Click the AUDIO buttons to hear interviews with Elliott Kraemer and Owen Baij
NORWAY---The Norway High School baseball team cruised to 6-0 win over the Pickford Panthers in the MHSAA Division Four regional semifinal Wednesday night at Marion Park. The Panthers did not get a base hit as seniors Owen Baij and Cam Varda combined to throw a no-hitter.
“We came out swinging the bats well,” Knights senior Elliott Kraemer said. “We made a lot of contact, got on base, were smart on the bases, and didn't make small mistakes. We just played our game, that we know we can play, to our full potential. We're just hoping to keep it rolling.”
Baij was in complete command, striking out ten of the first 12 men he faced. Baij walked two men in the bottom of the fifth inning, but Varda came in and got a ground ball to end that threat. In the sixth inning, Varda walked a man and hit two others with pitches, but he got a strikeout to get out of that jam.
Varda then threw a 1-2-3 seventh inning to send the Knights into the regional final this Saturday in Rudyard. Those five baserunners were the only ones that Pickford got the entire evening. The Panthers season ended with a 19-7-1 overall record.
Baij was pulled at 74 pitches to keep him available to pitch in Saturday's regional final (plus, he was losing steam on a hot afternoon). He struck out 12 batters and walked two in 4 2/3 innings of work.
“I was feeling great,” Baij said. “My slider was working really well. It was working well from middle-to-outside. It was just kind of unhitable.”
Baij was staked to a 2-0 lead before he even threw a pitch in the first inning.
“It definitely helped a lot,” Baij said. “It made me more comfortable. It made me feel better on the mound.”
“When you have a pitcher that's throwing like Owen was, and you have to make minimal plays on defense, it makes your life so much easier,” Kraemer said. “It takes a little bit of stress off of everybody. I think they put four balls in play, and we made the play every single time.”
Meanwhile, Norway (21-7 overall) took advantage of five Pickford errors to get the victory. Carter Rye took the loss, allowing six runs (three earned) in five innings before reaching 96 pitches. Gunnen Benin threw the final two innings for the Panthers.
Kraemer led the Norway offense with a single and a double, and Landon DeBakker squeezed home a run with a bunt in the fifth inning. Carter Cazolla and Tristin Lessor also executed bunts in that fifth inning as the Panther defense struggled to deal with the “small ball” of Knights Manager Tony Adams. Varda added a triple at the plate.
The Knights are hoping that their current winning streak will lead them on another trip to the state's Final Four at Michigan State University, where the Knights' season ended last year in a shutout loss to Portland St. Patrick.
First up will be a regional championship game Saturday against the Hillman Tigers (20-11). The Tigers upset Harbor Light Christian, 6-5, in Wednesday's other semifinal.
“Nothing comes easy,” Kraemer said. “We've got a younger team, so we're going to get ourselves put into a lot of different scenarios. Everyone's just got to keep their heads on straight and make plays.”
“It's pretty cool,” Baij added. “We've been there before. I think we can go down there and win it, definitely, and then go back to states, hopefully.”
Saturday's game starts at 11:30 CT/12:30 ET in Rudyard.
