The Gladstone Major Boys (age 11-12) overcame a strong Munising pitcher to win, 6-2.

The Gladstone Minor Boys (age 9-10) had an easier time with Munising, winning, 10-1.

And the Gladstone Major Girls (age 11-12) rallied four runs in the fifth inning and beat Kingsford, 7-4, to advance to Sunday's district championship game.

All in all, it was a successful day for the boys and girls wearing purple and white.

MAJOR BOYS DISTRICT---For the longest time, Gladstone was in danger of losing this opening game because of the pitching of Munising's Clayton Smith.
 

Munising pitcher Clayton Smith.

Smith was on his game, mixing his pitches and keeping Gladstone batters off-balance. He struck out ten batters in the 3 2/3 innings that he worked. That's right. All ten outs that were recorded with Smith on the mound came via the strikeout.

Meanwhile, Gladstone pitcher Quinn Downey battled early problems to keep his team in the game. Munising got hits from Cade Contreras and Alec Blank in the first inning, but could not score.

Then in the second inning, Ryan Pond was safe on an error, Jayden Johnson was hit by a pitch, and Dylan Seaberg drew a walk to load the bases.

Tyler Mareno followed with an RBI single to give Munising a 1-0 lead. And the bases were still loaded with no outs. But Downey wiggled off the hook by getting a strikeout, a fly ball, and a pop up to get out of the inning trailing by just one run.

Gladstone tied the game in the bottom of the second inning. Jim Greenlund singled, advanced on two wild pitches, and scored on a hit by Jacob Wachholtz. And from there, it was a pitcher's dual between Downey and Smith.

Until the bottom of the fourth inning. That's when Smith fell victim to fatigue by issuing a pair of walks and another hit to Greenlund. Smith also fell victim to Little League's pitch count limit of 85 pitches. And Gladstone took advantage of the pitching change.
 

Gladstone's hitting hero, Bryce Cooper.

Bryce Cooper, who did not start the game and was batting for the first time, greeted relief pitcher Alec Blank with a hard-hit shot to left field. It bounced past the left fielder, and when the play was over, three runs scored and Cooper had a huge three-run triple.

"He (Coach Brady Downey) told me to be patient and watch his signs," Cooper said. "I was worried that I would strike out, so I kind of blinked. Then I hit the ball and saw it flying to the outfield, so I just started running."

Cooper scored on an error later in the inning and Gladstone led, 5-1. Greenlund got a triple in the fifth inning, his third hit of the game, and then he scored on a grounder by Wachholtz.

That made it 6-1. Munising got an unearned run in the sixth inning, and Downey came up one out short of a complete game.

Mark  Madden came on to get the final out. Gladstone will face Tri-County on Sunday in the winners bracket, while Munising will battle Escanaba in the loser's bracket.

Click the thumbnails in the "ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS" box to see pictures from the Gladstone Major Boys game against Munising.

9-10 BOYS DISTRICT---Saturday's other Gladstone-Munising match-up did not have the same drama that the Major Boys had. Gladstone scored three runs in the first inning as Zach Hanson, Justin Malmstead, and Caden Alworden all had hits and scored runs.

Gladstone's lead grew to 4-0 in the second inning when Ian Terrian singled and scored on a hit by Hanson. Gladstone scored three more runs in the third inning as Alworden singled, Peyton Fedell doubled, and Drake Forest singled. The boys could have scored more runs in that inning, but they got three runners thrown out on the basepaths.

Munising's only run came in the third inning when Anthony Mattson singled and scored on a hit by Skyler Anderson. Gladstone put the game away with a run in the fourth inning on a Forest RBI hit, and three more runs in the fifth as Cole Hansen got a triple, Connor Lemberg got a single, and Zach Hanson got another hit.

Zach Hanson went 4-for-4 in the game.

Gladstone's 9/10 boys will face Escanaba at 7:00 Sunday night at Escanaba's Dickson Field. The winner of that game will advance to the district finals in Norway. Munising will play Tri-County in Sunday's loser's bracket game at 5:00.

MAJOR GIRLS DISTRICT---The Gladstone Major Girls (age 11-12) earned a rematch with Escanaba on Saturday, but it took a late rally to beat the Kingsford All-Stars, 7-4.
 

Kingsford pitcher Cierra Dober.

Gladstone trailed, 4-3, entering the bottom of the fifth inning before the girls finally got to Kingsford pitcher Cierra Dober. Taylor Gauthier led off that inning with a "hustle" double, and she went to third on a wild pitch. Leigha Woelffer followed with a ground ball to score the tying run, and she was safe when the throw to first was dropped.

Mykenzie Monkevich followed with a base hit, and Dober was taken out of the pitching circle in favor of Molly Wahoviak.

Amber Lenards greeted her with a shot to the outfield, a two-run single that gave Gladstone a 6-4 lead.

It was Lennards' third hit of the game, and she eventually scored when Kaitlyn Hardwick's pop fly literally bounced off the head of the Kingsford second baseman.

With a three-run lead, Lenards finished off the Kingsford girls in the sixth inning by getting the final three outs, allowing only one single during that inning. Lenards threw 3 2/3 innings of relief after Taylor Gauthier and Jenna Steinhoff both had trouble throwing strikes early in the game. Gladstone pitchers issued eight free passes.
 

Gladstone's Jaden Schwartz at the plate.

Abby Tomososki and Tori Walters both had RBI base hits for Kingsford in the fourth inning, after two runs scored in the second inning on walks and errors. Walters' hit looked like it may give Kingsford the win, until Gladstone rallied to win it late.

And so it comes down to Sunday's Gladstone-Escanaba game to determine the district champion. It starts at 6:00 at Don Howes Field. Gladstone needs to win that game, and win again on Monday, to win the district championship.

Whoever wins will represent District Ten in the state tournament, which will be held in Gladstone starting next Friday morning.

Sunday's Gladstone-Escanaba game will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600) and rrnsports.com, starting at 5:45 p.m.

Click the thumbnails in the "ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS" box to see pictures from the Gladstone Major Girls game against Kingsford.