Norway's Owen Baij delivered two singles and combined with Cameron Varda on a no-hitter as the Knights defeated Pickford 6-0 on Wednesday in an MHSAA regional semifinal. (Courtesy photo)

Norway pitchers Owen Baij and Cameron Varda held Pickford hitless as the Knights advanced to the MHSAA Division 4 regional final with a 6-0 win Wednesday at Mike Maule Field.

“Owen really set the tone for the game on the mound with 12 strikeouts and Cameron backed it up,” said Norway coach Tony Adams. “Combined no-hitters are pretty cool.”

Baij worked 4 2/3 innings, walking two. Varda pitched through the seventh walking one, fanning two, and hitting two batters. The Knights played error-free.

Norway (21-7) will play Hillman at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time Saturday in Rudyard with a state quarterfinal game to follow at 3 p.m. Mio and Painesdale Jeffers are meeting in the other regional final at 10 a.m.

Hillman (20-9) won its regional semifinal 6-5 over Harbor Springs Harbor Light Christian.

Norway cracked 10 hits against Pickford, including a double and single by Elliott Kraemer and two singles by Baij. Varded added a triple and Maddex Burklund doubled.

Contributing singles were Tobi Anderson, Carter Cazzola, Tristan Lessor and Landon DeBakker. The Knights drew four walks, got hit by three Panthers’ pitches, and left 12 baserunners stranded.

“Our offense did enough but 12 runners left on base is way too many,” Adams said. “We talked this week about opportunity and now we have an opportunity to defend our regional title, which is exciting.”

The Knights are seeking a third straight trip to the MHSAA state tournament in East Lansing.

In other action Wednesday, North Dickinson (10-6) fell to Painesdale Jeffers (15-7) by a score of 10-5 in a regional semifinal at Felch.

The Nordics had claimed a district title with a 7-3 win over Gogebic on Friday in Bessemer. Trent Kramer pitched a complete game for the Nordics with 5 hits and 8 strikeouts in 100 pitches against Gogebic.

“He was close to his pitch count at the end there, but later into the game, the more efficient he got and a lot less pitches he threw,” North Dickinson coach Ken Pekarek told the Ironwood Daily Globe. “He did well for us.”

Trailing 3-2 against the Miners, North Dickinson scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Jason Graham, Mason Florenski, Hayden Grunlund, Caiden Crites and Kramer all came around to score as the Nordics batted through the order.

Wednesday, June 3

MHSAA Baseball

Regional Semifinals

Division 4

Norway 6, Pickford 0

Painesdale Jeffers 10, North Dickinson 5

Division 3

Hancock 3, Menominee 2

Division 2

Escanaba 10, Petoskey 0, 5 innings

WIAA Baseball

Regional Finals

Division 4

Gibraltar-Washington Island 10, Florence 4

Rib Lake 12, Laona-Wabeno 1, 5 innings

Division 3

Kewaunee 10, Crivitz 0

WIAA Softball

Sectional Semifinals

Division 5

Wausaukee 4, Rosholt 0

Athens 15, Elcho 0