Norway Minor Boys Top Esky; Title Game Tuesday

NORWAY---The Norway Minor Boys (age 9-10) Little League Baseball team forced a winner-take-all district championship game by posting a 17-7 win over Escanaba Monday night at Marion Park.

Escanaba took a 3-0 lead in the first inning on five walks and a hit-batsman, but Norway's bats woke up and Escanaba's pitchers had trouble throwing strikes.

Norway was handcuffed in a 4-1 loss to Escanaba last Saturday, but on Monday, Norway got five base hits in the first inning.

Cole Baciak had a run-scoring hit, then Cameron Varda smoked an RBI triple. Varda was thrown out trying to score, however.

Escanaba got out of the inning when Owen Fields replaced starter Ashton Rymkos and got the final two outs. But in the second inning, Norway scored six runs as Fields and Grayson Davis combined to issue three free passes, and Baciak got another RBI hit.

In the third inning, Fields smacked a double to left field fence amd eventually scored on a groundout. But Norway scored five more runs in the bottom of the third to take a 14-4 lead on five walks and two hit-battsmen.

Escanaba avoided the mercy rule in the top of the fourth inning by scoring three runs on RBI hits by Taylor Asgaard and Lucas Hejmej. But Escanaba had a runner thrown out on a base hit to the outfield (just as Norway had earlier in the game).

But in the bottom of the fourth inning, Norway put the game away with three more runs as the Escanaba defense fell apart.

Escanaba used four pitchers in the loss. Rymkos retired just one batter in the first inning and threw 22 pitches, making him ineligible to pitch Tuesday.

Fields went one full inning, throwing 20 pitches, keeping him eligible to throw in Tuesday's game.

Davis will also be eligible because he threw 16 pitches. Asgaard threw the rest of the way, using 76 pitches before the game ended on the mercy rule. For Norwya, Owen Baij threw 2/3 of an inning, walking five batters and allowing three runs. He threw 35 pitches.

Offensively, Norway leadoff hitter Landon Ross was on base four times and scored four runs. Varda, who will likely pitch in Tuesday's game, had a triple, two singles, and scored three runs. Baij also had three runs batted in for Norway.

Escanaba had five hits by five diiferent players.

The championship game is set for Tuesday night at 7:00 ET/6:00 CT at Marion Park, with the winner advancing to the state tournament this weekend in Bay City. Tuesday's game will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (NewsTalk 600) and rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos, videos taken by Anna Boutilier.