Keweenaw pitcher Tanner Frantti throws from the mound Monday in a District 11 tournament game against Marquette in Calumet. (Eddie O’Neill/For the Gazette) 

CALUMET — Little League postseason play continued with two Majors District 11 tournament games played Monday in Calumet. In the opener, Negaunee mercied Portage Lake, 10-0. In the second game, Keweenaw came from behind in their final frame to beat Marquette, 4-3. 

Keweenaw manager Josh Frantti said he wasn’t worried while his squad battled from behind the whole game.

“This was a game against two good teams,” he said. “Our kids don’t get rattled, and down by one or two runs, we knew that we could get back in this one, and we did.”

Marquette posted a 3-0 lead after two innings. In the first inning, catcher Leo Starkey earned his way on with a walk and crossed home several batters later to make a 1-0 Marquette lead. In the second, the boys in red scored two more times, thanks to Hayden Rundman and Max Bressette.

Keweenaw got on the boad with a run in the third. At the bottom of the lineup, Jensen Patrick slapped a base hit to left and later scored on a Cam McColl RBI. 

After a scoreless fourth by both teams, Keweenaw got within one of Marquette in the top of the fifth. Brooks Dessellier opened the frame with a triple, and crossed home a batter later after a Zac Therrian slugged his own three-bagger. However, the Keweenaw hit parade stopped there, and the boys in blue went down one, two, three. Marquette led at that point, 3-2. 

Keweenaw played strong defense in the bottom of the fifth and the sixth to keep their opponent at three. Meanwhile, their bats stayed hot in the sixth to tie the game at three, and take their only lead of the game at four.

The late-inning comeback began with Colten Bestian getting to first with a single. He made his way to third and with two outs, Andy Bjorn followed with a walk. A double steal had Bestian crossing home to tie the game at three as Marquette threw down to second to try and get Bjorn. Bjorn, however, did not stay on the basepaths for long as James Haapala came through with an RBI double deep to left center to put the Keweenaw squad up, 4-3. 

While Marquette threatened in their last frame with a runner on third, that is as close as they got. This one ended on a routine grounder to second.

“Hats off to the bottom part of our order who did a great job,” stated Frantti. “Game ball goes to Zac, Brooks and James who came through when we needed it.”

Negaunee 10, Portage Lake 0

Strong pitching by Negaunee proved to be the winning ticket in keeping Portage Lake from crossing home on Monday. In four innings of play, the Neguanee hurlers struck out six and allowed just three base runners – none of which got past first base. 

“We came out on the mound and threw strikes,” said Negaunee manager Joe Dost. “We were smart in how we pitched and played very well in the field.”

Neguanee started the game off with a four-run first. 

“That was big,” Dost added, “and it put pressure on the other team.”

Getting base hits and scoring that inning were Gavin Hermes and Thomas Dix. Joining them were Jonathan Juntti and Maddox Halampka, who both walked and scored as well. 

The Negaunee nine didn’t slow down in the second. Rather, they added six more runs. Opening walks to Ben Paaranen and Tanner Thompson led to them both scoring. Then came base hits by Max Cody and Bazil Hill which led to runs three and four of the inning. Hermes and Nathan Harvala capped off the scoring before the third out. 

While Parker Linna ended Negaunee’s no-hit bid in the third, that is as good as it got for Portage Lake. This one ended early after four. 

“It was a tough loss against a very good Negaunee baseball team,” stated Portage Lake manager Marty Thompson. “But we are a resilient team, and we will battle hard.”

Portage Lake’s Cal Johnson connects for a hit Monday in a District 11 tournament game against Negaunee in Calumet. (Eddie O’Neill/For the Gazette)