Kingsford Greens to defend state Legion crown
Negaunee wins Juniors LL title
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The Kingsford Greens American Legion baseball team will defend its Class A state title in Adrian beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern time Thursday.
The double-elimination tournament continues through the weekend.
The Greens of Kingsford Post 363 captured the Upper Peninsula Zone 5 title on Friday with 12-1 and 9-2 victories over Negaunee.
Andres Finley, Colin Olsen, Brad Bottesi, Jack Kriegl , Trent McLain and Garrett Brown were among the contributors on offense, according to a report from RRN Sports. Owen Baij and Mason Koski earned the mound wins.
The Greens won the Class A Michigan state championship a year ago with an 8-4 win over Stevensville-Lakeshore in Stevensville.
The Greens’ 2026 state tournament games will be broadcast live on WZNL-FM (94.3 The Breeze). The tournament field also includes Adrian Post 275; Hudson Post 180; Stevensville Post 568; North Branch Post 457 and Breckenridge Post 295.
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Negaunee captured the Michigan Little League Juniors (ages 13-14) state baseball championship with a 6-2 win over Southern (Grand Rapids) on Monday at Felch Field.
Negaunee went 5-0 through the tournament, posting wins of 4-3 over Roosevelt Park, 16-1 over Chelsea, 16-1 over East Jordan and 4-3 over Emmett on its path to the title game.
Iron Mountain North Area Little League was the host for the state tournament. Games were played both in Felch and at LiUNA Field in Iron Mountain.
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Kingsford will open against Mattawan at 2 p.m. Eastern time Friday in the Michigan Little League Majors (ages 10-12) state tournament in Tecumseh.
Also in pool play, Kingsford will face West Branch at 4:30 p.m. Saturday and South Portage at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The top two teams from each of four pools will advance to an eight-team single-elimination tournament that will take place Monday through Wednesday.
Negaunee is representing District 11 in the tournament while Kingsford is the District 10 champion.
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Gladstone and Marquette will represent U.P. districts in the Little League Minors (ages 8-10) baseball tournament that starts Friday in Harbor Springs.
Gladstone won the District 10 title with a 12-2 win over Norway on July 14 in Gladstone.
Norway shortstop Easton Amundson went 2-for-2 and drove in both runs for Norway and first-baseman James Carlson had a hand in all three put-outs in the first inning.
“James is a hustler,” Norway manager Zach Walker told the Escanaba Daily Press. “He attacks every ball. “We couldn’t hold on to the baseball in the second inning. That’s the first time that happened to us in the tournament. Although, we had been hitting the ball lately. Coming out of the loser’s bracket puts a strain on your pitching, yet the guys gave it their all. It was 104 degrees when we got here. It was hot, but both teams battled through it.”
Gladstone got all six of its hits in the second, including two-run singles to centerfield by catcher Carter Lovell and right by Tyson Beauchamp.