ESCANABA---The Escanaba Cubs American Legion baseball team scored four runs in the third inning and Cannon Arnt threw a complete game on the mound, adding up to a 6-3 win over the Post 44 Legion Blues from Marquette Friday night in Escanaba.

The win moved the Cubs into the Upper Peninsula Zone Tournament semifinals on Saturday against their rival Gladstone Indians, while the Blues were eliminated with a 1-2 record in pool play. The Blues will still play on, though, in the state tournament at Haley Field next weekend, with Marquette as the host team.

Escanaba sent ten batters to the plate in the top of the third inning, taking advantage of a couple of close calls on the bases that frustrated the Blues, and Manager Mark Pantti.

A balk call against Blues starting pitcher Aiden Steele was also pivotal in that inning, a call that Pantti also vehemently disputed. In fact, Pantti went out to talk with the umpires on four different occasions in that inning, and later argued for an interference call.

He did not win any of the arguments, although earlier, it was Escanaba's turn to be upset when the Cubs appeared to have a run on a sacrifice fly.

An out was recorded at second base for a double play, and the ruling initially put the run on the board. After a lengthy conversation between the umpires, the Escanaba run was taken off the board.

Escanaba took full advantage in that third inning, as Steele became increasingly frustrated with the strike zone. Eli Gardner, Adrian Mercier, Bon LaChance, and Bryce Blixt all had run-scoring hits in that inning, leading to Steele being replaced by fellow Negaunee Miner Owen Cardinal on the mound.

Cardinal did well in long relief, keeping his team in the game until the Cubs scored two runs late in the contest. For his part, Arnt was effective, using 103 pitches to throw all seven innings, scattering six base hits, walking just one, and allowing one earned run.

The Blues got run in the fourth inning on back-to-back Cubs errors, but Arnt retired the side 1-2-3 after that. In the fifth inning, Braiden Noskey led off with a single, but was quickly erased on a 6-4-3 double play. Cardinal followed with a hit, but Logan Peterson grounded out to third base to end the threat,

In the sixth inning, Blake Walther led off with a double, went to third on a very long fly ball to center field off the bat of Easton Miller (stiff wind blowing in kept the ball in the park). Gibby Jezewski's ground ball brought in that second run, making it 4-2.

The Cubs got two insurance runs in the seventh inning because of walks, a hit batter, a Blixt infield hit, and a sacrifice fly off the bat of rookie Graham Johnson.

The Blues (16-10 overall) made last stand in the bottom of the seventh after Arnt easily retired the first two men he faced. Cardinal got his third base hit of the ballgame to keep it going, and he advanced on a bad throw. He scored on an RBI single by Logan Peterson to make it 6-3, but the game ended when Walther flew out to center field.

Escanaba, after an 0-3 start to the season, has won 14 of its last 17 games, and now has a 14-5-1 record. The Cubs face Gladstone in the Zone Five semifinals Saturday at noon. The game will be broadcast live on FM-93.5, AM-600, and at www.rrnsports.com.

The other semifinal will see the Norway Vikings take on the Eastern U.P. Wood Ducks.

As for the Blues, they'll get ready to host the Class A state tournament next weekend. The six-team tournament will start on Thursday, with four downstate teams joining the Blues and whoever wins the U.P. Championship on Saturday.

The festivities begin with a banquet Wednesday night at Lakeview Arena.

The Radio Results Network will have extensive live coverage of the state tournament. Stay tuned for details.