SAGINAW, Mich.---The Negaunee Major Little League All-Stars (age 10-12) won their second state tournament game on Saturday in dramatic fashion, beating West Branch, 5-4, in seven innings, to earn a spot in the state quarterfinal round.
Kallen Johnson's RBI double over the left fielder's head in the bottom of the seventh inning gave Negaunee a walk-off victory in a game that was played well by both teams.
Negaunee had grabbed an early 3-0 lead in the second inning, taking advantage of a pair of West Branch errors after Evan Cardinal executed a bunt single to start the inning. Wyatt Dost had an RBI single and Basil Hill drove in a run with a groundout.
West Branch didn't give up. A Trent Little RBI single in the third inning put the District Eight champions on the board, and then in the fourth inning, Lucas Wakeman bounced a bases-loaded single into the outfield to bring in two runs, tying the game at 3-3.
Cardinal got into a groove on the mound after he gave up that hit, He struck out six straight batters and did not allow a hit the rest of regulation time.
With the game still tied after the regulation six innings, the international tiebreaker rule was used, so each team started their half inning with a runner on second base. West Branch was able to punch a run across the plate on a Tayan Wangler ground ball, bringing Brody Lomason home from third base,
It was Negaunee's turn in the bottom half of the seventh inning. Tom Dix continued his hot hitting by smoking a shot down the left field line to bring home Nathan Harvala with the tying run. Then Johnson stepped up and cranked the first pitch he saw to the left field fence, bring home Dix (after he stumbled around third base) with the winning run.
Negaunee had only six hits in the game, but those two decided the outcome, eliminating West Branch from the tournament and leaving Negaunee at 2-0 in pool play.
Negaunee is guaranteed a spot in Monday's quarterfinals regardless of how they do in Sunday's final pool play game against Ira Township. That game will start at 1:00 and will be broadcast live on FM-100.3 and on-line at www.radioresultsnetwork.com.
