BENCH PRESS! Gladstone Reserves Come Through

TECUMSEH---Sitting the bench can be rough for a young athlete.

Every kid who plays Little League softball wants to be out there, between the lines, helping her team get the win. But the girls who come into the game from the bench have to be ready, and two Gladstone girls who came in on Sunday were definitely ready.

Alli Larson led off the fifth inning with a sharply-hit single, then Cameron Buckley launched a long fly to the left field fence to bring her home, as Gladstone topped Evart, 3-1, at the Major Girls (age 11-12) state tournament in downstate Tecumseh.

Buckley wound up with a triple and scored when the throw to third base glanced off the third baseman’s glove. Those two runs gave Gladstone a 3-0 lead, and proved to be big as Evart scored a run in the final inning to close it to a 3-1 game

For Buckley, the triple came one day after she came off the bench to ignite another rally with a double to the right field fence as Gladstone beat the host Tecumseh team.

“Just drive it and put your hips into it,” Buckley said. “And be very confident when you go up there. Like coach says, be ‘loosey-goosey’. I just have to be confident and take a deep breath, and focus. It feels good when you actually do hit it, because you feel more confident the next time you come up.”

“Talking with Cam’s dad yesterday, and grandpa, and the other coaches, I said it was going to be really hard for Cameron to duplicate what she did yesterday,” Gladstone Manager Rick Pepin said. “She made me eat my words. It was a timely hit in a big situation. With two strikes on her, making that kind of contact.”

Larson says she cheers on her team for most of the game, then, she gets the call to come in during the middle innings. So, what's her approach?

“I’m very nervous,” Larson admitted. “I don’t know, just swing at strikes. When she first pitched it, you could tell that it was going right down the middle.”

Gladstone scored in the bottom of the second inning when Montgomery Pepin launched a long fly ball to right field that was misplayed. She wound up at third base, and scored on a hard-hit single by Rylee Gerow.

Evart, the District 12 champions from West Michigan,, had plenty of chances to score, with base runners in five of the six innings.

But Gladstone played sharp defense, and Pepin was able to overcome frustration with the strike zone to fan ten batters and walk just three. She allowed five base hits.

Evart’s best chance came in the top of the fifth inning. Pepin struck out the first two batters she faced, but walked Ally Theunick and gave up a double to the fence off the bat of Kyran Gray. With runners on second and third, Pepin struck out #3 hitter Keyanne Tiedt to end the threat.

After the Gladstone bench came through with those two runs in the bottom of the fifth, Evart managed a run in the sixth inning on a Katie Duncan RBI single.

But the game ended when Gladstone first baseman Maggie Buckley made a nice running catch of a pop fly in foul territory.

Madison Thiedt took the loss for Evart, allowing three runs on seven hits. She struck out six Gladstone batters and did not issue a walk.

Gladstone improved to 2-0 in pool play and will take on St. Clair Monday morning. St. Clair edged Tecumseh, 3-2, in Sunday’s other game.

Tecumseh is eliminated, while St. Clair and Evart are both 1-1.

Evart will advance to the quarterfinals if it beats Tecumseh on Monday, or if Gladstone beats St. Clair. Gladstone, meanwhile, advances to the quarterfinals with a win, or with a low-scoring loss. Monday’s game starts at 9:00 a.m. and 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 and videos taken by Amy Sundquist. And see post-game interviews with Buckley and Larson, and hear from Coach Rick Pepin.