Gladstone Wins Third Straight U.P. Championship

GLADSTONE---The Gladstone Indians scored four runs in the first inning and cruised to a 9-3 win over the Marquette Blues in the championship game of the Zone Five American Legion Baseball tournament Sunday in Gladstone.

It's the third straight U.P. title for Gladstone.

Gladstone jumped on Marquette pitcher Hogan Nemetz in the first inning as Jared Crow smoked a two-run double on the left field chalk, bringing home Carson Shea and Blake Krouth. Then Cody Frappier stepped up and launched a two-run homer over the left field fence to make it 4-0.

Caden Alworden singled home Blake Krouth in the third inning to make it 5-0 before Marquette tired to rally against Indians pitcher Ian Schwalbach.

Brenden Kaski walked, Pete VandenAvond singled, and Jake Peterson walked to load the bases. Blake Henriksen hit a pop fly tnat second baseman Shea and right fielder Ben Kelly both went for. Shea caught the ball when they bumped each other, and Kaski tagged up and scored.

But the Indians put three runs on the board in the fourth inning, with Crow, Schwalbach, and Ben Kelly all singling home runs.

The Indians also had two runners thrown out on the bases in that inning, as they couldn’t get the squeeze down (leading to Crow being tagged out trying to get back to third), and couldn’t pull off a delayed steal (with Schwalbach tagged out at the plate).

Marquette got a run back in the bottom of the fourth inning when Schwalbach walked three batters, including VandeAmond with the bases loaded. But Kelly caught Peterson’s sinking line drive in right field, stranding three more Blues base runners.

The Blues scored their third run in the bottom of the sixth on two walks and a wild pitch, and had two runners on when Peterson sent a shot toward left field that was snared by Alworden at short. Martin’s RBI single in the top of the seventh gave the Indians a 9-3 lead, then the game ended in the bottom half on a nice 6-4-3 double play turned by Alworden, Shea, and Crow.

Schwalbach pitched 5 2/3 innings to earn the win, giving up four hits and three runs (two earned). He struck out six and walked seven. When Schwalbach reached 108 pitches, he was lifted for Shea, who went 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

Hogan Nemetz took the loss for Marquette, allowing eight earned runs on 11 hits in five innings. He also reached his pitch limit with 106. Cooper Myers threw one inning of scoreless relief, and Jake Soucy allowed one run on three hits in one inning.

At the plate, Crow led the way with three hits (two doubles, one single) and he was on a fourth time with a walk. Krouth, filling in for the injured Cooper Cavadeas in the batting order, had two hits, walked twice, and scored three runs. Frappier, besides the two-run homer, also ripped a base hit that literally hit first base.

Gladstone and Marquette both advance to the state tournament, along with the host Gladwin team, and teams from downstate Trenton and Gaylord. The tournament starts Thursday morning with Marquette playing its first game at 10:00. Gladstone will play its tournament opener at 12:30. The tournament runs through Saturday.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken by Johnny Schlenvogt, Nate Belleville, and Lori Jurek. Also click to watch video comments from Justin Jurek and Jared Crow, as well as Marquette's Blake Henriksen and Coach Derek Swajanen.