ESCANABA---Momentum is a strange thing in baseball, and early in Sunday's district tournament game between Gladstone and Tri-County, the boys in purple had it.
But momentum often switches sides on a dime, and that's what happened for the Tri-County Major Boys (age 11-12) as they rallied to beat Gladstone's All-Stars, 9-4.
The win moves Tri-County into the district finals while Gladstone was eliminated.
The two teams had met in the district opener on Friday, and Gladstone eeked out a 4-3 win in a marathon eight-inning game. And on Sunday, Gladstone grabbed an early 4-0 lead.
Nick Sundquist led off the game with a single and scored on a base hit by Braeden Sundquist. Cam Kelly followed with a hit and Rease Dawley smoked a triple to drive both boys home, and Gladstone had a 3-0 lead.
Noah Peterson singled and scored on a passed ball in the top of the second inning, and Gladstone led Tri-County, 4-0.
Finally, in the fourth inning, the boys in green started to hit Gladstone's starting pitcher, Dawley. Dakota Maki got things started with a double, and Kyle Fruti followed with a hit. Mike Rondeau brought in his team's first run with a double, then Michael Englund and Ray Robinson followed with RBI base hits to bring Tri-County to within 4-3.
Clayton Collier followed with a long sacrafice fly that was caught by Gladstone right fielder Andrew Bracket. It was a 4-4 game after four innings, and in the top of the fifth, Collier made a tranendous catch when he robbed Dawley of extra bases in center field.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Gladstone outfielders were constantly running back to the fence as Tri-County hit the ball hard throughout the line-up. With two men on and no out, Fruti smoked one to the fence to score two runs, breaking the 4-4 tie and making it a 6-4 game.
Dawley was replaced on the mound, but the Tri-County hits kept coming. Englund ripped his second RBI hit of the game to make it 7-4, and then the icing on the cake was a long two-run homer to right field by Collier.
The 9-4 win moves Tri-County into Thursday's district finals game against Norway, which had a big comeback of its own on Sunday. Norway trailed Kingsford, 5-0, in the fifth inning but scored nine straight runs to post a 9-5 victory.
The Tri-County vs Norway game is set for 5:00 at Escanaba's Dickson Field. It will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com. The other district semifinal, at 7:00 Thursday, pits Escanaba against Iron Mountain.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken at Sunday afternoon's game.
But momentum often switches sides on a dime, and that's what happened for the Tri-County Major Boys (age 11-12) as they rallied to beat Gladstone's All-Stars, 9-4.
The two teams had met in the district opener on Friday, and Gladstone eeked out a 4-3 win in a marathon eight-inning game. And on Sunday, Gladstone grabbed an early 4-0 lead.
Nick Sundquist led off the game with a single and scored on a base hit by Braeden Sundquist. Cam Kelly followed with a hit and Rease Dawley smoked a triple to drive both boys home, and Gladstone had a 3-0 lead.
Noah Peterson singled and scored on a passed ball in the top of the second inning, and Gladstone led Tri-County, 4-0.
Finally, in the fourth inning, the boys in green started to hit Gladstone's starting pitcher, Dawley. Dakota Maki got things started with a double, and Kyle Fruti followed with a hit. Mike Rondeau brought in his team's first run with a double, then Michael Englund and Ray Robinson followed with RBI base hits to bring Tri-County to within 4-3.
Clayton Collier followed with a long sacrafice fly that was caught by Gladstone right fielder Andrew Bracket. It was a 4-4 game after four innings, and in the top of the fifth, Collier made a tranendous catch when he robbed Dawley of extra bases in center field.
Dawley was replaced on the mound, but the Tri-County hits kept coming. Englund ripped his second RBI hit of the game to make it 7-4, and then the icing on the cake was a long two-run homer to right field by Collier.
The 9-4 win moves Tri-County into Thursday's district finals game against Norway, which had a big comeback of its own on Sunday. Norway trailed Kingsford, 5-0, in the fifth inning but scored nine straight runs to post a 9-5 victory.
The Tri-County vs Norway game is set for 5:00 at Escanaba's Dickson Field. It will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com. The other district semifinal, at 7:00 Thursday, pits Escanaba against Iron Mountain.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken at Sunday afternoon's game.
