Click the thumbnails to see photos and video clips, and click the AUDIO buttons to hear post-game comments from Tanner Thompson, Kalen Johnson, and Manager Joe Hermes.
MIDLAND---The Negaunee Junior Little League All-Stars (age 13-14) used strong defense and added just enough offense to pull out another nailbiter at the Central Regional tournament in Midland on Friday afternoon.
Negaunee rallied from a 2-0 deficit midway through the game to battle for a 5-4 win over the Tri-Cities Little League out of Kearney, Nebraska. The future Miners are now just two wins away from a trip to the Junior Baseball World Series.
“Just keep battling,” Negaunee Manager Joe Hermes said. “That's what it boiled down to. Just keep battling every inning, one inning, one pitch at a time. We held our composure, and the boys did just that.”
And they did it by being opportunistic, and by being clutch in pressure situations. Just as they did against Petoskey in the sectionals, twice in the state tournament in Felch, and even in the win over Wabash, Indiana, here in Midland. Negaunee is finding ways to take advantage of walks, wild pitches, and the occasional timely base hit.
So far, it's working, and nothing seems to rattle these guys, nine of whom are 13 years old after winning the Michigan state championship in 2025 as 12-year-olds.
The Nebraska state champions appeared poised to take control of the game in the first inning when a single and a hit batter put two on with no outs against Negaunee starting pitcher Thomas Dix. Kearney's Nolan Arnold smoked a base hit to right field that looked like it would bring home the first run of the game.
But Negaunee right fielder Tanner Thompson, one of the smallest guys on the team, came up big with a throw to the plate in plenty of time for catcher Johnny Juntti to tag the sliding runner. And then, a bonus, as Juntti threw to third base to get a second runner.
“It was right to me,” Thompson said. “He was going, and I got under it, and I got him out. It (felt) amazing. That was big because we had two outs, and a guy on second, and we got out of it.”
“It was very exciting,” Negaunee pitcher Kalen Johnson said. “It was a nice throw and a nice catch. And then a nice snap (by Juntti). It does a lot. It just makes you very excited, and it lets you stay excited throughout the whole game.”
“Just unbelievable,” Hermes said. “I've seen him do this many times throughout the years, and he sure showed up today. Just picking up the morale of the boys. And it let everybody know that the defense has the backs of the pitchers.”
Nebraska had two men on base in the second inning, but Dix got an inning-ending strikeout. And in the third inning, they had a runner at first when Trayven Greiss hit a soft fly ball to center field that was caught by second baseman Evan Cardinal. Cardinal then had an easy toss to first base to end the inning with another double play.
Negaunee, for the second straight game, used multiple pitchers with an eye on future games. And for the second straight game, it worked. After Dix gave up a lead-off single in the fourth inning, he was replaced by Gabe Kangas, who gave up a pop-fly RBI single to Triple Rodriguez and an RBI double to Braylon Jansen. Negaunee was down, 2-0.
Negaunee did not get a base hit in the first three innings of the game. The Miners did get five baserunners on four walks and a hit batter, but could not take advantage of those runners. Finally, in the bottom of the fourth inning, Juntti had a line drive base hit to center field. He eventually scored on a throwing error to make it a 2-1 game.
The Miners managed to take the lead in the fifth inning. It started with two walks and a dropped third strike to load the bases. Ben Paananen was hit by a pitch to force home the tying run, Gavin Hermes hit a grounder that brought in the go-ahead run, and Nathan Harvala came through with an RBI single to give Negaunee a 4-2 lead.
Johnson was asked to get the last six outs on the mound, and he did, but it sure wasn't easy. In the sixth inning, he walked three batters, but allowed only one run (on a Jaxson Helgoth grounder). Johnson got a called third strike to get out of the inning.
Negaunee got that run back with an RBI single from Eli Daavetilla in the bottom of the sixth inning, but they stranded the bases loaded. The 5-3 lead was put to test in the top of the seventh inning when Johnson hit two batters, threw a wild pitch, and gave up an RBI single to Jansen. That cut it to 5-4, and runners were on second and third with one out.
“I wasn't putting my arm back all the way, and I wasn't following through with every pitch,” Johnson admitted.
“Kal is a wonderful player,” Hermes said. “I've seen him perform in many big minutes before. He's closed the door many times before. He's earned that opportunity. He said he wanted the ball. So, I'm going to give him the ball and trust him. We ended up sending him (on enough pitches to make him ineliglble to pitch anymore in this tournament), which is a bummer. But we had to win today to stay in the winners bracket.”
That's when Thompson stepped up again. Cooper Drake hit a fly ball to right field that appeared to be deep enough to bring home the tying run. But Thompson uncorked another throw to the plate, and the runner stayed put. The throw did hop hard off the ground, the umpire, and high off the backstop, but stayed close enough for no advance.
“It felt good when I let it go, and I wish he would have went because I would have got him at home again,” Thompson said. “But I got it back at the end a little bit.”
An intentional walk loaded the bases with two outs. Johnson got Greis to hit a weak grounder in front of the mound. Johnson got it, threw to first, ending the game, and ending the Miner Nation's anxiety, at least for the rest of the night.
“We just had to keep battling through the whole game,” Johnson said. “Our bats at the beginning of the game weren't good. We're not really used to slow pitchers. Our team doesn't do good against them.”
The 10-team tournament is now down to six teams, and two more teams will be eliminated in Saturday morning loser's bracket games. Another team will be knocked out in a loser's bracket final early Saturday afternoon. So, when Negaunee takes the field at 5:15 Saturday afternoon, there will be just three teams left in the tournament.
“It's just amazing because this group of nine people who were here last year (at regionals) didn't win any last year,” Thompson said. “So, we got to win two here and it feels really nice.”
“Way better than last year,” Johnson said. “Last year, we couldn't do anything. We just didn't do good. We only put up one run. But this year, we've put up quite a bit (13 runs in two wins). “
Negaunee will face the Illinois State Champions from Elmhurst, which defeated the host Midland Bullock Creek team, 7-6, Friday night. The game will be broadcast Saturday afternoon on FM-100.3 and on-line at www.radioresultsnetwork.com.
