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Winning pedigree: Portage Lake Majors working hard to prepare for state tournament

Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette Portage Lake’s Ian Nordstrom connects with a pitch during batting practice Tuesday at South Range’s Little League Field.

SOUTH RANGE — When one gathers a batch of 12-year-old boys together, there isn’t usually a guarantee that the youngsters will listen to instruction and get done what an adult wants them to. Wes Frahm does not have that problem.

Tuesday night, the coach of the Portage Lake Majors All-Stars team had his boys going through hitting drills after a hard practice on Monday, and each hitter took each drill as seriously as they do a game situation, which is good as they prepare for Friday.

In fact, it took looking at the boys in the outfield to finally notice any signs of their age, as several of the group bunched up behind second base. Once the coaches noticed, the group was broken up and got back to work.

The elder Frahm, whose son Levi is one of the team members he is coaching, is excited about this year’s group, which features four players, Levi included, who have won three or more District 11 titles between their Minors and Majors experience after defeating Ishpeming last Thursday night.

“This is really high-character group,” said Wes. “Everybody gives me their best effort…They just have that confidence at that level. Mentally, I really think that we have a strong group here.”

For the quartet, which includes Zach Geborkoff, Bryce Pugh, and Kyle Primeau along with Levi Frahm, winning again is fun, but they know there is a lot more baseball on the horizon starting Friday.

“To know that you and your team consistently get the district championship is nice,” said Pugh. “Typically, we win at least one game in pool play in state championships, so we do pretty well.”

Portage Lake went into last week’s district tournament as the favorites, but found themselves dealing with a very tough Ishpeming team in their second game. Their foes took an early 3-0 lead, but the local boys fought back and eventually won the game.

For Primeau, who caught against Ishpeming, beating their familiar foes was a lot of fun.

“It felt good to beat Ishpeming twice,” said Primeau. “I am catcher, so when they were yelling all their stuff, it sort of annoyed me. It just feels good to win.”

A team made up of players from across the Portage Lake Little League squads, it would make sense that this group would struggle with team chemistry, but for this group, they all enjoy being together.

Levi likes the fact that he and his teammates are comfortable with each other and have learned to work things out together.

“We got hyped in the dugout a couple of times when we were down (in districts), but we came back and won,” said Levi.

For Geborkoff, getting to play with guys he has gotten to know well over the past few seasons has proven to be fun.

“It’s really fun,” said Geborkoff. “It’s much easier than having a bunch of new people coming in because you know how they play and their personality.”

Wes and his staff know little about their three opponents, but he trusts that his team will be ready, no matter what they face. To add to the challenge, rain is in the long-term forecast for Saturday and Sunday.

“Baseball is a simple game, throw the ball, catch the ball, hit the ball,” Wes said. “That being said, you are facing teams that all do that very well. The matchups are important, but at the same time, it is not letting the moment get too big.”

Geborkoff and his teammates know what they need to do to win.

“We have to play our hardest,” said Geborkoff. “We have to work our butts off, hit the ball and make good, smart plays in the game. That’s what we are aiming for.”

Pugh echoed his teammate’s sentiment.

“We just have to be mentally prepared for everything,” said Pugh. “The pitchers and the batters downstate are going to be very good. We just have to be prepared mentally to just do the same as them.”

Portage Lake will open the state tournament Friday with a game against Ash-Carleton, the District 16 champions after they defeated Blissfield, 5-1. The start time for that game is noon.

In their second game, Portage Lake will take on Escanaba, the District 10 champions, Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The final game of their pool play will be against Taylor North Central, the District 5 winners, Sunday at 9 a.m.

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