NAILBITERS: Indians Stay Alive With Pair Of Wins

Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos taken by Jayger Quinn, and to hear post-game comments from Gladstone players and Coach Joe Darmogray.

MARQUETTE---They're not done yet.

The Gladstone Indians American Legion Baseball team extended its season on Friday by winning a pair of nailbiting games at the Class A state tournament in Marquette.

The Indians rallied from three runs down to beat Breckenridge, 4-3, and then outlasted Gaylord in extra innings, 8-7.

The wins moved the Indians to the Final Three in this six-team double elimination bracket, where Gladstone will face the Three Oaks Oakers Saturday morning.

GLADSTONE 3, BRECKENRIDGE 2---After taking a 3-2 loss to Gaylord on Thursday, in a game where the Indians managed only three base hits, they had to dig deep to win two games on Friday.

But it almost didn't happen, as the Indians fell behind the Breckenridge Post 295 by a 3-0 score.

The game was scoreless until the third inning, when the downstate boys scored three runs against Indians pitcher Cooper Sanville. Sanville got into trouble when he hit the first two batters he faced in that inning, and after getting the next two batters out, Hunter Grinnell had an RBI single, and Bryce Warner followed with a two-run hit, putting Gladstone in a 3-0 hole.

The Indians managed to get one run back in the bottom of the third inning on a Sanville sacrifice fly, but could not get any more when Isaac Ketchum lined into a 6-3 double play.

In the fourth inning, Gladstone got a run on a walk, stolen base, and two wild pitches to close to within 3-2. And in the fifth inning, the same thing: walk, double steal, and a wild pitch.

But with the game tied and the go-ahead run in scoring position, relief pitcher Russell Richards served up a couple of ground balls to end the threat. And Richards easdily retired the Indians in the bottom of the sixth inning, sending the game to the final inning tied at 3.

In the top of the seventh inning, Sanville got the first man he faced, but gave up a base hit to Warner as he reached his 105-pitch limit. That brought in Austin Pepin, and he walked the first man he faced. But with two men on base, Pepin got a fly out and a ground out to end the top of the seventh, giving the Indians a chance to walk it off in the bottom half.

Aedan Creten, fresh off a full season of baseball at Bay College, led off the inning with a rocket triple to the Haley Field fence, some 400 feet away. The 295's then decided to intentionally walk the next two batters, loading the bases and setting up a force at any base. And they played with only one outfielder, putting five men on every hole in the infield.

The strategy started to work when Ketchum grounded into a force play at the plate, but tthen Trevor Thorbahn was able to punch one through the drawn-in infield, past a diving second baseman, and the Indians survived to play another game later in the day.

Sanville got a no-decision on the mound after working 6 1/3 innings, striking out ten batters, walking four, and allowing five base hits. This just one day after driving 14 hours back to the Upper Peninsula from Montana. Pepin got the win in relief.

Gladstone improved to 14-11 on the season, while the 295's finished at 10-7 overall.

GLADSTONE 8, GAYLORD 7 (8 INNINGS)---That win kept the Indians alive, and Gaylord did its part for a rematch with Gladstone by eliminating the Hudson Hellcats, 8-5, in the second loser's bracket game of the day. And the rematch between Gladstone and Gaylord would be a marathon that would not be solved until the extra innings international tiebreaker rule was used.

It looked early like the Indians would cruise to a victory, as they scored four runs in the top of the third inning to break a scoreless tie. Trevor Thorbahn led off with a walk and rode home on a booming triple by Tyler Darmogray. Then after Casey Alworden walked, Aedan Creten smoked a two-run single to give Gladstone a 3-0 lead.

Gaylord pitcher Cam Patton struggled to throw strikes, walking Cooper Sanville, and giving up a solid base hit to Isaac Ketchum. The Indians, leading 4-0, had a chance to put the game out of reach when Austin Pepin walked to load the bases. But Johnny Soderman and Thorbahn both struck out, allowing Patton to escape trailing just 4-0.

And then came the bottom of the third inning, an inning that has not been kind to the Indians. And, just like in Thursday's game, it was perfectly-placed bunt singles that put the Indians in a bind.

Ethan Ford led off with a single, and then Peyton DeWeerd and Torino Lamerato both put down bunt singles (the same two kids whod did that to the Indians on Thursday). A wild pitch from pitcher Cooper Curtis allowed one run to score, then Patton had an RBI single, followed by a Will Bethuy sacrifice fly. All of a sudden, the lead was down to 4-3.

Patton easily retired the top of the Gladstone batting order in the fourth inning, and in the bottom half, Curtis got help from his defense as Sanville made a nice play at third base and Thorbahn and Johnny Soderman both made catches in the outfield.

In the top of the fifth, the Indians rebuilt their lead. Curtis led off with a base hit, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a base hit by Ketchum. Then with two out, Soderman drew a walk, bringing up Thorbahn. And Thorbahn came through with a big base hit, bringing home Ketchum putting Gladstone ahead, 6-3.

And then, Soderman scored on a wild pitch, making it 7-3.

But hold on. The umpires ruled that Soderman did not touch home plate. So he was called out, and the inning ended, with Gladstone leading only 6-3. A play that would be huge later on.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Curtis started to have his pitch count rise, and the Gaylord kids hit him hard. And it was a two-out rally with four straight hits.

First, it was Will Rethuy with an RBI double. Then Logan Grenier's hit brought in a run. Then Jason Kihn got a base hit. Then Colin Piehl singled. And when Ethan Ford walked to load the bases in a 6-6 game, the Indians went to the bullpen and broght in their ace, Tyler Darmogray.

The team had hoped to save Damogray for one of Saturday's games, but with this game slipping away, the Indians didn't have a choice. Damogray got DeWeerd to pop up, strnding the bases loaded, and keeping the game tied, heading into the sixth inning.

The Indians had a great chance to take the lead in the top of the sixth inning. Darmogray drew a leadoff walk, stole second, and Casey Alworden got a base hit to put runners at the corners. Gaylord elected to intenationally walk Creten, loading the bases with no outs.

Gladstone had the 4-5-6 portion of the line-up due. But Piehl was up for the task on the mound for Gaylord. Curtis ripped one through the middle, and Piehl jumped into the air, got the ball, and threw home for the forceout. Next, Sanville bounced one to third base, and Rosso threw home for the second out. Then Ketchum hit one back to the mound. The threat was over.

That threw the pressure on Darmogray, and he gave up a two-out double to Rosso. But the Indians ace struck out the clean-up hitter Bethuy, ending the sixth inning.

Gladstone got a leadoff walk against Piehl in the top of the seventh inning, but Piehl got a line-upt, ground out, and fly out. That gave Gaylord a chance to walk it off in the bottom of the seventh inning. But the defensive play of the game would help the Indians to survive yet again.

Catcher Logan Greenier led off the inning with a rocket toward the 408 sign in center field. Thorbahn, playing in Soderman's spot in center field (Trent Rutter had entered the outfield, replacing Soderman the inning before), raced back to the fence. He reached out as far as he could and caught it over his shoulder, saving what would've been at least a triple.

The next batter, Jack Kihn, crushed one toward left field, right to the glove of Cooper Sanville. Then a routine fly ball to right field ended the inning, sending the game to extra innings, and the international tiebreaker rule, where each team starts with a runner on second base.

And it was time for Creten to come through in the clutch, again, with another opposite field bomb to the fence. The double brought in the "ghost runner" with the go-ahead run, and them Sanville smacked a big two-out base hit to bring home an insurance run, making it 8-6.

Darmogray was on 30 pitches, so the Indians still could have pulled him, and allowed him to pitch on Saturday with no mandated rest. But the decision was to keep their best on the mound, and it worked. Gaylord scored a run when a pick-off throw went for an error, and Ethan Ford hit a sacrifice fly, but Darmogray struckout DeWeerd to end the game.

Friday's two wins moved Gladstone (14-11) into the Final Three in the state, as the Indians will face Three Oaks in a semifinal game Saturday morning. Marquette will be waiting for the winner in the championship game at 1:00. Gaylord's record dropped to 17-11 on the season. They still have games remaining next Wednesday against the Sault Canada Black Sox.