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COMEBACK COMPLETE: Gladstone Wins District
 ESCANABA---The Gladstone Minor Girls (age 9-10) Little League All-Star team completed a four-game comeback to win the district championship on Monday, beating Escanaba, 8-4, at Escanaba's Lemmerand Park. Gladstone advanced to the state tournament with the win. Gladstone lost to Escanaba, 7-2, in the district opener last Thursday. The girls had to beat Norway on Friday and Kingsford on Saturday to stay alive. Then the girls had to face Escanaba and ace pitcher Grayson LaMmarche on Sunday, and Gladstone pulled it out in seven innings, 2-1, to force Monday's winner-take-all game. Escanaba's decision to use LaMarche beyond the sixth inning was a gamble that didn't pay off, because under Little League pitching rules, LaMarche could not throw on Monday. In that Sunday game, Gladstone pulled ace Montgomery Pepin, and managed to win without her in extra innings. So on Monday, Pepin was eligible to throw. In the championship game, Escanaba and pitcher Mackenzie Ingebrigtsen fell behind 2-0 in the third inning thanks to a pair of unearned runs. But Escanaba managed to tie the game in the top of the third inning before Gladstone scored five runs to break the game open. In the bottom of that third inning, Rilee Gerou had an RBI single for Gladstone. Escanaba got two runs back in the fifth inning as Ingebrigtsen helped her own cause with an RBI single. But that's as close as Escanaba would come. Both teams commited four errors in the game. Pepin gave up six hits in pitching a complete game for Gladstone. She walked three and struck out five. Ingebrigtsen allowed just three hits, but walked seven, while striking out eight. Gladstone's first game at the state tournament is scheduled for Saturday, July 29, inVan Buren Township (Belleville), located a half-hour west of Detroit. |
