WILD RIDE CONTINUES: Flames Walk Off Again

Click the above headline for details, photos, videos. Also hear interviews with Kade Farrell, Menominee Manager John Lauzer, and pre-game comments.

MARQUETTE---It was just one week ago that the Copper Country Flames American Legion Baseball team trailed the Escanaba Cubs, 10-0, in a U.P. Zone Five tournament game in Escanaba.

Now, one week later, the Flames are two wins away from a state championship.

The Flames won that game against Escanaba, 15-14, then rallied from a 6-0 deficit the next day to beat Sault Ste. Marie, 13-10, in the U.P. third place game, punching their ticket to states.

Well, here in Marquette, the Flames won two more games at the state tournament on Thursday, and they did it in dramatic fashion. The Flames beat Chief Pontiac out of Metro Detroit, 2-1, and then topped Menominee, 1-0.

"This is remarkable," Flames Coach Wes Frahm said. "We'd rather not be in that position. But we're here.We had some hits but didn't have the clucth hit until the very end there.

"But it was good, we good pitching from Levi (Frahm) and then our bats got it at the end."

"We're all feeling good right now," Flames pitcher Kade Farrell said. "We didn't even expect to get to states after that Escanaba 10-0. But to be here and to win the first two games it feels amazing."

In the first game, Brandon Norkol's sacrafice fly in the seventh inning broke the 1-1 tie.

Then in the afternoon agaginst Menominee, Kade Farrell and the Red Wave's Ethan Russell hooked up in a pitcher's duel all afternoon long. Finally, in the bottom of the seventh, Nick Horning drew a leadoff walk and Cam Cischke got a base hir to left field.

That was all for Russell, who reached his pitch count. Andrew Shroeder tried to get the game to extra innings, but gave up a hit to Farrell.. With the bases loaded, Frahm again lifted a fly ball to center field for a walk-off sacrafice fly.

Menominee had plemty of chances to score against Farrell, but they stranded ten baserunners. They also had two runners thrown off the baees in the third inning. Seven of the ten runners that the Red Wave stranded were in scoring position.

Farrell struck out seven batters and allowed five hits. He walked three batters in a complete-game effort.

"Definitely, the curveball was working really good today," Farrell said. "And then I was just trying to get first-pitch strikes and get up in the count on them."

Russell took the tough loss, giving up just two hits in six innings. He walked six batters, with the last one being the killer. Russell struck out six batters.

"He had them off-balance for the whole game," Menominee Manager John Lauzer said. "But I always tell my guys, never walk the lead-off batter, which he did in the last inning. But he pitched well for me today. We kept saying in the dugout: will somebody please get a two-out hit? But we just stranded too many runners. We needed that two-out hit."

Menominee plays in the loser's bracket against Chief Pontiac at 8:00 CT/9:00 ET Friday morning. The game will be broadcast on WHYB-FM (103.7) and on-line at https://streamdb5web.securenetsystems.net/v5/index.cfm?stationCallSign=WHYB

Copper Country plays Marquette in the winner's bracket Friday at 5:00. The game will be broadcast on WUPT-FM (100.3 The Point). Listeners in the Keweenaw can listen at https://streamdb7web.securenetsystems.net/cirrusencore/WUPT