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Gladstone Slips Past Alger County In Districts, 4-2
 EBEN JUNCTION---The Gladstone High School baseball team had to hang on for dear life Tuesday, beating the Alger County Athletics, 4-2, in the MHSAA Division Three District tournament opener in Eben Junction. The defending district and regional champion Braves had trouble hitting Alger County pitcher Duner Englund, who played Little League and American Legion Baseball with most of the Gladstone players.  Two walks and a hit-battsman loaded the bases, and then a base hit brought home a run to cut the Gladstone lead to 4-2. On that play, a second runner tried to score, but was thrown out at the plate, as Tyson Seymour's cutoff throw from Jack Stephenson was in plenty of time for catcher Braeden Lamberg to apply the game-ending tag. Alger County is made up of kids from Superior Central, Mid Peninsula, and Munising High Schools. Englund is a Mid Peninsula graduating senior. "Duner pitched well for them, as we knew he would," Gladstone Manager Don Lauscher said. "Superior Central played really well. They had a diving catch in the outfield. Lucas (Weinert) ripped one off of Duner's leg and they got a force." For Gladstone, Jared Crow tossed the first four innings, and was removed when he reached 45 pitches. Cole struggled before the defensive play at the end saved the day.  Gladstone will face the Calumet Copper Kings in the district semifinals on Saturday in Negaunee. The Copper Kings blanked Houghton, 10-0, in another district game on Tuesday. "We're going to have our hands full, I can tell you that," Lauscher said. The Gladstone-Calumet game will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600) and on-line at www.rrnsports.com, at about 12:30 Saturday afternoon. The other district semifinal on Saturday features host Negaunee and Iron Mountain, set for 10:00 a.m. ET. Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos taken by Brenda Crow.  |
