The Marquette Legion baseball team poses with its trophy after defeating Escanaba to win the Upper Peninsula Zone 5 Legion Championship on Saturday, July 23, 2022, in Escanaba. (Justin St. Ours/The Daily Press)

ESCANABA — It has often been said good things come to those who wait.

Marquette was rewarded for its patience here Saturday while retaining its Class A American Legion Zone 5 baseball title in a 12-7 triumph over the Escanaba Cubs.

The Blues (13-6) will try to defend their state title at downstate Trenton this weekend.

“The boys practiced patience all weekend, which comes from their senior leadership,” said Blues manager Mark Pantti. “We’re deep with experience. Many of these guys have been around for five years. I think we’re primed and ready for back-to-back runs.”

Esky qualified for the state tournament for the first time in six years by upending pre-tourney favorite Copper County 14-7 in Saturday’s semifinal contest at Al Ness Field.

“We can only be happy with the way this turned out,” said Cubs manager Jon Bintner. “Copper Country is a tough team to beat. We’re definitely excited to be going to the state tournament. It comes down to when we make the plays, we win. If we play a solid defensive game, we can hang with people. One thing that gets us in trouble is walking and hitting batters. We did a good job battling back. We fought right to the end.”

Marquette eliminated Gladstone 10-3 in the other semifinal at Don Olsen Field.

The Blues finished with just five hits but took advantage of seven walks and five errors.

Esky drew within 8-6 by scoring three times in the fourth inning.

Marquette answered with four runs in its half of the inning when the Cubs made two of their miscues.

“They’re a good team,” said Pantti. “Our goal was to get ahead of them and stay ahead.”

Esky scored its last run on a single to right-centerfield by Jack McEvers in the seventh.

Eli Gardner got the Cubs on the board first by scoring on a wild pitch. McEvers then gave them an early two-run cushion on Chase Cloutier’s ground out to second base.

Kyle Frusti brought the Blues within 2-1 on a balk in the opening frame. Pete Vandenvondt tied the score on an error, and Dakota Maki’s two-run double to left gave them a 4-2 lead.

Marquette extended its lead to 8-2 in the second before Cloutier scored Esky’s third run on a wild pitch in the third.

Trent Turchin trimmed Esky’s deficit to 8-4 on Nick Chiu’s ground out to second in the fourth. A sacrifice fly to right by McEvers made it 8-5. Bon LaChance then got the Cubs within a pair on a wild pitch.

The Cubs collected 10 hits, including a pair by Matt Kavin.

Cloutier, who pitched 3 2/3 innings, absorbed the loss. He struck out three, walked seven and gave up 12 runs.

In the semifinal against Copper Country, the Cubs’ lucky number seemed to be seven.

Esky went up early with seven runs between the first and second inning, and after Copper Country added four of its own in the bottom of the fourth to cut its deficit to 7-4, piled on seven runs in the top of the fifth to put the game out of reach for the tournament favorite.

LaChance finished the semifinal with three RBIs and two hits. McEvers, Tony Derkos and Turchin each collected two RBIs.

LaChance earned the win over four innings, striking out six and allowing five hits, five runs (two earned) and four walks. Chiu pitched three in relief, allowing four hits, two runs and three walks while striking out one.

Copper Country collected nine hits and three RBIs. It allowed 13 hits, 14 runs (seven earned) and six walks while striking out six across three pitchers.

In the opposite semifinal, Gladstone scored one run in the top of the fourth to tie it at 3, but the Blues exploded in the bottom, putting six runners across the plate for a 9-3 lead to seal the game before exiting the inning.

Gladstone’s Casey Alworden finished with two RBIs and one hit, and Noah Peterson picked up one RBI and one hit.

John Soderman took the loss for the Indians over three and one-third innings, allowing three hits, eight runs (three earned) and six walks while striking out two.

Aedan Creten and Carter Sanville pitched the remainder, striking out two and allowing two hits, two runs (one earned) and two walks between them.

Marquette’s Parker Maki allowed nine hits, three runs and three walks while striking out six.

Keith Juidici collected two RBIs and one hit, and Frusti, Dakota Maki, Parker Maki and Peter VandenAvond all notched one RBI.