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Thursday May 16, 2024
SHINING SASQUATCHES: Fox Cities Win Tourney

IRON MOUNTAIN---The 49th annual Upper Peninsula Hardball Classic came to an end on Sunday in Iron Mountain, with the Fox Cities Ssquatches winning another championship. The Sasquatches won the title for the eighth time since 2010.

The tournament, which ran its forst 47 years in Felch before moving to Iron Mountain's Ranger Field, drew seven teams this year. Games began on Saturday and wrapped up with semifinals and finals on Labor Day Monday.

In the semifinals, Appleton squeezed past Hortonville, 2-1, and Fox Cities blanked Langsdorf, 8-0, setting up the winner-take-all championship game.

It was tight all the way through. In the third inningm, Fox Cities took the lead when Tyler Friss walked and scored on a triple by Courtney Watkins.

But Appleton tied it in the fourth inning when Derek Hall walked to leadoff the inning and scored on a sacrafice fly by Alan Williams.

It stayed 1-1 until the bottom of the sixth, when John Hendrick and Trent Whitcomb ked off with singles, and Justin Hallock walked to load the bases.

Aaron Moody followed with a two-run double to break the tie, making it a 3-1 game. A Brian Henschel groundout brought home another run, then Kevin Kangas singled home the final run to make it 5-1.

"This was a lot of fun," Moody said. "I should come here every year. I'm so happy. It's funny, I've been feeling confident in my swing the whole weekend, but I've been struggling trying to match up with my pitches. In that final AB, everything came together. I was relieved to just put the barrel on the ball, and luckily, it was the go-ahead hit."

That was plenty for relief pitcher Luke Watson, who struck out seven batters in three innings out of the bullpen, including two in the final inning.

Moody was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, while Hall, Appleton's pitcher, was named Most Valuable Pitcher.

The other three teams in the tournament, who did not make it to Monday's Final Four, were the Iron Mountain Golds, and two Delta County-based teams made up mostly of Bay College players.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos from Monday's championship game.









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