WALK-OFF WINNER: Escanaba Boys Top Norway
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ESCANABA---Zahn Anderson's RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning helped the Escanaba Major Boys (age 11-12) Little League All-Stars rally past Norway, 6-5, on Sunday.
The win allows the Escanaba boys a spot in the district championship round against Kingsford on Monday. They'll need to beat Kingsford twice to advance to the state championship, which is exactly what the Kingsford boys did two years ago in the 9-10 Minor Boys bracket.
On Sunday, Escanaba fell behind 3-0 in the first inning, and 4-1 in the second inning, and 5-4 in the fourth inning, and rallied all three times.
Norway got the first inning after an error put a man on with two out. Kaleb LaPine snacked an RBI single, and Shane Buck followed with a RBI double to left field. Mikaiden Hughes then had trouble throwing strikes, and a bases loaded walk made it 3-0. That brought Joey Garcia into the game and he managed to get bthe third out, leaving the bases loaded.
Escanaba got a run back after Brody Ison tripled and scored on an error at third base.
Norway went in front 4-1 in the second inning when LaPine ripped a double, scoring Kaden Malone all the way from first base.
Escanaba tied the game in the bottom of the second inning, Alex Ison put down a bunt single and Anderson and Nick Martinson drew walks to load the bases. Andrew Juntilla hit a high fly ball to deep right field and it was missplayed by the fielder, and two runs scored.
Martinson also appeared to score, and was initially called safe, until the umpire noticed Martinson's hand was short of the plate. Juntilla scored on a wild pitch, though, so it was tied at 4.
Norway scored an unearned run against Escanaba relief pitcher Alex Ison in the fourth inning, but besides that, Ison shut the Norway boys down the rest of the game. He struck out five battters in the final two innings, including all three outs of the fifth inning.
Escanaba tied the game in the fifth inning as Tim Robitaille tripled and scored on a passed ball.
The N0rway pitcher Beau Maule, did a nice job of keeping his team in it, but the errors behind him not only put runs on the board for Escanaba...but drove up his pitch count. Maule reached his 85-pitch limit in the final inning, and had to leave wth a runner at third and one out.
Anderson came up and drove a 3-1 pitch to right field for a solid base hit, ending the game and leadng to a wild celebratuon as the Escanaba boys earned another shot at Kingsford.
The game starts at 4:30 ET/3:30 CT. It will be broadcast live on WCHT-FM (93.5) and WCHT-AM (NewsTalk 600) in Escanaba, and WMIQ-AM (1450) in Dicksinon County. The game will also be broadcast live on www.rrnsports.com.
