Braves Execute 'Little Things' To Win District Title

NEGAUNEE---Little things mean a lot. Especially in baseball.

And the Gladstone High School baseball team did a lot of those "little things" right on Saturday, as the boys won two games to take the MHSAA Division Three district championship at Negaunee's Iron Town Field.

The Braves beat Negaunee, 8-3, in the district semifinals, and then they topped Houghton, 7-2, in the championship, earning a trip to the regionals in Traverse City.

Gladstone did many small things the right way. Like Braeden Lamberg and Tyson Seymour putting down excellent bunts to bring home runs.

Like right fielder Hunter Botruff backing up a play where a throw went wide of first base and hit the fence.

No error there!

Like Jake Peterson shaking off a sub-par pitching performance against Negaunee to return to the mound and slam the door against the Houghton Gremlins.

Those were just a few examples of why this young Gladstone team won a championship and improved to 25-9 on the season, with 14 freshmen and sophomores on the roster.

Final Out. District Champions!

And now, it's a trip to the regional tournament for the Braves.

"When we go down there, they're not going to be expecting us to do much," Gladstone Manager Don Lauscher said. "Last year, they were. But they know the kind of (young) team I have this year. It's going to be a major challenge for us, but we're looking forward to it. We will put in a good week of practice, and see what happens."

Gladstone overwhelmed Negaunee in the opener by getting off to a fast start. The Braves scored four runs in the second inning, with three of them coming on a bases-clearing triple by Peterson. On the mound, Peterson struck out the first four men he faced, but then, he struggled with walked. He managed only 3 1/3 innings of pitching.

"Some days, you just don't have it," Lauscher said. "He couldn't break it down in the zone, and couldn't get low in the zone. Walked a lot of guys."

"I just kind of lost it and my mechanics went kind of whack," Peterson said. "I talked to Kurt (pitching coach Lauscher) and my dad after the game, and they told me what I was doing wrong. When I went into the pen, I tried to correct it."

Brandon Cooper pitched the final 3 2/3 innings to save the opener for the Braves.

Houghton outlasted Alger County, 6-4, in the next game, setting up the title contest.

Gladstone scored a pair of unearned runs in the first inning, and then got the bats going in the second inning. Lucas Weinert got a one-out single, and then the Braves got RBI hits from Peterson, Ben Schwalbach, and Justin Jurek. That made it 5-0.

Jake Peterson RBI hit.

Houghton pitcher Cole Jepsen shut the Braves down for the next three innings, and the Gremlins started to rally against Gladstone pitcher Elliot Danhoff. Under 41-degree temperatures and 20 mile-per-hour winds, Danhoff struggled. He worked out of a bases loaded jam in the second inning, and stranded two men on the bases in the third.

Finally, in the fourth inning, Danhoff allowed a pair of runs on an RBI groundout by Jonathon Bostrick, and an RBI single by Brad Juntunen. Then in the fifth inning, Alan Jurmu was safe on an error and Pat Cartwright got his third base hit of the game.

Houghton had two on with one out, and Lauscher asked Peters0n to pitch again.

"When I went in the dugout and said 'Riz, what do you think about coming in and closing this thing out?," Lauscher said. "And he said, 'absolutely coach, I'm going to come in and redeem myself'. And boy, did he ever."

Peterson struck out two men to end that fifth inning threat, keeping Gladstone in front at the time, 5-2. Then he worked a 1-2-3 sixth inning. After the Braves took a 7-2 lead, Houghton got runners aboard on an error and a walk in the seventh inning.

Peterson got Caleb Carlson to pop up to end the district championship game.

"I found my release point," Peterson said. "I could work low in the zone, because they really can't do much with a low-in-the-zone pitch. That's about it."

Ben Schwalbach RBI double.

In the championship game, Gladstone had nine hits. The seniors, Peterson and Jurek, both had two hits. Seymour and Lamberg each had bunt singles.

"Our bunting has been outstanding," Lauscher said. "And that's compliments to Payton (Jurek) and Brian (Lauscher) as coaches who have been working hard with the bunting for these kids. It's a team effort. We've got to play small ball, because we're not going to overpower anybody, that's for sure."

Gladstone played without junior pitcher/outfielder Hunter Garling, who was an All-State selection last year as a sophomore.

Garling is sick with a viral infection, and missed the last three days of school, in addition to Saturday's district tournament games.

"I told the guys that we we were going with the mentality that Hunter was NOT going to be able to play," Lauscher said. "So, somebody is going to need to step up. And you know who really did today? Clay Cole (designated hitter). Kudos to him."

Gladstone improved to 25-9 on the season with Saturday's wins. The boys will travel to Traverse City next Saturday for the regional semifinals against Tawas.

The game time has not yet been announced. The game will be broadcast on WCHT-AM (600) and on-line at www.rrnsports.com. If it starts before noon, then the broadcast will be on-line only. We will post an update here when more information is available.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to hear interviews, see photos taken by Lori Jurek, and to see videos taken by Laura Lamberg.

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

4/11	1:00 PM	at Appleton North Lightning	1 - 9 (L)	0-1

4/11	3:30 PM	at Appleton North Lightning	0 - 16 (L)	0-2

4/17	4:00 PM	at Cadillac Vikings	7 - 4 (W)	1-2

4/17	6:00 PM	at Cadillac Vikings	6 - 3 (W)	2-2

4/18	11:00 AM	at Kingsley Stags	12 - 0 (W)	3-2

4/18	1:30 PM	at Kingsley Stags	6 - 3 (W)	4-2

4/20	4:30 PM	North Central Jets	ppd - rain (L)	ppd

4/21	4:30 PM	Negaunee Miners	7 - 5 (W)	5-2

4/23	4:00 PM	at Norway Knights	3 - 6 (L)	5-3

4/24	4:00 PM	at Grayling Vikings	2 - 0 (W)	6-3

4/24	6:30 PM	at Grayling Vikings	9 - 4 (W)	7-3

4/25	1:00 PM	at Charlevoix Rayders	2 - 7 (L)	7-4

4/25	3:00 PM	at Charlevoix Rayders	7 - 4 (W)	8-4

4/27	4:30 PM	Superior Central Cougars	19 - 4 (W)	9-4

4/27	6:30 PM	Superior Central Cougars	15 - 0 (W)	10-4

4/28	4:30 PM	Escanaba Eskymos	5 - 4 (W)	11-4

4/30	4:30 PM	Marquette Redmen	10 - 4 (W)	12-4

5/1	5:30 PM	at Peshtigo Bulldogs	6 - 7 (L)	12-5

5/2	12:00 PM	at D.C. Everest Evergreens	4 - 6 (L)	12-6

5/2	3:00 PM	at Wausau West Warriors	9 - 5 (W)	13-6

5/4	4:30 PM	Norway Knights	3 - 0 (W)	14-6

5/4	6:45 PM	Norway Knights	10 - 0 (W)	15-6

5/7	4:30 PM	at Escanaba Eskymos	4 - 5 (L)	15-7

5/9	10:00 AM	Hancock Bulldogs	10 - 2 (W)	16-7

5/9	12:30 PM	Hancock Bulldogs	19 - 0 (W)	17-7

5/11	5:30 PM	at Green Bay Preble	3 - 4 (L)	17-8

5/13	4:00 PM	at Negaunee Miners	10 - 0 (W)	18-8

5/13	6:00 PM	at Negaunee Miners	3 - 1 (W)	19-8

5/16	12:00 PM	at Green Bay Notre Dame	5 - 4 (W)	20-8

5/18	6:00 PM	at Crivitz, Wis.	4 - 3 (W)	21-8

5/19	4:30 PM	at Marinette Marines	7 - 1 (W)	22-8

5/22	5:00 PM	at Marquette Redmen	1 - 5 (L)	22-9

5/26	6:00 PM	Hancock Bulldogs	14 - 1 (W)	23-9

5/30	12:00 PM	at Negaunee Miners	8 - 3 (W)	24-9

5/30	5:00 PM	Houghton Gremlins	7 - 2 (W)	25-9

6/6	10:00 AM	at Tawas	3 - 2 (W)	26-9

6/6	4:00 PM	at Traverse City St. Francis	4 - 2 (W)	27-9

6/9	12:00 PM	Muskegon Oakridge	6 - 5 (W)	28-9

6/12	11:30 AM	at Buchanan Bucks	4 - 6 (L)	28-10