UP Teams Have Rough Finish At Marinette Tourney

MARINETTE, Wis.---The Firecracker American Legion Baseball Tournament wrapped up on Sunday in Marinette, Wis., with all four Upper Peninsula teams losing their final games to Wisconsin opponents.

The Gladstone Indians fell to the host Marinette team, 6-2, in a rain-shortened championship game. It was Gladstone's only loss of the tournament, but because of the tiebreaking rules, the Indians did not get the runner-up trophy. That went to the Green Bay Shockers, who the Indians beat, 2-1, earlier in the tournament.

Earlier, the Marquette Blues gave up a pair of late runs and lost to Pulaski, 4-2; the Menominee Red Wave lost to the Green Bay Shockers, 7-2; and the Escanaba Cubs fell to Manitowoc, 11-1, in six innings.

MARINETTE 6, GLADSTONE 2---The Indians gave up three unearned runs in the third inning and couldn't come all the way back in the game that determined the tournament championship.

Gladstone pitcher Cooper Cavadeas hit the first man he faced in that inning, then couldn't field a bunt, putting two men on base. Left fielder Cole Hansen came up short on a catch attempt, and Ian Schwalbach dropped a fly ball in right field.

Marinette led, 3-0, on one hit (an RBI by Austin Marquardt). Gladstone got a run back in the fourth inning on an RBI groundout by Hansen, but stranded two runners on base.

Then in the fifth inning, the Indians got a leadoff single from Zach Hanson, and after Braeden Lamberg bunted him to second, Tyson Seymour smoked a single to center to put two men on. Cody Frappier followed with a solid single to bring Hanson home, but Seymour was thrown out at the plate.

Dan Martin drew a walk, but Caden Alworden grounded out to end the threat.

Rylie Nelson's two-out, two-run single restored Marinette's lead in the bottom of the fifth as storm clouds formed over Pederson Ballpark.

In the top of the sixth, Gladstone got three straight walks from Marinette pitcher Nolan Lemke as the rain started pouring down.

But with Seymour at the plate with the bases loaded, representing the game's tying run, the rain became too heavy, and the field was flooded.

Gladstone then found out that it would not finish second in the tournament because even though the Indians beat Green Bay on Saturday, the "head-to-head" win is not factored into the final standings of the eight-team event.

It was based on "least runs allowed", and Green Bay allowed fewer total runs. So, the Shockers got second place, and Gladstone left town without any hardware.

Gladstone (8-4) hosts Escanaba Tuesday night at 8:00.

MANITOWOC 11, ESCANABA 1---The young Cubs took their lumps in the tournament, losing four times, three by the mercy rule.

On Sunday, the Cubs got base hits from Jake Anderson and Grant LaMarche in the top of the first inning, but stranded both men.

After Manitowoc took a 1-0 lead on a Jacob DeBruin RBI single, the Cubs got an unearned run in the third inning after Drew Rodman singled and scored on an error.

The 1-1 tie didn't last long, though, as Manitowoc batted around in the third inning, scoring six runs on four hits and two Cub errors. DeBruin had another RBI single and Korey Garceau added a two-run single, making it a 7-1 game.

Escanaba was out of pitching, using Riley Lamb, Justin Marenger, Tyler Lawson, and Braden Olsen to get through the five-plus innings.

Lawson, the Cubs' talented catcher, ended up playing four different positions on the weekend. Lamb took the loss. Escanaba (1-9) travels to Gladstone Tuesday at 8:00.

Tuesday's Escanaba-Gladstone holiday game will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (NewsTalk 600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos from some of Sunday's tournament action.