Copper Country Family Dentistry pitcher Bradley Juopperi delivers a pitch during a Portage Lake Little League Majors semifinal game against South Range VFW Thursday at the South Range VFW Fields. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

SOUTH RANGE — With the sun tucked behind the clouds and the threat of rain looming, South Range VFW used a big second inning and nine straight runs total to put their Portage Lake Little League Majors semifinal matchup with Copper Country Family Dentistry away early. South Range remained undefeated with the win, 11-4, Thursday evening at the South Range VFW Fields.

Copper Country could not come up with an answer for South Range starting pitcher Cal Johnson. Johnson came up with eight strikeouts before he reached his pitch count.

To add insult to injury, he also had three singles and scored three times in the game. Much to the delight of his coach, Kurt Larson.

“He’s an awesome player,” Larson said. “From running the bases to pitching to hitting, he’s irreplaceable.

“He’s tough to hit off, so when you start with him, it gives you a big advantage.”

The big third inning that put the game out of reach was started by South Range’s eighth hitter, Leeland Roberts. Roberts led off with a single. He was tagged heading to second when Lander Kilpela reached on a fielder’s choice. Owen Asiala reached on an error. Johnson singled, as did Benett Larson. All four baserunners scored before the inning came to an end.

Leading 6-0 heading into the bottom of the third, South Range managed another three runs.

With one out, Kendrick Kilpela singled. Roberts then drilled a ball to the center field fence and legged out a triple on the play, scoring Kilpela. Lander Kilpela then walked.

Bradley Juopperi stepped in to pitch for Copper Country at that point, replacing starter Parker Linna. Two batters in, Roberts scored on a double steal and Kilpela got third on a defensive error. Two batters later, Kilpela scored on a passed ball and South Range led 9-0, with just one run needed to close out the game.

While Roberts did not score in the second inning, his bat came through with that timely hit in the third. He later added another single to go 3-for-3.

“You know, this is his first year ever playing baseball, so he had some great hits this year,” Kurt Larson said. “That one almost to the fence … it’s good to see a kid like that get a nice hit.”

That’s when Copper Country’s bats came alive. Landon Kinnunen led off with a double down the third base line. Linna followed with a single, scoring Kinnunen. Then Bradley Juopperi doubled to left field, scoring Linna. Juopperi scored on a sacrifice by Jameson Johnson and suddenly it was a 9-3 game for South Range.

“The kids showed up,” said Copper Country coach Dan Juopperi. “They played hard like they have all year. They (South Range) have some good hitters, and they got hot right out of the gate and (we) just couldn’t slow them down.”

Still, he was happy to see his team find a little success.

“They always keep it positive like they have all year, and hitting is contagious,” Dan Juopperi said. “We’ve played baseball long enough, you’re never out of it. We started clawing back, and they just have too much pop in our lineup. We couldn’t close the gap.”

The higher-seeded South Range squad got a run back in the bottom of the fourth. Ryer Helminen walked. He stole second and third before scoring on a defensive error.

In the bottom of the fifth, South Range added one more insurance run. Johnson singled to center field with one out to start things off. He stole second on a passed ball. A sacrifice by Benett Larson moved him to third, and then he scored on a passed ball.

In the top of the sixth, Copper Country managed to pick up one more run as they tried to close the gap. Levi Nordstrom singled to second. He then stole second. He moved to third on a passed ball, and scored on a sacrifice by Linna.

South Range scored twice in the opening frame. Johnson knocked a one-out single into center field. He then stole second. Benett Larson singled to center field to knock Johnson home. Larson then stole second and scored on a defensive error.

Up next

South Range will take on Pepsi of Houghton in the championship game on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the South Range VFW Fields.

South Range VFW’s Leeland Roberts swings at a pitch in the third inning of a Portage Lake Little League Majors semifinal game against Copper Country Family Dentistry Thursday at the South Range VFW Fields. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)