OH, WHAT A FEELING! Broncos Win First District

BARK RIVER---The Bark River-Harris High School baseball team won its first-ever district championship on Friday, beating Stephenson, 8-0, in the semifinals, and then beating Norway in a heartstopping title game, 3-2, in Bark River.

The Broncos advance to play in the regional tournament next weekend in Rudyard.

Left-handed pitcher Sam Hall was clutch, throwing four shutout innings in relief of Matt Richer, who threw the first three.

The game wasn't decided until Norway's Ryan Menard smoked one back up the middle with runners at the corners and two out.

Hall reached out and caught the hot shot, setting off a wild celebration.

"Well, I fell behind, 2-0, on the guy," Hall said. "I just had to get it over the plate. I left it up and out, and he laced it back at me. I somehow caught it, right in the side (of his hand), and kind of trappoed it against my chest. And that got us a district title!"

Hall believes that he got a little help from above on that play as well.

"I had a recent family passing (his grandfather) earlier this week, so I felt like I had some help with me, too," Hall said. "It was a big play and it got us our first district title."

Norway led, 2-1, in the fourth inning, before Logan Heim doubled home Kadin Mustafa to tie the game. Cole Ray followed with a shot up the middle past a diving Kevin Evosevich at shortstop, giving the Broncos a 3-2 lead that was in danger several times.

The Knights loaded the bases in the fifth inning, but Hall got Micah Wilson to hit a fly ball to Jace Briggs in center field.

Then in the seventh inning, Hall walked two batters, but he got the next two to fly out to Ryan Arndt, who was now playing in center field.

Justin Bal and Micah Wilson shared the pitching duties for Norway.

Earlier in the day, the Broncos cruised past Stephenson, 8-0, as Mason Korhonen threw five innings, allowing just one base hit. Hall pitched the final two innings for the save. Heim had four hits in the game, including a two-run double that made it a 3-0 game. Arndt had a two-run triple in the fourth inning to make it 5-0.

Jesus Bucera had the Eagles' only hit, and Alex Hanson took the loss, pitching 4 1/3 innings before reaching his pitch count. Bryce Tharp finished on the hill for Stephenson.

In the second semifinal, Norway eliminated North Central, 3-0, as the Knights' Dane Vandenheuval outdueled Jets pitching ace Dawson Bilski.

Vandenheuval allowed only three base hits: to NCA's Jason Whitens, Bobby Kleiman, and Dalton Hancheck.

Norway scored on an RBI triple by Wilson in the fifth inning, followed by a sacrifice fly by Evosevich. The third Norway run came home on a throwing error in the sixth inning. While Vandenheuval pitched the entire game for the Knights, Bilski was relieved by Hunter Riley with one out in the seventh inning. Bilski allowed five base hits.

UP NEXT: The Broncos will play in their first-ever regional tournament next Saturday in Rudyard against the winner of the Pellston district. The game is scheduled for 1:00, and will be broadcast live on WUPF-FM (Eagle 107.3).

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos from the Broncos-Knights game. Also, click the AUDIO buttons to hear replays of our post-game interviews with players and coaches.