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Gladstone Braves Open Baseball Season Downstate
 REED CITY---The long wait to start the baseball season was worth it for the Gladstone Braves as they easily won both games Friday evening at Reed City, 12-2 and 9-0. The Braves hit four home runs...two of them by Tommy Bailey...and cruised to the doubleheader sweep after having all of their other games cancelled by bad weather. "I was very, very pleased," Gladstone Braves Manager Don Lauscher said. "I got all 17 players in. They've been working so hard. The senior leadership has been great. I couldn't ask for any more." Gladstone finished its downstate weekend road trip with two games in Kingsley on Saturday. The Braves won the opener, 5-1, before dropping the nightcap, 7-6. In Friday's first game, Bailey paced the Braves offense, picking up from where he left off during the second half of the 2013 season. Bailey hit a two-run homer in the opener, and Hunter Garling followed with a solo shot. Later, Bailey launched a grand slam home run that gave the Braves a 7-0 lead heading into the final few innings. "They were missiles, too," Lauscher said. "They were not cheapies."  "I think we had more home runs today than we had all year last year," Lauscher laughed. "Kurt (Lasucher, Don's son and assistant coach) changed our practice routines by a lot. It's already paying dividends." In the opener, Sam Pouliot tossed four shutout innings to get the win. Christian Groleau threw the fifth and sixth innings, and gave up two runs. Jake Peterson then worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning to close out the 12-2 victory. In the second game, Peterson got the ball again, and pitched four innings of shutout ball. He allowed just one hit, and the game was called in the fifth inning by darkness. "Rizzo (Peterson) was outstanding," Lauscher said. "He pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning in the first game, and then he shut them down the whole way in the second game. It was fun to watch. He had nine strikeouts in four innings (in the nightcap)." Lauscher says that the doubleheader was a good way to kick off the season. "For our first time being outside, we played outstanding," the second-year manager said. "We swung the bats well, and there were no errors at all." Details from the games in Kingsley were unavailable as of late Saturday night. Gladstone (3-1) is scheduled to play the new North Central Jets team Monday night in Hermansville (5:30 ET), and then host Negaunee for a doubleheader Tuesday at 4:30. Those games are scheduled to be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600). |
| Date | Time | Opponent | Score | Record |
4/18 |
4:00 PM |
at Reed City High School
|
12 - 2 (W)
|
1-0
|
4/18 |
6:00 PM |
at Reed City High School
|
9 - 0 (W)
|
2-0
|
4/19 |
11:00 AM |
at Kingsley Stags
|
5 - 1 (W)
|
3-0
|
4/19 |
1:30 PM |
at Kingsley Stags
|
6 - 7 (L)
|
3-1
|
4/22 |
4:30 PM |
Negaunee Miners
|
6 - 4 (W)
|
4-1
|
4/23 |
4:30 PM |
Norway Knights
|
5 - 1 (W)
|
5-1
|
4/26 |
2:00 PM |
at Charlevoix Rayders
|
8 - 4 (W)
|
6-1
|
4/26 |
4:00 PM |
at Charlevoix Rayders
|
9 - 6 (W)
|
7-1
|
4/28 |
4:00 PM |
Superior Central Cougars
|
22 - 4 (W)
|
8-1
|
4/28 |
6:00 PM |
Superior Central Cougars
|
12 - 1 (W)
|
9-1
|
5/5 |
4:00 PM |
at Norway Knights
|
13 - 0 (W)
|
10-1
|
5/5 |
6:00 PM |
at Norway Knights
|
4 - 1 (W)
|
11-1
|
5/8 |
4:30 PM |
Escanaba Eskymos
|
1 - 0 (W)
|
12-1
|
5/9 |
4:30 PM |
at Oconto Falls Panthers
|
6 - 4 (W)
|
13-1
|
5/10 |
11:00 AM |
Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario) Black Sox
|
7 - 3 (W)
|
14-1
|
5/14 |
4:00 PM |
at Negaunee Miners
|
16 - 6 (W)
|
15-1
|
5/14 |
6:00 PM |
at Negaunee Miners
|
4 - 2 (W)
|
16-1
|
5/15 |
5:30 PM |
Stephenson Eagles
|
15 - 5 (W)
|
17-1
|
5/17 |
12:00 PM |
at Green Bay Notre Dame
|
1 - 11 (L)
|
17-2
|
5/19 |
4:00 PM |
at Superior Central Cougars
|
15 - 0 (W)
|
18-2
|
5/19 |
6:30 PM |
at Superior Central Cougars
|
14 - 3 (W)
|
19-2
|
5/20 |
4:00 PM |
Houghton Gremlins
|
11 - 3 (W)
|
20-2
|
5/20 |
6:30 PM |
Houghton Gremlins
|
7 - 3 (W)
|
21-2
|
5/22 |
5:30 PM |
at Stephenson Eagles
|
7 - 4 (W)
|
22-2
|
5/23 |
4:30 PM |
Marquette Redmen
|
2 - 3 (L)
|
22-3
|
5/23 |
7:00 PM |
Marquette Redmen
|
12 - 4 (W)
|
23-3
|
5/26 |
6:00 PM |
at Escanaba Eskymos
|
3 - 1 (W)
|
24-3
|
5/27 |
6:30 PM |
at Green Bay Preble
|
3 - 6 (L)
|
24-4
|
5/30 |
1:00 PM |
Negaunee Miners
|
4 - 2 (W)
|
25-4
|
5/30 |
7:00 PM |
Houghton Gremlins
|
10 - 0 (W)
|
26-4
|
6/7 |
10:00 AM |
at Traverse City St. Francis
|
10 - 2 (W)
|
27-4
|
6/7 |
4:00 PM |
Boyne City
|
5 - 2 (W)
|
28-4
|
6/10 |
12:00 PM |
Muskegon Oakridge
|
3 - 2 (W)
|
29-4
|
6/13 |
2:30 PM |
Decatur Raiders
|
1 - 2 (L)
|
29-5
|
