Julian, Johnson Help Greens Roll Past Gladstone

Click the thumbnails to hear interviews with Blake Julian and Caleb Johnson, and see photos taken by Diane LaChance.

GLADSTONE---The Dickinson County Greens American Legion Baseball team raced to an 8-0 lead and rolled past the Gladstone Indians 12-5 Sunday night in Gladstone.

Blake Julian had three hits and drove in six runs, including a long three run homer. Caleb Johnson struck out nine batters and scattered five hits over five plus innings of pitching.

The Greens used to be known as the Iron Mountain Golds, but changed their name to the Greens this season. They include kids from Kingsford and Norway.
 

The Iron Mountain team showed up in Gladstone with only nine players, but they were more than enough to beat the nearly-full Indians roster. Eight of the nine Greens players got base hits, and they had 16 hits in total.

Julian's home run was a shot, and to the deepest part of Don Olsen Field.

"I just told myself that we've got a couple of guys on base, get a nice, easy base hit or something," Julian said. "Then, I give it a little more power with it and I hit it pretty far. This one was probably my farthest hit ever. I haven't hit one to center yet. Left field and right field, but never center field."

Besides Julian's big day at the plate, Zach Spera, Luke Decker, Hunter McCarthy, and Johnson all had two base hits for the Greens.

A bright spot for Gladstone was the defense turned four double plays in the game. Two of them were 6-4-3 twin killings, another was a 5-3-5 double play, and the other was a line drive to center fielder Owen Trombley as the Greens were burned in a hit-and-run situation.

Gladstone had three hits (two singles and a double) from Dayton Bernson. Ryan Polley had two hits and drew two walks, putting him on base all four times at the plate. Polley also stole three bases.

Caden Alworden had a hit and drew a pair of walks. And Dylan Pepin added a two-run single in the fifth inning to finally put the Indians on the board.

Gladstone sent five men to the mound, with Mason LaChance taking the loss. He went 2 1/3 innings, allowing seven runs on eight hits. LaChance later returned to the mound to get the final three outs of the game.

Johnson reached his pitch count in the sixth inning and was relieved by Sean Durand. Johnson was charged with three runs on five hits. The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh pitcher struck out nine Indians and walked five. 

"Honestly, everything was working good," Johnson said. "My curveball was cutting real nice. The fastball was there. So was the change-up."

Durand was charged with two runs on four hits.

It was the 20th win of the season for the Greens (20-5). They will be back in action Monday for a make-up game in Menominee, and will be on the road in Marquette for a doubleheader on Tuesday.

Gladstone fell to 5-7. The Indians will play in Bark River Monday night and then will travel to Bay Port, Wis., for a single game on Tuesday.