GRAND RAPIDS — Negaunee won its third straight game at the Little League Junior Division baseball state tournament on Monday before its season ended a day later in the semifinals of the event held in the Grand Rapids area.

Negaunee edged Petoskey 7-6 on Monday to end pool play with a perfect 3-0 record, easily qualifying for the semifinals. On Tuesday, Birmingham blanked Negaunee 7-0 in a game that was 1-0 entering the seventh inning.

Earlier in pool play of this tourney for 12- to 14-year-old players, the District 11 representative scored a 3-1 win over Constantine on Saturday and a 6-4 victory over Croswell-Lexington on Sunday.

“It was a tough pill to swallow,” Negaunee manager Jeremy Steele said in an email following the loss to Birmingham. “Our boys played very good baseball for the entire … tournament and I am very proud of them and their parents for taking the time and effort to support our team by bringing the boys to practice and games, taking time out of their busy work and life schedules, and raising funds to help alleviate the expenses generated by traveling.”

He also cited the importance of several individuals and area businesses that donated to make their trip possible.

“Without their generosity, we may not have been able to pull this off,” Steele said. “We even had donations from coaches and parents from Marquette baseball, our toughest opponent, which I thought was very classy.”

Birmingham went on to beat Western, the host team, 3-2 in extra innings in the state championship game on Tuesday evening.

Here are details of Negaunee’s final two games:

—————-

Negaunee 7, Petoskey 6

On Monday, manager Jeremy Steele and his coaches had a balancing act on their hands, both wanting to win the game but also preserving their pitchers’ arms due to pitch-count rules for what could’ve been two games to be played the following day.

“Our goal that (game) was to preserve several of our more seasoned pitchers for the semifinals, and finals if necessary,” Steele said in an email. “We accomplished that.

“We pitched Mason Swenor, who only pitched two innings the entire year prior to (this) game. He did great and got 17 outs for us, pitching to weak contact. They only scored two runs off him.”

The Negaunee offense also came through as Morgan Robar collected two singles and an RBI while scoring a run. Teammate Aiden Steele had a double, single and four RBIs, while Tristan Slater had a single, walk and RBI.

——————–

Birmingham 7, Negaunee 0

On Tuesday afternoon, Birmingham came in with exceptional defense and pitching, according to the Negaunee manager, though the Upper Peninsula squad trailed by just a single run until the final inning, when Birmingham erupted for six runs.

Aiden Steele went the first six innings, striking out six, and he also started the seventh, being replaced after Birmingham opened with two singles and a hit batsman to load the bases. Subsequent errors and walks led to the eventual winners’ big rally.

Offensively, Steele, Slater and Evan DellAngelo each had two singles, but Negaunee couldn’t get on the scoreboard as it stranded 10 runners, including seven in scoring position, the manager stated.

“We had our chances, but we couldn’t get our hits at the right time,” Jeremy Steele said. “Momentum swept away from us several times at the worst times, such as a line drive in left field that nearly took the fielder’s glove off when he jumped to catch it.”

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.