GLADSTONE — Dakota Maki had quite a workout in Delta County Sunday.

Not only did he throw 27 pitches in Marquette’s 13-2 semifinal triumph over the Sault Ste. Marie-based Eastern U.P. Wood Ducks in Escanaba.

Maki then went the distance for the Blues in a 6-1 American Legion baseball triumph over the Menominee Red Wave in the Upper Peninsula Zone 5 championship game at Gladstone.

“I didn’t think I’d get a complete game, but my arm still felt good,” he said. “I tried to jam them inside to try to keep them off balance. I didn’t expect to get too many strikeouts. My plan was to pitch to contact and let our defense make plays. We played a good team game.”

He struck out eight, walked none and allowed five hits to the Red Wave and recorded two strikeouts, no walks and gave up two hits through 2 2/3 innings against the Wood Ducks.

This was icing on the cake for the Blues (22-8), who already received an automatic berth into this weekend’s state tournament by serving as host.

“We knew we had an automatic berth but didn’t just want to back in,” Maki added. “We wanted to earn our spot. They’re stronger than when we played them earlier. We’re not going to overlook them (Red Wave). Everybody’s pretty good once you get this far. We’re just happy to get the win and get to the state tournament.”

Menominee (8-13), which won last year’s U.P. tournament at Iron Mountain, was a surprise participant in Sunday’s championship game.

The Red Wave appeared to be on their way out after dropping 6-4 and 15-4 decisions to Dickinson County and were 1-2 heading into the last round pool play Saturday night.

The Greens were 3-0 in the tourney and trailing the Wood Ducks 7-2 in the sixth inning in their last game of pool play when it was detected they had used at least one ineligible player and were immediately disqualified.

Suddenly, the Red Wave were 3-0 in the tourney after getting two forfeit wins over Dickinson County, clinched the top seed in their pool and were headed for the state tournament.

Menominee then dropped a 13-8 decision to Gladstone Saturday before taking a 6-2 decision from Copper Country in Sunday’s other semifinal.

Marquette collected just three hits in the title contest, including a three-run double to leftfield by Hogan Nemetz for a 6-0 lead with two out in the second inning.

“Right off the bat, it was a gapper,” said Marquette manager Derek Swajanen. “Hogan has really done a phenomenal job in the last 15 games. After that, we felt pretty comfortable. Dakota did a great job, and everybody played solid. Defensively, we’re doing an excellent job. We’re peaking at the right time. The guys know what they have to do.”

The Blues scored twice in the opening frame and got their third run on a bases-loading walk in the second.

Marquette opened the scoring on Jakob Peterson’s sacrifice fly to center, and Maki made it 2-0 on a single to left.

Kaeden Calcari scored Menominee’s run on an error in the fifth.

“I’m proud of the kids,” said Menominee manager John Lauzon. “We played them last week and got beat 19-3. Swaj’ has a very good team. We’re always preaching to the kids the ‘game’s not done.’ We’re starting to hit the ball better, and we’re seeing it better.”

Copper Country qualified for the state tourney by rallying from an early 6-0 deficit to upend Eastern U.P. 13-10.

The Flames also rallied past Bark River 3-2 in nine innings and Escanaba 15-14 in pool play Saturday.

Esky led 10-0 after two frames before Copper Country took advantage of five errors and scored six times in the third.

The Cubs added a pair of runs for a 12-6 cushion in the fourth.

Copper Country answered with eight runs and took a 14-12 lead in its half of the fourth.

Esky’s Hunter Lancour scored on a fielder’s choice to make it 14-13 in the fifth and tied the score with a single to center in the sixth.

The Flames then sealed the verdict on Eli Oldt’s walk-off single in the seventh.

“Something I thought I’d never see in my life happened,” said Esky manager Jon Bintner. “We gave up two runs in the first two games.

“It’s a very disappointing way to lose and be out of the tournament. We did everything right in the first two innings. Then, it was like a snowball going down the mountain. Everything went south.”

Bark River was up 2-0 before the Flames tied the contest in the seventh. The Bucs (8-12) fell to Marquette 14-2 Friday night prior to their season-ending loss to Copper Country.

Gladstone (7-15) scored 10 times in the first two frames of its season-finale.

Menominee responded with six runs in the third and closed within 10-8 on Zach Starzynski’s single to left in the fourth.

Ryan Polley and Mason LaChance had two hits apiece for the Indians, who scored three times in their half of the fourth frame of a contest which the teams agreed to end after five.

“You always want to go out on a positive note,” said Indians’ manager Scott Kwarciany. “We told the kids this was still an important game, and the seniors wanted to leave with good memories. It was a tough season. We faced a lot of adversity. I appreciated the efforts of our coaching staff. We’re all first-year guys, and we learned a lot this season. We’re proud of the way we played in this tournament. We had some positives. It was a pleasure to coach these young men.”