SOUTH RANGE — The  Michigan 2021 District 11 Little League All-Star Tournament continued on Wednesday at the South Range ballpark with both Ishpeming and Negaunee advancing to the semifinal round.

Ishpeming downed Marquette 9-3, and Negaunee dominated Penokee, 16-0.

In the opening game, Ishpeming came out swinging and never stopped. They opened with a three-run first inning with big hits coming off the bats of Jimmy Mattila, Jaeden Pole and Ethan Marta.

“We got our bats rolling finally and were able to generate some runs,”said Brian Mattila, manager of the Ishpeming squad. As well, our defense was pretty solid.”

Pitching was equally strong as Ishpeming’s Payne Etelamaki mowed down the first 12 batters he faced. Marquette did not get their first hit in the game until the fourth inning and that was off the bat of Easton Dellies.

By that time in the game, however, the boys from Ishpeming had added an additional six runs in the third and led 9-0 after four. It would stay that way through five.

However, in the sixth, the Marquette bats came alive. Taylor Manis earned his way to first with a walk. Luke Korpi brought him in on a double and Mason Hartz followed suit with a single. In the end, it was a three-run rally but not enough to catch Ishpeming.

In the second game it was all Negaunee as they shut down Penokee 16-0 in four innings. The Negaunee All Stars scored two in the first, three in the second and two more in the third to make it 7-0. Then came a nine-run fourth inning which included a grand slam by Evan Dellangelo.

“Everyone swung the bats well,” said Negaunee head coach Dean Leece. “Evan had a double and a triple before his grand slam. So that was phenomenal.”

Meanwhile Negaunee pitching shut down Penokee at the plate, allowing just two hits.

“This was a total team effort as the focus was there throughout the lineup,” added Leece.

Tournament play will wrap up on Saturday with the championship game set for 1 p.m. at South Range.

First Game

Ishpeming 306 000 0 — 9

Marquette 000 000 3 — 3

Second Game

Negaunee 323 9 — 16

Penokee 000 0 — 0