MARQUETTE – Now the Ishpeming 9- and 10-year-old Little League baseball team will have to do it the hard way.

An 11-1, four-inning loss to Portage Lake on Wednesday in Marquette put the local club into the loser’s bracket final at 6 p.m. today in Marquette against Penokee Range of Ironwood.

To capture the district title, Ishpeming must now win today, then beat the champion of the winner’s bracket, Portage Lake of the Houghton-Hancock area, twice on Friday and Saturday.

“We had some butterflies and were tight,” Ishpeming manager Marc Bottari said after the loss to Portage Lake. “I think the idea of being in the winner’s bracket got to us a little.”

Portage Lake put Ishpeming on the ropes early with a five-run first inning highlighted by a pair of run-scoring singles by Matthew Isaacson and Simon Rajala, as well as a double by Levi Frahm.

“The first inning was huge,” PL manager Wes Frahm said. “To bat around and score five runs, that gave us some confidence. It set the tone.”

Said Bottari: “That took some wind out of our sails. It was hard to battle back after that.”

The winners added three runs in the second for an eight-run lead.

“The tires on the truck got flat (in that inning),” Bottari said. “(Portage Lake) hit the holes and we couldn’t get our bats going against their strong pitching.”

Portage Lake starter Dylan Primeau pitched 2 1/3 innings, striking out five in the process.

“He threw a lot of strikes. He also threw a couple of curve balls,” manager Frahm said. “He played with the Majors all season, though he’s only 10.”

Ishpeming notched its run in the second. Garrett Sundberg reached second on an error, went to third on a wild pitch, then stole home on a catcher’s throw to the pitcher.

Portage Lake added a run in the third on an Ishpeming error.

It then made it a 10-run difference for the mercy rule with a pair of markers in the fourth, one on another Ishpeming error and the final run on an RBI groundout by Brent Heinonen.

Heinonen scored three runs, while Levi Frahm and Cameron Cischke had two apiece for Portage Lake. Markham posted two of the winners’ nine total hits.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Wes Frahm said. “We hit the ball well and our pitchers threw strikes.”

Craig Remsburg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 251. His email address is cremsburg@miningjournal.net.