To the Journal editor:

Thanks to Houghton Daily Mining Gazette sports writer Daver Karnosky for the great coverage of the Negaunee/Marquette Little League Minors baseball matchup this week in District 11, and to The Mining Journal for printing the story.

The Marquette 10-11-year-olds played hard and never really let up all week. The three wins and a loss led them to playing Negaunee in the end, which is what they expected. Unfortunately, their bats weren’t aware how important it was to the kids and that was the determining factor when they met for the final game Thursday evening.

Marquette played hard in every game this week and had some great plays and hits, but Coach Duex was right, Thursday’s last game didn’t go quite right for the kids.

Marquette area parents, grandparents, dogs, kids and friends all supported the team for every game as well as being respectful of the other teams they played. Thanks to the parents who brought the tents those first few games in the 80-degree morning sun.

The Marquette supporters stood and clapped for the winning Negaunee team, and consoled their kids when they came off the field with the loss. It was a great experience and I’m glad we could share the week with everyone.

But the big “thank you” goes to Coach Pete Duex and his coaches. They drafted and worked with a dozen-plus kids who came from teams all over the area. They practiced and practiced and became a new cohesive team, ready for the tournament in South Range.

Pete and his assistants taught the kids new baseball skills and they taught them how to play together. They reassured the players when they didn’t succeed but tried a few fun tricks to show the team that, after all, it is a game and the kids loved it. I know my grandson is a better player after this week’s tournament and the rest of the kids are, too. Maybe we’ll do it all again next year.