Click the thumbnails to see photos and video highlights, and click the AUDIO to hear comments from Escanaba's Cannon Arnt, Gogebic's Cjay Wainio, Westwood's Isak Ruspakka and Roman Yuhas, and Norway Coach/organzier Tony Adams.
ESCANABA---The Upper Peninsula High School Baseball All-Star game was held on Sunday, and it turned out to be a great experience for everyone involved. There were 31 boys from every corner of the Upper Peninsula split up into two teams: Team Michigan and Team Superior.
In the end, the game went into extra innings, and Team Superior held off Team Michigan, 7-6, at Escanaba's Al Ness Field. Both teams used multiple pitchers for an inning or two, and every boy played multiple positions in the field. The batting order was “roster batting” similar to Little League, with a;;l 16 Superior kids batting in order, and all 15 Michigan kids doing the same.
And the kids on both sides had the same attitude: this was a great day for Upper Peninsula basebal.
"It was a great experience," said catcher/pitcher Cjay Wainio of the Gogebic Miners, who will play at Century College this fall. "Everyone was great to me, and they were great teammates. Held your heads high up for them. I'm doimg good. Just a beautiful day for baseball."
Ditto, says pitcher/infielder Roman Yuhas of Westwood High School, who will come back to Escanaba to play at Bay College this fall.
"It was really cool, actually," Yuhas said. "I've never played against these guys, so it was kind of cool. It was definitely a good turnout and a lot of people came to the game. It was a fun game. Fun experience. Getting to know these guys was a lot of fun."
Team Superior, coached by men from Ironwood, Negaunee, and Rudyard, led, 3-2, in the fifth inning when Westwood's Isak Ruspakka smoked a triple to the outfield fence to bring home a run. He later scored on an error, making it a 5-2 game.
Team Michigan came right back in the sixth inning, Manistique's Britt Fain led off with an infield single, and he stole second base.
Negaunee's Tristan Slater surprised everyone by putting down a sweet bunt to the left side of the infield, and pitcher Ashton Rymkos threw the ball away trying to get Slater at first, allowing a run to score. Then after two walks, Norway's Owen Baij stepped to the plate with the bases loaded.
Baij came through with the two-run single, tying the game at 5-5.
Neither team scored in the seventh inning, so an extra inning was played. Each team, under the International Tiebreaker Rule, would start with a “ghost runner” on second base. In the top of the inning, Team Superior scored two runs on two errors and a booming double to the center field fence, making it a 7-5 game. But there was still a bottom of the eighth inning to come.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Team Michigan, coached entirely by the Escanaba High School coaching staff, went to work. Graham Johnson was the “ghost runner” at second base, and Marquette's Dezzy Gleason crushed a double into the left field corner, making it 7-6. With one out, Gladstone's Trevor Thorbhan bounced one into center field for a base hit.
Escanaba's Cannon Arnt, who never plays center field, charged the ball, and he let 'er fly. The throw was on target to catcher Cameron Varda of Norway. He tagged Gleason two feet before the plate, keeping the score 7-6. The game then ended on a strikeout, and a fun afternoon came to an end.
"It feels super-cool, last (high school) game on this field," Arnt said. "It feels nice to get MVP for Team Superior. Pretty cool way to earn it in the last inning, the eighth inning, had to thrwo the guy out at home plate. DezzyG! And we go back, too, from when we were little kids. So, it was just great."
Arnt was given the MVP award for Team Superior, both for that clutch throw, and for pitching a scoreless inning early in the game in his last high school game on his home field. Arnt also had an RBI single early in the game. Baij, meanwhile, was the MVP for Team Michigan. He had the clutch two-run hit late in the game that tied the game, and he also pitched a scoreless inning in the first inning.
There were a total of 25 strikeouts in the game between the two teams' slate of pitchers.
This was the second year for this All-Star Baseball game, with last year's inaugural event held in Norway. The 2027 event will be hosted by Gladstone, and the 2028 event will be played in Rudyard.
Norway Head Coach and event organizer Tony Adams says this great feeling ie exactly what they were trying to accomplish.
"To see all these kids out here, that was the point," Adams said. "Getting to know each other, play against each other. Wear their school colors for one last time. It's been a big success."
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