UPSET CITY!!! Jets, Eagles Pull Baseball Surprises

NORWAY---Nothing went according to script on Friday as the Division Four baseball district tournament was held in Norway.

The North Central Jets upset the Bark River-Harris Broncos, 9-4, and then the Stephenson Eagles pulled an even bigger surprise, 4-2, over the host Norway Knights.

Then the Jets won their first-ever baseball district, 14-4, over Stephenson.

In the morning game, the Jets jumped to a 3-0 lead against BR-H starter Matt Richer as Noah Gorzinski came through with a two-run single just out of the reach of two outfielders, bringing home Brady Eichmier and Shaun Gogolewski.

The Broncos closed to within 3-2 in the third inning as Richer got the base hit to score Logan Heim and Sam Hall. Cole Ray was thrown out at third on the play.

Things went south for the Broncos from there, however, as Ryan Arndt came in to pitch and the Jets scored five runs, with three BR-H errors and three walks helping the NCA cause. Kadin Mustafa and Hall also came in to throw for the Broncos.

NCA's final run came in on an RBI double by Ben Snyder, and it was plenty for senior pitcher Hunter Riley, who threw 103 pitches to get the complete game.

BR-H scored two runs off of Riley in the seventh inning as Hall singled home Heim and Mustafa, but that was as close as the senior-laden Bronco team would get.

In the second game, the Knights had a 2-0 lead when Parker Lasater got the RBI single and the Eagles left the bases loaded twice on called third strikes.

The Eagles also made seven errors on defense, but they hung in there as Norway could not capitalize.

Finally, Stephenson got on the scoreboard when Jesus Becerra sciored all the way from first base on a throwing error. Then several walks and wild pitches helped the Eagles take the lead, as Norway starting pitcher Trey D0da and reliever Micah Wilson both had trouble throwing strikes.

The Knights could not solve the pitching of Stephenson senior Alex Hanson, who will play for Bay College next season. Hanson made it to within one out of a complete game before reaching his pitch count limit. Brown got the final out on a fly ball to Ashton Barstow in right field, and then, the celebration was on for the Eagles.

Besides his pitching success, Hanson also had three hits at the plate.

In the championship game, the shorthanded Jets hit the ball well and took advantage of six more Stephenson errors to get the championship trophy. Gorzinski threw all six innings to earn the win, allowing four hits, striking out eight, and walking five.

Brown tossed four innings and took the loss, allowing seven runs.

Riley had four hits and drove in four runs for the Jets, with his final hit driving home the game-clinching run on the mercy rule in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Gorzinski backed up his own pitching by getting three base hits.

North Central will play in the regionals next Saturday against the Rudyard Bulldogs, in Rudyard. Game time is 12:00 ET/11:00 CT. It will be broadcast live on Eagle 107.3 FM and on-line at radioresultsnetwork.com.

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