Photo courtesy of MHSAA

EAST LANSING---The Norway Knights baseball team ran into the defending state champions and a dominating pitcher on Saturday, and its dream season came to an end with a 10-0 loss to the Beal City Aggies in the MHSAA Division Four state title game at Michigan State University.

Cayden Smith threw a perfect game, allowing no Knights baserunners, in a game shortened by the mercy rule to five innings. The Knights were trying to win their first-ever state championship, and the first-ever for an Upper Peninsula baseball team. Norway was only the second UP team ever to make it to a state title game, with the 2006 Escanaba Eskymos being the other.
 

Norway Manager Tony Adams, who started the program from scratch 15 years ago, told MHSAA.com that his team accomplished a lot.
 

“We’re going to cherish it forever,” Adams said. “It was a heck of an accomplishment. We made school history, we made history for the Upper Peninsula, and today’s result isn’t going to diminish that. You can’t take that away.”

Jack Fussman had two hits and drove in four runs for the Aggies, who were the top-ranked team in the state all season and won the sixth state title in school history.

Smith struck out eight of the 15 Knights batters he faced. Owen Baij took the loss on the mound, as Norway finishes its season with a 28-4-1 record.

Click for the full MHSAA box score.