Portage Lake Majors Advance to State Semis – Wednesday Sports Wrap

Little League League Baseball

The Portage Lake Little League Majors team has advanced to the state tournament semifinals. Yesterday morning, Portage Lake eliminated St. Clair 4-1. Ben Keranen was the winning pitcher. He threw 58 pitches – 52 were strikes. They’ll face Roosevelt Park in the semifinals this morning at 10:00. Taylor North meets Bay City Southwest in the other semifinal this afternoon. The championship game will be played tomorrow at noon. If you would like to support the team’s trip downstate, you can contribute through their GoFundMe page here.

Twilight League Baseball

In Copper Country Twilight Baseball League play last night…
• REL-Mohawk Technology downed Northern Driveline 6-3.
• Brandon Norkol’s walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth inning gave Garnet Garage a 12-11 victory over Craig Heinonen Coldwell Banker.

Slow Pitch Softball

In Copper Country Slow Pitch Softball League action this evening…
• At Miller Memorial Field in Laurium, Pat’s Foods/Buckos takes on Auto Pro/Thermoanalytics at 6:30, then plays Downtowner Two at 7:30.
• At the Hancock Driving Park, Paul Hyrkas Construction faces Sayen’s Auto/Coca Cola at 6:30, then plays Bucko’s/Labatts at 7:30.

Fast Pitch Softball

The Copper Country Women’s Fast Pitch Softball League wraps up its regular season tonight, when Crush meets Superior Service for a make-up game at the Bone Yard in Lake Linden.

NBA

For the first time since 1971, the Milwaukee Bucks are champions of the NBA. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 50 points, as Milwaukee defeated the Phoenix Suns 105-98 last night. After dropping the first two games, the Bucks won four straight to take their first title since a young Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played for the team. Antetokounmpo was named the series’ Most Valuable Player.

NHL

The Seattle Kraken will have a roster by the end of the day. The new NHL team will submit the list of players it has selected in the expansion draft to the league office this morning. The choices will be revealed this evening. We published a list of the Detroit Red Wings’ protected and available players in Monday’s KeweenawReport.com Sports Wrap.

MLB

The Detroit Tigers won their fifth straight game last night, downing the Texas Rangers 4-1. In a game that started more than two hours late because of rain, Tarik Skubal gave up a run on four hits over six innings. Robbie Grossman and Eric Hasse homered.

The Tigers host the Rangers again tonight. Matt Manning will start against Jordan Lyles. Coverage will begin at 6:50 on 99.3 The Lift.

Excitement from the victory was dampened by the news that pitcher Spencer Turnbull will miss the rest of the season. Two months after throwing his no-hitter against the Mariners, Turnbull will undergo Tommy John ligament replacement surgery. Recovery from that operation typically takes 12 to 18 months.

The Milwaukee Brewers fell to the Kansas City Royals 5-2 yesterday. Brett Anderson gave up two runs on three hits over five innings. He left with the game tied. Hunter Strickland relieved him, gave up two runs in the seventh inning, and took the loss. Avisaíl García had three hits for the Crew.

Anderson was moved up in the rotation because Eric Lauer was sidelined with a fingernail issue. Laue is expected to start this afternoon’s game against the Royals. Brad Keller will pitch for K.C.

The Brewers have signed their top two picks in the recent MLB draft. Boston College outfielder Sal Frelick and Wright State second baseman Tyler Black have agreed to terms.

NHL

The Aaron Rodgers saga continues in Green Bay. ESPN is reporting that the Packers offered their star quarterback a two-year contract that would have made him the highest-paid player in the league, but Rodgers turned it down. Rodgers recently missed the Pack’s mini-camp for the first time in his career, and has indicated he would like to play for another team.

Golf

The Kermit’s Keweenaw Kids Golf Outing will be held Saturday at Sandy Pebbles Golf Course. The event is a three-person, 18-hole scramble. The cost is $30 per golfer, or $90 per team. Registration opens at 9:30 am with a shotgun start at 10:00. Proceeds will benefit the Kermit’s Keweenaw Kids program, which provides youth recreation and employment opportunities to Keweenaw County Youth. For more information or to register your team, call Bruce (Cukie) Coppo at 369-1880 or Mary Crampton at 337-1927. 

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