Members of the Negaunee Irontown 12U team pose for a photo after winning the Great North Open on June 14, 2026 at Karl Dickson Field. (Adam Hinch/Daily Press)

ESCANABA — Maddox Halamka made his presence felt during the 12U Great North Open this weekend. Halamka hit a trio of home runs over the weekend as he helped lead Negaunee Irontown to a 9-2 victory over Thunder Bay in the championship game.

“They were throwing my favorite pitch low and inside and I was able to put the barrel on it and drive it,” Halamka said. “Our bats really came together and our defense has been very good as well”

Negaunee started off the scoring in the first inning against Thunder Bay as Bryce Chapman scored on a wild pitch and Bazil Hill scored on a RBI-single by Ben Pietala to put Irontown up 2-0.

Negaunee added to the lead in the top of the second inning as Atley Smith and Halamka each had run producing singles as Negaunee extended the lead to 5-0.

In the fourth inning Wyatt Dost had an RBI-single followed up by a one-run single by Halamka to put Negaunee up 8-0.

Thunder Bay got on the board in the bottom of the fifth as Tucker Zwolinski connected on a two-run double to cut the deficit to 8-2 but couldn’t get anymore runs across as they fell to defeat.

Negaunee advanced to the championship game defeating Kingsford 13-0. Halamka had three of his nine RBIs in the victory and was 2 for 3 at the plate with a single, double and a walk.

Bryce Chapman had three doubles in three appearances at the plate in the contest with one of them scoring two runs.

Thunder Bay advanced to the championship game but not without a lot of hard work and a big challenge by Gladstone as Thunder Bay took the early lead on a two-run home run by Evan Prevo.

Gladstone tied the game in the bottom of the first. Mason Holochwost drew a bases-loaded walk and Hank Doyen had an RBI-single to tie the game.

Gladstone took the lead in the second inning as Trent Beauchamp had a two-run double and Elliott Pankonien had an RBI-single and had a run score on a wild pitch to put Gladstone up 6-2.

The Gladstone lead did not last long as Blake Somers had a lead-off single for Thunder Bay and after a single by Chandler Parker put runners on first and second. Prevo connected on another pitch driving it out for a three-run home run to tie the game at six then took the lead on a two-run single by Tyler Gajewski and Thunder Bay led 10-6 after three innings of play.

“I was just looking to make contact,” Prevo said. “We just knew we had to hit the ball and I got a pitch I could drive and got it out.”

Thunder Bay extended the lead to 12-6 as they went to the bottom of the fourth where Gladstone scored four runs to cut the deficit to 12-10 but that would not be enough.

Escanaba had a rough weekend in the tournament but found themselves on the right side of the scoreboard in a consolation game against Oconto Falls. Brock Gagnon was 2 for 3 in the game but scored when the Oconto Falls catcher stood in front of Gagnon taking the contact and dropping the ball allowing Gagnon to score.

“We hit the ball well and it worked out for us,” Gagnon said. “We did a good job throwing strikes and fielding the ball and really shut them down late.”

The Bears held Oconto Falls to two runs over the last three innings to pick up the win.