PLAYING ON: Gladstone Indians Stay Alive Again

Click the above headline for details, photos, videos, and interviews with Johnny Soderman, Isaac Ketchum, and Indians Manager Joe Darmogray.

MARQUETTE---Alive and kicking, and awaiting a Battle Royale with a rival.

The Gladstone Indians American Legion Baseball team battled for a third straight game on Saturday, this time, winning in the loser's bracket final against the Three Oaks Oakers from southwest Lower Michigan, 7-2, at Marquette's Haley Field.

The win moves the Indians into the state championship round against the host Post 44 Legion Blies, who have taken advantage of a favorable bracket to easily make it into the state finals without much resistance.

The Blues played just two games thanks to a bye as the host team, a luxury that was afforded to Gladstone last year when the Indians hosted the state finals.

And this time, the Indians didn't help themselves when they turned in a lethargic performance Thursday and lost to Gaylord, 3-2.

Gladstone has now won three games since that loss, and despite being in a very unfavorable spot on the bracket, are still alive and have a legitimate shot at the powerhouse Blues.

The host Post 44 Blues team is a combined team of Marquette and Negaunee players, along with perhaps the top player in the tournament from Munising.

Even though the Indians have half the number of players that the Blues do, and are playing on the Blues' field, the boys are still confident heading into the championship round, where they will have to beat Marquette twice in order to get the trophy.

But before they could even think about upsetting the Blues, the Indians had to beat a Three Oaks team that made the long trip from the Michigan-Indiana border, and the Oakers did so with just over half of their normal roster, as six guys did not make the trip to the Upper Peninsula. Still, Manager J.C. German's team was competitive all weekend long.

In Saturday's game, the Indians turned to Isaac Ketchum to try to pitch the Indians into the championship round. And Ketchum's Gladstone teammates gave him some run support with three runs in the first inning, with two of them coming home on a solid Cooper Curtis base hit.

Three Oaks pitcher Brayden Schwark settled down after that, retiring eleven of the next 13 Indians batters that he faced. And Gladstone had its usual third inning meltdown, allowimg the Oakers to get back into the game.

A Ty Johnson sacrifice fly, followed by an RBI single by Devon Flanery, and a couple of bunts, helped the Oakers to close to within 3-2 on the scoreboard.

It stayed that way until the fifth inning, when the Indians scored four times to put the game away. A two-run single by Johnny Soderman, who had not had a base hit in the post-season, was the highlight of that inning. Soderman, who dominated the state tournament last year in Gladstone, predicted that he would break out of his slump in this one, and he did.

It was more than enough offense for Ketchum, who pitched a complete-game four-hitter. Ethan Adamczyk had two of those hits for Three Oaks, which finished its season with a 4-13 record. Schwark took the loss on the mound, throwing a complete game for the Oakers.

Gladstone improved to 15-11 on the season, heading into the state championship finals as the underdog against the Blues, who won the only meeting against Gladstone in the regular season, 10-4, at Don Olsen Field. If the Indians can pull the upset in Saturday's 1 p.m. game, then there will be a second, winner-take-all championship game on Sunday at noon, also in Marquette.