Keweenaw catcher Cam McColl awaits a pop fly during a Little League Majors District 11 baseball tournament game against Negaunee Wednesday at the Calumet Legion Field. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

CALUMET — Negaunee Majors baseball manager Joe Dost was waiting for a game like the one he saw his team play Wednesday evening at the Calumet Legion Field. Taking on Keweenaw in a battle of the last two unbeaten teams in the District 11 tournament, Negaunee scored one run in the first inning, then exploded for eight in the second, five in the third, and six in the fourth to punch their ticket to the championship game on Friday, 20-0.

“Our guys came out and they executed today,” Dost said. “Our 12-hitter had three hits today, and they were barrels. So, everyone in our lineup is dangerous, and they did their job tonight.

“I’ve been waiting for this offensive explosion for a while. We’ve had some flashes here and there, but really to see them with the right approach at the plate, that’s how they were successful tonight.”

Dost wasn’t kidding. His son Wyatt, the seventh hitter, went 2-for-2 with a walk and three runs scored. Kalen Johnson, the eighth hitter, went 2-for-3 with a three-run home run. Ben Paananen, the ninth batter, went 3-for-3, all singles, with three runs scored. Tanner Thompson, the 10th hitter went 1-for-3 with a run scored. Max Cody, the 11th hitter, went 1-for-2 with a run scored. Finally, Bazil Hill, the 12th batter, went 3-for-3, with three runs scored.

Keweenaw manager Josh Frantti felt that his team gave Negaunee chances early, and that proved costly.

“They’re a well oiled machine,” he said. “We kind of knew it, and we gave them a few outs early. You can’t do that against those teams. Credit to them, they pounded the ball well, and we used a bunch of pitchers just to get some kids some experience. We knew going into (the game) it was going to be tough, but we’re still alive.”

Despite the lack of success his team had, Frantti felt that his team learned a lot from the game.

“We didn’t want to burn anybody, and just get the kids some experience, move some kids around, and the kids stayed in it,” he said. “It’s tough when you give up that many runs, but it wasn’t like we were giving up a lot of errors. They were hitting the ball hard.

“The eighth guy’s hitting home runs, and it kind of is what it is. Hopefully we’ll have a good game tomorrow against Portage, and get to see them again Friday.”

Evan Cardinal got the lone run of the first inning for Negaunee. He reached on a bunt to lead off. A sacrifice by Jonny Juntti got him to third base. Then Thomas Dix singled to third, which brought Cardinal home.

In the second inning, Wyatt Dost led off with a double to the left field fence. Johnson hit a ground rule double over the center field fence to bring him home. Paananen then singled to center field, scoring Johnson. Thompson singled to left field. Cody doubled to the left field fence to knock in a pair of runs. Hill then doubled to center field, knocking in Cody and the lead was 6-0 at that point.

Cardinal doubled to left field before a Gavin Hermes sacrifice scored Hill. Nathan Harvala tripled to the right field fence, scoring Cardinal. Keweenaw switched pitchers, and Juntti welcomed relief pitcher Colton Bastian with a single to center field, which scored Harvala and pushed the lead to 9-0.

Negaunee nearly batted around again in the third. Wyatt Dost started things with a single to left field. Two batters later, Bastian came off the mound in favor of Tanner Frantti. Paananen singled to right field, scoring Dost. Two batters later, Cody walked. With runners in scoring position, Hill singled to right field, scoring both runners.

Then came an epic moment for Little League. Cardinal stepped to the plate and quickly went down 0-2. From there, he stretched the at bat to 17 pitches before tripling down the left field line all the way to the fence and scoring Hill in the process.

“It’s what we preach all year, and throughout Negaunee baseball,” said Joe Dost. “It’s a next pitch mentality. It’s never give up, it’s never say die. It’s keep battling until somebody tells you you can’t anymore. Evan is one of the leaders on this team, so for him to go up there and do that, and show everybody what it’s all about, that’s awesome.”

Zac Therrian replaced Tanner Frantti on the mound for Keweenaw after that at bat. Hermes greeted him with a single to left field, scoring Cardinal and pushing the lead to 14-0.

In the top of the fourth, Negaunee kept driving the ball hard, this time off of reliever James Haapala for Keweenaw. Maddox Halamka led off with a single down the right field line. Wyatt Dost walked, putting two men on when Johnson came to the plate. On the first pitch he saw, he drove a ball over the right field fence for a three-run home run. Paananen then doubled to the center field fence and later scored on a defensive error as Hermes got on base, which loaded the bases. Harvala doubled to deep center field, knocking in two more runs.

Up next

Negaunee will face the winner of Thursday’s game between Keweenaw and Portage Lake at 6 p.m. at the Calumet Legion Field Friday. If they win, they will advance. If they lose, they will play the same team again on Saturday at 2 p.m.