arthur Hill wrestling - Report
Dec. 15: Jena Fijolek, Fenton bowling - Report
Dec. 8: Sophia Wagner, Escanaba gymnastics - Report
Dec. 1: Isaiah Marshall, Southfield Arts & Technology football - Report
Nov. 24: Sarah Bradley, Clarkston Everest Collegiate volleyball - Report
Nov. 17: Kalieb Osborne, Waterford Mott football - Report
Nov. 10: Tekalegn Vlasma, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian soccer - Report
Nov. 3: Colton Kinnie, Birmingham Seaholm football - Report
Oct. 27: Lauren Timpf, Macomb Lutheran North golf - Report
Oct. 20: Alena Li, Okemos golf - Report
Oct. 13: Seth Norder, Grand Haven cross country - Report
Oct. 5: Paige Anderson, Muskegon Reeths-Puffer golf - Report
Sept. 29: MacKenzie Bisballe, Lake City volleyball - Report
Sept. 22: Jhace Massey, Gladwin football - Report
Sept. 15: Kaylee Draper, Sturgis swimming - Report
Sept. 8: Owen Jackson, Traverse City St. Francis tennis - Report
Sept. 1: Rachel Forsyth, Ann Arbor Pioneer cross country - Report
(Action photo courtesy of Julianne Klein.)