HISTORY IN THE MAKING!! Braves Win Regional

TRAVERSE CITY---He's won championship trophies before.

Don Lauscher has coached championship teams in Little League, American Legion, and high school baseball over the past two decades.

But somehow, the regional championship won by the Gladstone Braves Saturday afternoon took the top spot amongst them all.

The reason: this high school baseball program was started by Lauscher more than two years ago, and from scratch.

After a rather lackluster opening season in 2013, the boys came together this spring and put together a season that has been noticed statewide.

And it will continue for at least one more game after the Braves beat Traverse City St. Francis, 10-2, and then Boyne City, 5-2, to capture the first regional championship in the short history of Gladstone Braves high school baseball.

Jake Peterson gets final out for championship

"This is just so rewarding, to think of where we were last year at this time," Lauscher said. "We had a goal to set, getting through the districts, and we met that. And I tried to get across to the kids to 'don't settle for a district championship. Let's come down here and show these guys that we can really play some good baseball'."

And the Braves did just that, as Sam Pouliot tossed a complete game on the mound against St. Francis, and Jake Peterson did the same in the title game against Boyne City. Both were opponents who could hit the ball, and did not give up after they fell behind.

"This is the most rewarding to me," Lauscher said. "This is awesome. It is just great for the Gladstone community. It's great for the kids, and great for the parents."

"I'm a little excited," Braves senior Tommy Bailey said. "We practiced hard all week."

"If you had told me at the beginning of the year that we would beat Negaunee at districts and come here and win regionals, I would have been more than happy," said Pouliot, another senior. "I'm just ecstatic."

In the morning game, the Braves jumped to a 2-0 lead as the Gladiator outfielders had troubles on back-to-back plays.

Tom Bailey barely misses home run

One run scored on the miscues, and then Bailey narrowly missed a home run, settling for an RBI double to make it 2-0.

But St. Francis tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the inning on a throwing error by Pouliot when he tried to cut down a runner at third on a bunt attempt, and on a wild pitch with another Gladiator runner at third base.

Gladst0ne regained the lead in the third inning when Christian Groleau doubled and scored on bunts by Peterson and Ben Schwalbach.

Then in the fourth inning, Justin Jurek's sacrafice fly to short right field scored Christian Tackman to make it 4-2.

TCSF (22-7) had two men on base against Pouliot in both the fourth and fifth innings, but Pouliot got big strikeouts to end each of those innings.

Then in the seventh inning, Gladstone put the game away by scoring six times to make it a 10-2 game.

In that inning, Pouliot had a triple that brought in two runs, and Jurek had a double that brought in two more runs. Gladstone outhit St. Francis, 12-6.

At one point in the game, Pouliot struck out seven straight Gladiator batters.

Justin Jurek drives home two runs

"I was just confident," Pouliot said. "Sometimes, that's enough. If you're confident in your abilities, and you start to get into that groove. I was just trying to stay focused."

After Boyne City knocked out Whittemore-Prescott, 11-5, in the second semifinal, the Braves went to work early in the championship game against the Ramblers.

In the first inning, Garling singled and Jurek and Bailey each drew walks.

With two out, Peterson helped his own cause with a base hit that scored two runs. Then, in the second inning, the Braves doubled their lead to 4-0 on a two-run bit by Jurek.

Bailey's RBI single in the third made it 5-0, and Peterson was cruising on the mound. But the Ramblers did not give up, mounting a two-out rally in the top of the fifth inning.

RBI singles by Colton Sieratski and Derek Willis brought the Ramblers to within 5-2, but Peterson managed to get the final out. Then in the sixth inning, Max Cuper doubled and Jeff Miller was hit by a pitch. But Peterson (Rizzo) made the play of the day.

Sam Pouliot RBI triple.

Jordan Fair hit toward third. Peterson lunged off the mound and speared the ball on a hop, and then threw to Garling at the plate. Peterson got the force, and then struck out Spencer Binkley and Maceo Vroman to end the threat.

"On the play at the plate, when I dove, I just kind of caught him out the corner of my eye, coming down the third base line," Peterson said. "So, I just popped up, and threw as quick it as I could."

Final out for regional championship.

Peterson then struck out three batters in the seventh inning, finishing with nine K's.

"Kurt (Lauscher, pitching coach) just had me work the outside for those two strikeouts (in the sixth inning)," Peterson said. "It was fastballs, with a couple curves, maybe."

Gladstone (28-4) will face Muskegon Oakridge in the state quarterfinal Tuesday in Traverse City. Game time is 12:00. The game 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 photos and videos taken by Jared Hunter, and to listen to interviews and highlights.

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