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Thursday April 18, 2024
HERE WE GO AGAIN: Gladstone Forces Title Game

MENOMINEE---The Gladstone Indians won two games at the state tournament in Menominee on Saturday, beating Gaylord, 6-4, then topping Menominee, 9-7, to force a winner-take-all championship game on Sunday.

It's the same script as one year ago, when the Indians had to win two games on Saturday to force a decisive game for the state title. Gladstone won that championship over Menominee in downstate Gladwin, but this time, the Red Wave will be at home, and will have an advantage in the number of available pitchers for the Sunday contest.

On Saturday, Gladstone had to beat a tough Gaylord team that had also worked its way through the losers bracket with two wins on Friday. The Indians had problems on defense in the first inning, with two errors leading to a Gaylord run.

But Gladstone grabbed the lead with two runs in the third inning and a single run in the fifth inning. They didn't do it with hits, either. It was with walks and wild pitches.

Finally, in the fifth inning, Dan Martin came through with an RBI double, and then in the sixth inning, Gladstone built a 5-1 lead with a three-run rally. Ian Schwalbach doubled and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Zach Hanson, and Braeden Lamberg added a base hit.

In the seventh inning, Martin ripped another double and scored on bunts by Jared Crow and Caden Alworden. That gave pitcher Tyson Seymour a big cushion, and he needed it, as he gave up a three-run triple to Quinn Schultz in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Seymour was able to get two strikeouts and a fly out to end the game.'

That set up a rematch with Menominee, just hours after the Indians had blown a 5-0 lead and dropped a 9-7 decision to the Red Wave on Friday night.

Menominee took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single by Matt Delfosse, bringing home Andrew Schroeder, who doubled with two out off Martin, the Indians' strating pitcher. But Martin got that run back with a long home run to right field, one of the rare home runs ever hit out of the spacious Spies Field.

Alex Hanson's RBI single in the second inning put the Red Wave back in front, and then after pitcher Jason Janquart got out of a jam in the bottom of the inning, Janquart helped his own cause with an RBI triple to make it a 3-1 Menominee lead.

Kyle Struve followed with an RBI single, putting Gladstone in a 4-1 hole.

In the bottom of the third, a scary moment for the Indians when Martin was hit by a pitch in the foot, and the ball hopped up and hit him in the eye. The eye swelled shut, and Martin was forced to leave the game. Tough times for Martin, who already has staples in the back of his head because of an off-the-field back-flip accident.

Crow ripped an RBI double, then Alworden put down a bunt single to bring home another run. Cody Frappier's sacrifice fly tied the game at 4-4.

It stayed that way until the fifth inning when the Red Wave loaded the bases with btwo out against Indians reliever Zach Hanson. Hanson hit Jesus Becerra to force home the go-ahead run, but was able to get Schroeder to bouce out.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Delfosse led off with a double and scored on a Janquart single, making it a 6-4 Menominee lead. In the bottom of that inning, Janquart reached his 105-pitch limit, giving way to Keagan Monroe out of the bullpen.

Monroe got out of that jam, but in the bottom of the sixth, the Indians went to work again.

Lamberg smacked a one-out single, and then Seymour drew a walk. Ben Kelly struck out swinging for the second out, but Crow was abke to bloop one over the second baseman's head to keep the inning alive, loading the bases.

Alworden came through with a solid RBI single, then Frappier, with a 3-2 count, smoked one up the gap, bringing home two runs, and giving Gladstone an 8-6 lead.

Cooper Cavadeas got an infield hit and on that play, the throw was wild, and Frappier came home to score.

In the seventh inning, however, Menominee made a rally of its own. Kyle Porath got an infield hit, and Alex Hanson followed with a base hit to left.

Becerra got an RBI single to make it 9-7, but Schroeder was asked to bunt the runners to second and third and was out on interference in the basepaths. Delfosse struck out, then Janquart grounded to Seymour at shortstop to end the game.

And so for a second straight year, it will come down to Gladstone (28-6, 4-1 in state tournament) and Menominee (14-14, 2-1 in state tournament) for the state championship. The game starts on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. ET/10:00 a.m. CT.

It will be broadcast live on WGKL-FM (Kool 105.5) and on-line at www.radioresultsnetwork.com/kool1055/

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken by Cole Hansen.

And LISTEN to hear interviews with Martin, Alworden, and Frappier. And listen to a replay of the big Gladstone 6th Inning.









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