IRON MOUNTAIN----For a while there, no one knew if there would even be a game between the Gladstone Indians and the Iron Mountain Golds Tuesday night.
After all, the Golds did not show up for a doubleheader on Sunday in Gladstone, and then Tuesday, the Iron Mountain coaches were frantically looking for enough kids to be able to field a team for this Mid Peninsula League game. And there were no umpires.
Finally, after a whole bunch of text messages and phone calls, the Golds managed to find nine kids and two umpires. And then, the rag-tag bunch almost beat the first place Indians.
Iron Mountain jumped to a 4-0 lead as the Indians made three errors and had trouble hitting Golds pitcher Cole Grenier. But Gladstone eventually pulled it together over the last three innings and managed to eek out a 10-5 victory at Ranger Field.
"We were flat," Indians Manager Jim Groleau said. "You know, they didn't show up Sunday, and our kids were thinking that they weren't gonna show up again today. We (coaches) could see it coming right from warm-ups.
"And they had us on the run early, 4-0. Any time you've got Cole on the mound there, I mean, he's a tough pitcher. He really had us off-balance."
"We didn't get off to a very good start," Indians senior Cody Frazer agreed. "But once we picked it up and started hitting the ball, it got a lot better."
Iron Mountain scored twice in the first inning on errors by Paul Tomaszewski and Jake Pearson, and an RBI single by Casey Buckner. Then the Iron Mountain lead grew to 4-0 in the fourth inning when Tomaszewski made another error, then there was a walk, a wild pitch, and an RBI single for Logan Nord.
Grenier added a sacrafice fly, and the Golds were "golden" with a big 4-0 lead.
Gladstone was able to begin a comeback in the fifth inning as Frazer ripped a two-run triple into the right field corner to make it 4-2. Another run later scored on an error.
"I've got to use the whole field, I guess," Frazer laughed about the opposite-field hit that seemed to spark the team. "I knew I had to get us going. I was just trying to get the ball out of the infield, and get at least one run home."
Frazer sprinted all the way to third base for a triple. Honestly. He sprinted.
"I bet you never thought you'd see a Frazer would get a triple," he added, referring to himself and his older brother Aaron, who played for the Indians a few years ago. "It went to the fence, so I got a triple, I guess."
In the sixth inning, Grenier was taken off the mound in favor of Brad Blomquist. An error hurt him to start the inning, and then Tomaszewski doubled to put two men on base. Blomquist then had control troubles, hitting Frazer, and then giving up bases loaded walks to Jared Stenson and Hayden Hardwick to give the Indians the lead.
Gladstone was leading just 5-4 entering the seventh inning when the bats finally woke up against Blomquist.
Blake Ballard had a two-run double, Pearson ripped a two-run triple, and Hardwick smacked a shot that nearly took Golds third baseman Tony Marsden for a ride into left field. In all, five runs scored in that seventh inning.
The Golds (0-5) managed to get a run in the bottom of the seventh inning against Colin O'Neal, but they could do no more damage.
Pearson pitched the first four innings for the Indians, giving up four runs (one earned) on two base hits. He struck out seven and walked five. O'Neal earned the win, going three innings.
He allowed one run on one hit, and he fanned three batters and walked three others.
Grenier got a no-decision. He tossed five innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on three hits. Grenier struck out five and walked three.
Blomquist took the loss on the mound, giving up seven runs (five earned) on seven hits in two innings of relief pitching.
Gladstone improved to 14-1 on the season with the win, alomg with the two forfeits that the Golds will be forced to concede for not showing up for Sunday's games in Gladstone.
The Indians have a non-league game scheduled with the Menominee Red Wave on Wednesday at Don Olsen Field. The game starts at 7:00 and will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.
Click the thumbnails in the 'ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS' box to see more pictures, watch videos, and listen to radio highlights from the game. Thanks to Kym Frazer for again taking pictures and videos for the site.
After all, the Golds did not show up for a doubleheader on Sunday in Gladstone, and then Tuesday, the Iron Mountain coaches were frantically looking for enough kids to be able to field a team for this Mid Peninsula League game. And there were no umpires.
Indians pitcher Jake Pearson threw four innings. Pearson got a "no-decision".
Iron Mountain jumped to a 4-0 lead as the Indians made three errors and had trouble hitting Golds pitcher Cole Grenier. But Gladstone eventually pulled it together over the last three innings and managed to eek out a 10-5 victory at Ranger Field.
"We were flat," Indians Manager Jim Groleau said. "You know, they didn't show up Sunday, and our kids were thinking that they weren't gonna show up again today. We (coaches) could see it coming right from warm-ups.
"And they had us on the run early, 4-0. Any time you've got Cole on the mound there, I mean, he's a tough pitcher. He really had us off-balance."
"We didn't get off to a very good start," Indians senior Cody Frazer agreed. "But once we picked it up and started hitting the ball, it got a lot better."
Cody Frazer Two-Run Triple.
Grenier added a sacrafice fly, and the Golds were "golden" with a big 4-0 lead.
Indians senior Cody Frazer into third base.
"I've got to use the whole field, I guess," Frazer laughed about the opposite-field hit that seemed to spark the team. "I knew I had to get us going. I was just trying to get the ball out of the infield, and get at least one run home."
Frazer sprinted all the way to third base for a triple. Honestly. He sprinted.
"I bet you never thought you'd see a Frazer would get a triple," he added, referring to himself and his older brother Aaron, who played for the Indians a few years ago. "It went to the fence, so I got a triple, I guess."
In the sixth inning, Grenier was taken off the mound in favor of Brad Blomquist. An error hurt him to start the inning, and then Tomaszewski doubled to put two men on base. Blomquist then had control troubles, hitting Frazer, and then giving up bases loaded walks to Jared Stenson and Hayden Hardwick to give the Indians the lead.
Jake Pearson two-run triple.
Blake Ballard had a two-run double, Pearson ripped a two-run triple, and Hardwick smacked a shot that nearly took Golds third baseman Tony Marsden for a ride into left field. In all, five runs scored in that seventh inning.
The Golds (0-5) managed to get a run in the bottom of the seventh inning against Colin O'Neal, but they could do no more damage.
Gladstone's Blake Ballard bunts. Golds catcher Paul Kuoppala watches.
He allowed one run on one hit, and he fanned three batters and walked three others.
Grenier got a no-decision. He tossed five innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on three hits. Grenier struck out five and walked three.
Blomquist took the loss on the mound, giving up seven runs (five earned) on seven hits in two innings of relief pitching.
Gladstone improved to 14-1 on the season with the win, alomg with the two forfeits that the Golds will be forced to concede for not showing up for Sunday's games in Gladstone.
The Indians have a non-league game scheduled with the Menominee Red Wave on Wednesday at Don Olsen Field. The game starts at 7:00 and will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.
Click the thumbnails in the 'ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS' box to see more pictures, watch videos, and listen to radio highlights from the game. Thanks to Kym Frazer for again taking pictures and videos for the site.
