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COMEBACK COMPLETE!!! Esky Boys Win District
 Click the thumbnails to see photos from the game, a video of the Escanaba celebration, and hear post-game comments from Esky's coach and pitcher Jayce Braun. NORWAY---The Escanaba Minor Boys (age 9-10) Little League All-Star team completed a long trip through the loser's bracket to win a district championship Wednesday night, 6-0, over Norway on the road at Marion Park. The Orange and Black won five straight games after an extra innings loss to Gladstone, and will advance to the state tournament in West Branch.  Blake Gagnon got the final out to end the tournament. "I just came into this game, I was thinking, like, I've got to throw some strikes," Braun said. "I've been pitching for a while, and that's what I did. I just took all that pressure off of me. If I throw balls, I throw balls. But my main goal was to just throw them right down the middle, and then I hit the ball a couple of times." Escanaba made a remarkable run through the districts, without playing a single home game. The boys lost a heartbreaker in extra innings to Gladstone after leading that game, 5-1. But Escanaba came back to win over Tri-County, then pulled out an exciting 10-9 win over Kingsford. They got revenge over Gladstone, and then beat Norway twice. "We lost to Gladstone, and you lose sometimes," Braun said. "But we came back and we wanted to win. We had good coaches and we've been practicing for probably a week." And now the Escanaba boys are headed downstate. The boys will open state tournament play in West Branch on Friday, July 21, with their first game against the District Two champions out of the Kalamazoo area. The first pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on the 21st.  |
