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ANOTHER WALK-OFF: Esky Boys Top Gladstone
 GLADSTONE---The Escanaba Minor Boys (age 8-10) Little League All-Star team won in its final at-bat for the second straight night, beating Gladstone, 7-6, in an intense district tournament game Tuesday night in Gladstone. One night after beating Munising on a bizarre play, the Escanaba boys coughed up a 4-0 lead but managed to score two runs on their final out in the sixth inning to earn a spot in this weekend's district finals. Escanaba will face Norway, which beat Iron Mountain North in an eight-inning marathon Tuesday night, 8-7.  Then after he stole second and went to third on a passed ball, LeDuc scored on a wild pitch to send the Esky boys into a wild celebration. Escanaba beat Munising the night before when Ashton Rymkos came all the way around to score after Brian Boutilier scored the tying run in a collission at the plate. On Tuesday, the Orange and Black got off to a good start by scoring three runs in the first inning, one of them on an RBI single by Rymkos. Then in the second inning, Escanaba went ahead 4-0 as Grayson Davis bunted home a run. Escanaba's lead could have been bigger, but a line drive was caught by Gladstone second baseman Charlie Cameron. He then ran to first base for an unassisted double play. It was a tough loss for Gladstone, which rallied from a 4-0 deficit and had a good relief pitching effort from Cooper Sanville. Sanville reached his pitch count limit of 75 pitches during that final inning after Xavier Leipzig started on the mound. Gladstone will play Tri-County at 6:00 Wednesday night. Tri-County eliminated Munising, 12-0, in four innings, in Tuesday's loser's bracket game. Escanaba's game in Norway is set for 2:00 ET/1:00 CT on Saturday. It will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), along withe the Escanaba Major Boys state tournament game from St. Clair, which will start 30 minutes later. Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos, videos from Tuesday's games.  |
