MARQUETTE — Negaunee took a hit in the Little League Senior Division baseball state tournament on Sunday, but this team of current and future Miners will still advance out of pool play at the event being held in Grand Rapids that started on Friday.

That’s because Negaunee opened with a 10-0 win over Kimball-Emmett, then eased past Taylor North 6-3.

Sunday morning’s result was an 11-8 setback to host team Grand Rapids Southern.

Nevertheless, Negaunee’s 2-1 record is enough to advance from the initial eight teams involved in pool play into the semifinals, where this team of 15- and 16-year-old players will be back on the diamond at 10 a.m. today against Hillman, team manager Jeremy Steele said on Sunday afternoon.

If Negaunee wins this morning, it advances to the state championship game to be played this afternoon, either at 3 p.m. or 4 p.m.

Negaunee got to the state tournament by defeating the Calumet-based Keweenaw team twice on June 30, both games finishing with 10-0 scores, to clinch the District 11 title. In the opener, Negaunee’s Tristan Slater threw a one-hitter, while in the clincher, Aiden Steele tossed a no-hitter.

At the plate, Owen Cardinal and Aiden Steele each had a double and single in the opener, Steele also collecting three RBIs, while in Game 2, Slater had a double, single and two RBIs, while Logan LaJoie had three singles and Brayden Gleason two singles and three RBIs.

Here are some details from each of Negaunee’s games at the state tournament as provided by Jeremy Steele:

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Negaunee 10, Kimball-Emmett 0

On Friday, Aiden Steele was the winning pitcher as he and Evan DellAngelo both worked on the mound for Negaunee.

Steele had a key early hit, plating two runs when he hit a first-inning single with the bases loaded. He finished 2 of 3, while Gleason was 3 of 4 with a double and an RBI.

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Negaunee 6, Taylor North 3

On Saturday, Negaunee had a stiff test, facing a Detroit-area team that won the Senior Little League state title in 2023 and had several players from a 2021 national LL World Series winning team.

Cardinal was the winning hurler, allowing no runs on just two hits as he struck out two. Slater and DellAngelo worked in relief, each also fanning a pair.

Gleason singled and had two RBIs, teammate Devin Jurmu had a double and RBI and Nash Barabe singled in his team’s first run. Cardinal, DellAngelo, Slater, Killean Ryan and Aiden Steele each had a single.

Manager Steele also noted that his team threw out runners at the plate three times — on a throw in from leftfielder Gleason, on an attempted suicide squeeze bunt and on a defensive play when runners started on first and third bases.

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Southern 11, Negaunee 8

On Sunday, facing the host team, Manager Steele said both he and his GR Southern counterpart were saving their pitchers after previously insuring their spots in the semifinals.

Nevertheless, DellAngelo hit an over-the-fence homer to centerfield in the first inning while going 2 for 4 with an RBI. Cardinal collected two singles, while Jurmu doubled with three RBIs and Ryan had a pair of singles.

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Marquette, Ishpeming in tough spots

Both Marquette County teams in the Little League Major Division state softball tournament being held in Marquette opened with losses on Saturday and Sunday.

The 14-team tournament is being held at three adjacent fields at the Kaufman Sports Complex in north Marquette.

Marquette and Ishpeming each have one more game today in hopes of finishing in the top four in their pools, which is necessary to reach the event’s quarterfinals.

Marquette opened with a 14-1 loss to Escanaba on Saturday, then lost to Alpena 3-0 on Sunday morning.

Their final game in Pool B is against Edwardsburg at 3:30 p.m. today.

Ishpeming fell 18-1 to St. Clair on Saturday, then lost a heartbreaker to Plymouth-Canton 10-9 in nine innings on Sunday afternoon.

Ishpeming’s final Pool A game is against Rogers City at 12:45 p.m. today.

Marquette may have an easier time advancing as the host team is in just a six-team pool, meaning only two teams from their group won’t continue on.

Ishpeming, however, is playing in an eight-team pool, meaning four teams won’t be able to advance.

The other Upper Peninsula team involved in this event, Escanaba, has won both its games quite handily, the Saturday victory over Marquette and a 19-1 win in three innings over Edwardsburg on Sunday.

The Delta County team has a 10 a.m. game today against Grosse Pointe, with a likely advancement to Tuesday’s quarterfinals coming out of Pool B.

Here are other scores from Saturday’s games:

Pool A — Midland Bullock Creek 10, Jackson Southwest 4; Parchment 13, Plymouth-Canton 1; Georgetown 12, Rogers City 2

Pool B — Edwardsburg 18, Huron 1; Grosse Pointe 4, Alpena 0

Here are the other scores from Sunday:

Pool A — Georgetown 10, Jackson SW 0; St. Clair 11, Rogers City 0; Bullock Creek 10, Parchment 1

Pool B — Grosse Pointe 18, Huron 0

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