Escanaba, Gladstone Win Minor Baseball Openers

GLADSTONE---The Minor Little League (age 8-10) boys district tournament got underway on Monday, with Gladstone picking up a 10-0 win over Tri-County and Escanaba winning a wild 9-8 decision over Munising.

GLADSTONE 10, TRI-COUNTY 0---Gladstone got a two-run double to left field from Cooper Sandville in the third inning to take the 2-0 lead, and then added three runs in the fourth inning and five more in the fifth to put the game away on the ten-run rule.

Tri-County had a chance to score in the second inning when Gunnar Robinson and Hope Brunngraeber got base hits and Cyler Brunngraeber walked.

But Gladstone pitcher Nick Proehl was able to get a strikeout to end the scoring threat.

Proehl threw two innings, with Nate Beauchamp tossing the next two and Sanville finishing up with the fifth inning. All three stayed under the 35-pitch mark, which allows them to pitch on Wednesday if they are needed. They combined for 13 strikeouts.

Joe Cornish threw 3 1/3 innings for Tri-County, allowing five runs on four hits and six walks. He struck out five batters. Braden Tanner and Robinson finished on the mound.

ESCANABA 9, MUNISING 8---A crazy ending to Monday night's Escanaba-Munising game in Gladstone. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Munising led 8-7, and Escanaba had a runner at third with one out. Escanaba's Ashton Rymkos hit a hard grounder to short. Base runner Brian Boutilier came home, and ran into the catcher.

The ball got away, and then there was confusion as the Munising coaches protested the bump at the plate. Rymkos kept running and came around to score.

It was a live ball after the contact at the plate, and Little League does not have a "mandatory slide" rule, as opposed to some other organizations that do.

Before that final play, it was a back-and-forth contest that saw Munising take an 8-6 lead in the top of the fourth inning on a three-run base hit to right field by Hudson Rockhill. The ball was just out of the reach of the outfielder and bounced down the line.

Escanaba used four pitchers in the game, with Taylor Asgaard getting the win in relief. Munising's Dayne Soles went 3 2/3 innings and got a "no decision" while Rockhill took the unfortunate loss on the mound.

Boutilier had three bunt singles to lead Escanaba. Joey Garcia added a solid RBI single off the bench, and Asgaard also got a base hit.

UP NEXT---Munising faces Tri-County at 5:00 Tuesday in Gladstone, with Escanaba taking on Gladstone in the winner's bracket at 7:00.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos from both games, and a video of the crazy ending of Escanaba's win.