Knights knocked off: Norway sluggers sent home by Jeffers 4-1 in regional semifinal

IRONWOOD -- Ironwood's Lorenson Field has been good to the Jeffers boys varsity baseball team.

The Jets won their first district title in school history last week with a championship game victory over host Ironwood, and they scored another huge win Wednesday with a 4-1 extra-inning triumph over Norway to clinch their first regional final appearance.

"Before I was a little questioning having to come all the way back to Ironwood and play here, but I think I'd like to play every one of our games here now," Jeffers coach Luke Paul said.

The young Jets came up against one of the top programs in the U.P. in the Norway Knights. The Knights (17-9) were in a similar spot last year, picking up a semifinal victory over the host Red Devils, and they were favored again Wednesday.

It was the up-and-comers from Painesdale that prevailed, however, thanks to exceptional pitching and a big eighth inning that helped them forget about some missed opportunities earlier in the game.

"Norway's a really good team, so we knew it was going to be tough scoring off them," Paul said. "They play defense really well, all their kids have really strong arms. Good defense and strong arms make it really hard to score runs."

Jeffers struck first with a run in the fourth inning. Simon Rajala singled to lead off the inning and Trevor Halonen doubled to bring him home. He got to third, but they didn't try scoring him on a later fly-out to left.

The Jets threatened again in the fifth inning but came up empty, ultimately stranding runners at second and third. Their best chance to score came when they were sending a runner home on a single by Larson, but the runner fell after rounding third.

"Once the winning run fell down at third base, I was a little frustrated," Paul said with a laugh. "I wasn't quite sure what we were going to do next, but the guys kept their composure and they knew they were going to get that one more run, either then or in the eighth inning."

They could have used that insurance run as Norway got on the board in the fifth.

Knights left fielder Brent Lagina (1-1, R) singled with two outs and then stole second, advancing to third on a bad throw. That set up Alex Ortman (1-4, RBI) who drove him home on a single with two strikes.

Overall, Norway tallied six hits by six different players, including Lagina, Ortman, Ian Popp (1-4), Nolan Amundson (1-4) and Michael Peterson (1-3). Landon Amundson (0-3) drew the team's only walk.

While the Knights were finally on the scoreboard, the pitching duel continued. Norway stranded a runner at third in the bottom of the seventh, pushing the game into extra innings.

"We had a runner or runners in scoring position in seven of the eight innings and only managed one run," said Norway coach Tony Adams. "Just couldn't get multiple big hits and we had some untimely strikeouts."

Jeffers' rally started when Rajala hit a routine fly ball and it was dropped in centerfield. Halonen walked and the pitcher, Levi Frahm, brought home two runs with a double that got past the outfielder. He scored on a Norway error to make it 4-1.

"That just deflates everything," Adams said of the drop. "We're better than that. You get into this tournament you have to make the plays you can make and we broke at the end so we go home."

The key to the inning was putting the ball in play, according to Paul.

"We told the guys, you're going to see a lot of strikes, so it's being aggressive at the plate, swinging at balls that are hittable pitches and not swinging at balls that are above your head or in the dirt," he said.

Jets starter Frahm was so efficient with his pitches that he was able to face two batters in the eighth. He walked the first and got the second to fly out. Dean Jurmu came in to quiet the pressure situation and got the final two batters out to get Jeffers to the regional final.

"He mixed it up early on, but for the most part, he pounded the strike zone," Adams said of Frahm. "We had a couple opportunities, where two strikes we never got the bat off our shoulder. Too many fly balls, we were trying to lift it and you're not going to lift it out of his ballpark."

Frahm, a sophomore, only gave up one run, two walks and four hits. He struck out six. Only 105 pitches are allowed in a game, so he made the most of them.

"I just tried to throw strikes and let my defense make some plays and they did," Frahm said. "It kept me in as long as it did."

"We knew coming in here that you've got to throw strikes and that giving up free bases is what costs games," Paul said. "Our strategy from the beginning is throw a lot of strikes, let the defense help him out and our defense played great today."

Despite the loss, the Knights pair of pitchers were solid against the Jets. Starter Cole Baij tossed six innings and gave up just five hits and one earned run while striking out five. Jeffers got to Ortman, however, for three runs on two hits and a walk in his two innings of work in relief of Baij.

"Tough way to lose and end season," Adams said. "Both of our pitchers performed well today. Defensively, we had several breakdowns which put us in a hole. It's unfortunate, but at the end of the day, Jeffers made a few more plays than us and we came up short of our next goal.

"I'm disappointed for our two seniors and I am hopeful for our returning players," the Norway coach added. "Congratulations to Jeffers and we wish them the best on Saturday."

Jeffers will play Johannesburg-Lewiston in the regional final Saturday in Rudyard. The winner advances to the state quarterfinal, also Saturday in Rudyard. Maple City Glen Lake plays Rudyard in the other regional final.

And the Norway coach said fans shouldn't count Jeffers out, especially if they play like they did Wednesday.

"They pitched well," Adams said. "It came down to who made the play when it was hit to them and they made more of them than we did.

"We knew we were going to have to play well. And we broke down a few times and they didn't."

Jeffers will find out if Rudyard is as good to them as Ironwood has been.

Jason Juno is sports editor of The Daily Globe in Ironwood and can be contacted at sports@yourdailyglobe.com. Daily News sports editor Dennis Mansfield contributed to this report.