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Gladstone Tops Norway To Take 'Yooper 9-10' Title
 ESCANABA---The District Ten Little League All-Star season is underway, with the championship game of the Yooper 9-10 boys baseball tournament being held Monday night in Escanaba. The Gladstone boys rallied past Norway, 9-4, to win the trophy. Norway took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run single by Ryan Erickson. Gladstone scored two unearned runs in the bottom half to tie the game before Norway grabbed a 4-2 lead in the second inning on a two-run base hit by Alex Ortman.  First baseman Tucker Carlson fired the ball home, and pitcher Nathan Young blocked the plate and applied the tag on the runner for the double play. Gladstone took the lead with four runs in the bottom of the third. Carlson smoked an RBI triple into the left field corner, and John Soderman brought him home with a squeeze bunt, making it a 6-4 game. Then in the fourth inning, Gladstone's defense came up big again when left fielder Jonathon Weinert made a catch then threw a laser to home plate for another double play. Casey Alworden added a nice catch in right field an inning later. Gladstone put the game away in the fifth inning with a two-run hit by Drew Hansen. Young made it through five innings on the mound before Little League's 75-pitch count kicked in. But it was a nice effort considering he had 42 pitches in the first two innings and gave up four runs. Ortman took the loss for Norway, going 3 2/3 innings. Young was 3-for-3 at the plate for Gladstone. Tyler Darmogray added two hits. Norway was limited to five base hits by Young, and in the final inning, by Darmogray. This was the 23rd year for the Yooper Tournament, which was started by the late District Ten Administrator Karl Dickson. The teams will all get going again after the holiday next Wednesday (July 6th) when the district tournaments begin.  |
