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Indians Win Twice; Advance To U.P. Legion Semis
 SAULT STE. MARIE---The Gladstone Indians qualified for the state tournament on Saturday with a pair of not-so-pretty wins at the U.P. Zone Finals in Sault Ste. Marie. But even though the wins weren't exactly works of art, they were still wins, clinching the Indians a spot in the U.P. Semifinals on Saturday. But no matter how they fare on Saturday, the Tribe will still be one of the six teams playing in the state finals next week. 
Matt Weyers earned the win on the mound.
That leaves Gladstone with a 3-0 record and top seed in the eight-team event. In the game against Kingsford, it was a back-and-forth affair as both teams tried to stay unbeaten in the tournament. And the Blues opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the second inning as Matt Weyers had trouble finding the strike zone. He walked Matt Wiitanen and Aiden Weinke. Cole Tengesdahl singled to load the bases and and Jeff Gregory followed with an RBI hit. Bryce Kerschner's sacrafice fly made it 2-0 for Kingsford. Gladstone answered with a run in the bottom of the inning as Jared Stenson reached on a two-out error and scored on three straight wild pitches. Gladstone took the lead with four runs in the third inning. Paul Tomaszewski was hit by a pitch and Peyton Jurek doubled him home to tie the game. Jurek advanced to third when Cody Frazer's bunt was missplayed, putting runners on the corners with nobody out. Hayden Hardwick cane through with a sacrafice fly to make it 3-2. 
Cody Frazer makes contact on a slow roller.
But that lead was not safe. Weyers actually settled in on the mound and held the Blues in check until the seventh inning. That's when the Indians defense sprung a leak. A big one. Three earrors, alomg with RBI hits by Tengesdahl and Kerschner made it 6-6.
And Kingsford took the lead in the eighth inning when Austin Murdoch and Wiitanen both reached on errors and Ian Weinke got an RBI single. The Blues led 7-6.
So, Gladstone turned to "small ball" in the bottom of the eighth inning. Justin Jurek doubled and was sacraficed to third by Tomaszewski. Peyton Jurek then squeezed home his little brother to retie the game at 7-7. Frazer then laid down a perfect bunt for a hit and then Hardwick smashed one off the glove of Kingsford second baseman CJ Qualley (it was ruled an error by the official scorer). Jurek scored and Frazer went to third on that play. Pearson then executed another squeeze bunt to score Frazer and Gladstone led 9-7 entering the final inning. 
Dustin Nevers took the loss in relief of Aiden Weinke for Kingsford. Tengesdahl and Ian Weinke both had three hits in a losing effort for the Blues.
That win clinched the top seed in the pool for Gladstone, so they were a bit conservative with the pitching against Channing in Friday's later game.
Christian Groleau got the start and Channing scored in the first on hits by Kenny Pekarek, Greg Nelson and Cody Berg, and an RBI groundout by Brad Gustafson.
Gladstone responded with three runs in bottom of the first inning as Tomaszewski, Peyton Jurek, Hardwick and Stenson all had doubles.
Channing scored again in the second inning on three more hits, with Pekerek notching the RBI single to cut the Gladstone lead to 3-2. Then in the third inning, Berg doubled to lead off and Logan O'Neil's two-out single drove him home to tie the score at 3-3.
 Berg single to drive in Harper. The damage could have been worse for the Indians, but Gustafson's bases-loaded line drive was caught by Pearson at short. Nelson was doubled off of the bag at second, and the Railroader lead stayed at 4-3.
But not for long. Gladstone then exploded for eleven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Stenson led off with a single, then three consecutive walks, a hit battsman, and another walk scored three runs. Frazer singled to drive in another to make it 7-4.
Two straight hit-battsmen plated two more runs, and then Stenson and Ballard followed with doubles to all-of-sudden make it a ten-run game Channing was retired 1-2-3 in the seventh, and so the game ended under the mercy rule at that point. Groleau pitched four innings, allowing hree runs on ten hits. Hardwick got the win in relief, giving up one run on two hits in three innings of work. Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos from the Indians games against Kingsford and Channing. Thanks Kym Frazer! . 
Jared Stenson's coming home, but Kingsford's Austin Murdock is ready at the plate.
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| Date | Time | Opponent | Score | Record |
5/2 |
6:30 PM |
Marquette Redmen
|
11 - 1 (W)
|
1-0
|
5/6 |
1:00 PM |
Channing Railroaders
|
10 - 0 (W)
|
2-0
|
5/9 |
7:30 PM |
Escanaba Eskymos
|
5 - 4 (W)
|
3-0
|
5/12 |
1:00 PM |
at Menominee Red Wave Legion
|
3 - 2 (W)
|
4-0
|
5/12 |
3:30 PM |
at Menominee Red Wave Legion
|
15 - 3 (W)
|
5-0
|
5/14 |
6:30 PM |
at Marquette Redmen
|
3 - 2 (W)
|
6-0
|
5/18 |
6:30 PM |
at Ishpeming Blue Storm
|
10 - 1 (W)
|
7-0
|
5/19 |
12:00 PM |
at Channing Railroaders
|
12 - 2 (W)
|
8-0
|
5/19 |
2:30 PM |
at Channing Railroaders
|
9 - 1 (W)
|
9-0
|
5/22 |
6:30 PM |
at Marquette Blues
|
2 - 5 (L)
|
9-1
|
5/29 |
6:30 PM |
Ishpeming Blue Storm
|
4 - 0 (W)
|
10-1
|
5/30 |
6:00 PM |
at Escanaba Eskymos
|
4 - 3 (W)
|
11-1
|
6/3 |
4:00 PM |
Iron Mountain Golds
|
7 - 0 (W)
|
12-1 For.
|
6/3 |
6:30 PM |
Iron Mountain Golds
|
7 - 0 (W)
|
13-1 For.
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6/5 |
6:30 PM |
at Iron Mountain Golds
|
10 - 5 (W)
|
14-1
|
6/6 |
7:00 PM |
Menominee Red Wave Legion
|
5 - 4 (W)
|
15-1
|
6/9 |
1:00 PM |
Oconto Falls Legion
|
7 - 10 (L)
|
15-2
|
6/9 |
3:30 PM |
Oconto Falls Legion
|
12 - 2 (W)
|
16-2
|
6/12 |
6:30 PM |
Kingsford Legion Blues
|
4 - 3 (W)
|
17-2
|
6/14 |
6:30 PM |
Marquette Blues
|
3 - 0 (W)
|
18-2
|
6/17 |
1:00 PM |
at Kingsford Legion Blues
|
11 - 2 (W)
|
19-2
|
6/17 |
3:30 PM |
at Kingsford Legion Blues
|
11 - 6 (W)
|
20-2
|
6/20 |
6:30 PM |
Channing Railroaders
|
8 - 2 (W)
|
21-2
|
6/22 |
5:30 PM |
Eastern U.P. Travelers
|
5 - 4 (W)
|
22-2
|
6/22 |
8:00 PM |
Ash-Port, Wis.
|
1 - 11 (L)
|
22-3
|
6/23 |
12:45 PM |
Midland Berryhill
|
2 - 10 (L)
|
22-4
|
6/23 |
5:15 PM |
Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario) Black Sox
|
11 - 6 (W)
|
23-4
|
6/24 |
11:30 AM |
DePere Panthers
|
5 - 6 (L)
|
23-5
|
6/28 |
6:30 PM |
at Ash-Port, Wis.
|
1 - 13 (L)
|
23-6
|
6/29 |
1:30 PM |
at Neenah, Wis.
|
3 - 7 (L)
|
23-7
|
6/30 |
11:00 AM |
at Hortonville, Wis.
|
11 - 4 (W)
|
24-7
|
7/5 |
6:30 PM |
Channing Railroaders
|
10 - 0 (W)
|
25-7
|
7/8 |
4:00 AM |
Iron Mountain Golds
|
1 - 0 (W)
|
26-7for
|
7/8 |
12:00 PM |
Hancock Legion
|
6 - 2 (W)
|
27-7
|
7/8 |
2:30 PM |
Hancock Legion
|
8 - 3 (W)
|
28-7
|
7/10 |
5:30 PM |
Negaunee Diamonds
|
16 - 0 (W)
|
29-7
|
7/10 |
8:00 PM |
Negaunee Diamonds
|
12 - 4 (W)
|
30-7
|
7/12 |
6:30 PM |
Kingsford Legion Blues
|
8 - 2 (W)
|
31-7
|
7/14 |
3:00 PM |
Iron Mountain Golds
|
7 - 0 (W)
|
32-7
|
7/14 |
8:00 PM |
Channing Railroaders
|
14 - 0 (W)
|
33-7
|
7/15 |
1:00 PM |
at Marquette Blues
|
3 - 5 (L)
|
33-8
|
7/19 |
8:00 PM |
at Escanaba Cubs
|
3 - 0 (W)
|
34-8
|
7/21 |
12:00 PM |
Eastern U.P. Travelers
|
6 - 5 (W)
|
35-8
|
7/21 |
2:30 PM |
Eastern U.P. Travelers
|
0 - 16 (L)
|
35-9
|
7/26 |
3:00 PM |
Hancock Legion
|
9 - 6 (W)
|
36-9
|
7/27 |
9:00 AM |
Kingsford Legion Blues
|
9 - 7 (W)
|
37-9
|
7/27 |
3:00 PM |
Channing Railroaders
|
14 - 4 (W)
|
38-9
|
7/28 |
10:30 AM |
Escanaba Cubs
|
6 - 7 (L)
|
38-10
|
8/2 |
10:30 AM |
Hudson Legion
|
11 - 13 (L)
|
38-11
|
8/3 |
10:00 AM |
Menominee Red Wave Legion
|
6 - 7 (L)
|
38-12
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