GLADSTONE---What could have been an embarrassing at-bat for Paul Tomaszewski turned into the biggest moment at the plate Wednesday as the Gladstone Indians faced the Channing Railroaders. The Indians had a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, and Tomaszewski was at the plate with two men on and nobody out.
Tomaszewski hit a three-run homer to give the Indians a 5-1 lead, and the Tribe went on to post an 8-2 victory that kept the Indians undefeated in the Mid Pen League's South Division standings.
But it almost didn't happen.
"Coach didn't give me the bunt sign, but I saw the third baseman was back, so I thought I could push one by the third baseman and get a base hit or advance the runners," Tomaszewski said. "I missed the bunt."
Meanwhile, Indians Manager Jim Groleau was standing at third, watching it all....
"When Paul squared to bunt, I was thinking to myself, 'should I have him bunt them over, or let him swing away'," Groleau said. "Then I thought, OK, he's been hitting the ball pretty good, so I let him swing away. Then he squares!" Well, at that point, Tomaszewski knew a bunt wasn't in order anymore.
"I was a little frustrated," he said. "And then I let a pitch go right down the middle. That's when Mrs. Frazer (catcher Cody Frazer's mom Kym) walked by and asked me if I wanted some 'pink batting gloves'. It kind of ticked me off a little bit, so I wanted to just crush the ball."
And that's exactly what the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point student did.
"The pitcher (Bryon Harper) threw a pitch high and inside, and I turned good enough on it and got the bat on it," Tomaszewski said. "She (Kym Frazer) gave me the extra power right there."
Gladstone took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Peyton Jurek singled, stole second, and scored when Cody Frazer's grounder to third was fielded, but thrown away.
Frazer eventually scored on an infield hit...almost swinging bunt...by Jake Pearson.
Channing got a run back in the second inning on a Dom Christian sacrafice fly, but the Indians got that big four-run fourth inning to basically put the game away.
Besides Tomaszewski's home run, a throwing error on a walk let a Gladstone run score.
The Railroaders (4-12) got a run in the top of the sixth inning as Cody Berg and Brad Gustafson got back-to-back singles off of relief pitcher Lucas LaCosse.
The run scored as Bryce Jauquet hit into a nicely-tunred 6-4-3 double play. Gladstone scored twice in the bottom of the sixth as Jared Stenson and Pearson got RBI singles.
Blake Ballard pitched the first two innings for the Indians, allowing one run on two hits. Christian Groleau pitched the next three innings and earned the win. He gave up no runs on two hits, along with one walk and one strike out.
"Honestly, Christian has been struggling in practice and hasn't had as much mound time as we would have liked," said Jim Groleau about his son. "I give to give a lot of credit to (former Indians pitcher) Kevin Thompson. He came here last night and worked with Christian, and noticed a hitch in his motion. He helped him a lot."
LaCosse pitched the final two innings. He allowed one run on two hits. He also walked two batters and had one strikeout.
"He generally throws strikes," Coach Groleau said. "When he walked the two there, I had to come out and talk to him. He stumbled there on the one, so he was having some problems with the mound. He's gonna be getting more innings."
Gladstone (21-2) will co-host the Gregg Johnson Memorial Tournament with the Escanaba Cubs this weekend. There are nine teams in the event, as Sheboygan dropped out and organizers couldn't find another team to fill that spot at the last minute.
The field is divided into three, three-team pools. Each team plays the other two teams in its pool, plus one team from each of the other pools.
Gladstone's first game is Friday at 5:30 against the Eastern U.P. Travelers out of Sault Ste. Marie. That game will be followed by an 8:00 game against Ash-Port out of the Green Bay area. Both games will be broadcast live here on WCHT-AM (600), and over the Internet at www.rrnsports.com.
Paul Tomaszewski celebrates his home run.
But it almost didn't happen.
"Coach didn't give me the bunt sign, but I saw the third baseman was back, so I thought I could push one by the third baseman and get a base hit or advance the runners," Tomaszewski said. "I missed the bunt."
Meanwhile, Indians Manager Jim Groleau was standing at third, watching it all....
"When Paul squared to bunt, I was thinking to myself, 'should I have him bunt them over, or let him swing away'," Groleau said. "Then I thought, OK, he's been hitting the ball pretty good, so I let him swing away. Then he squares!" Well, at that point, Tomaszewski knew a bunt wasn't in order anymore.
Paul Tomaszewski three-run homer.
And that's exactly what the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point student did.
"The pitcher (Bryon Harper) threw a pitch high and inside, and I turned good enough on it and got the bat on it," Tomaszewski said. "She (Kym Frazer) gave me the extra power right there."
Jake Pearson's base hit didn't go far.
Frazer eventually scored on an infield hit...almost swinging bunt...by Jake Pearson.
Channing got a run back in the second inning on a Dom Christian sacrafice fly, but the Indians got that big four-run fourth inning to basically put the game away.
Besides Tomaszewski's home run, a throwing error on a walk let a Gladstone run score.
The Railroaders (4-12) got a run in the top of the sixth inning as Cody Berg and Brad Gustafson got back-to-back singles off of relief pitcher Lucas LaCosse.
The run scored as Bryce Jauquet hit into a nicely-tunred 6-4-3 double play. Gladstone scored twice in the bottom of the sixth as Jared Stenson and Pearson got RBI singles.
Blake Ballard pitched the first two innings for the Indians, allowing one run on two hits. Christian Groleau pitched the next three innings and earned the win. He gave up no runs on two hits, along with one walk and one strike out.
Christian Groleau was the winning pitcher.
LaCosse pitched the final two innings. He allowed one run on two hits. He also walked two batters and had one strikeout.
"He generally throws strikes," Coach Groleau said. "When he walked the two there, I had to come out and talk to him. He stumbled there on the one, so he was having some problems with the mound. He's gonna be getting more innings."
Gladstone (21-2) will co-host the Gregg Johnson Memorial Tournament with the Escanaba Cubs this weekend. There are nine teams in the event, as Sheboygan dropped out and organizers couldn't find another team to fill that spot at the last minute.
The field is divided into three, three-team pools. Each team plays the other two teams in its pool, plus one team from each of the other pools.
Gladstone's first game is Friday at 5:30 against the Eastern U.P. Travelers out of Sault Ste. Marie. That game will be followed by an 8:00 game against Ash-Port out of the Green Bay area. Both games will be broadcast live here on WCHT-AM (600), and over the Internet at www.rrnsports.com.
The teams stand for the national anthem, and Levi Cunningham shushes the crowd. Well, not exactly....
