Braves Win Tenth Straight District Championship
GLADSTONE---A decade and counting. And that makes ten straight district titles for the Braves, but Gladstone Coach Jerry Smith says that it keeps getting sweeter with every trophy added to the school's collection. "No, they're not ("old hat") because every time we do it, it seems like we do it with a different set of kids," Smith said. "Every team has been unique to itself. Both pitchers pitched well today, the defense was tough. We made some spectuaculr plays out there today. And our hitting was better than normal." Gladstone was finally allowed to host a district tournament for the first time in the program's history. That's because the Michigan High School Atheltic Association would not let schools who do not have boys baseball to be district hosts. Until now, that is. And so the Braves return to the regional tournament for the tenth straight year, and the girls have won the regionals nine years in a row, too. The last time Gladstone did not advance at least to the state quartefinal round was in 2002. Then, in the bottom of the sixth, Emeralds pitcher Haley MacGregor started to tire, and there were a couple of errors on the Manisitique defense. Houghton scored seven runs in that inning as Kalyssa Jenerou came on to pitch. The biggest hit of the inning was a two-run triple to the fence by Gremlin lead-off batter Brooke Sten. Manistique finishes its season with an 18-18 record. SEMIFINAL #2: GLADSTONE 8, NEGAUNEE O---This score is deceiving, as the Braves found themselves in a battle with the Miners, and pitcher Cheyenne Cherubini kept the Gladstone batters off-balance for most of the semifinal game.
Katie Becker had four hits on Friday.
But before that unearned run happened, a great defensive play by Gladstone second baseman Sammi Strasser kept Negaunee behind by a run. Alley Nelson was hit by a pitch, and stole second. With two out, Erin King lifted a fly ball to right that looked like it would land and perhaps tie the game for the Miners. Strasser laid out and caught the ball just above the grass, keeping Gladstone ahead. "Oh, that was an awesome play," Smith said. "I hope that one's on TV, because it should be." TV-6 did air our replay, and you can see it here. The game was still 2-0 entering the final inning, as Christine Sharon handcuffed the Miners batters and the defense continued to be good behind her. One especially good defensive play came in the sixth inning when Jordan Schwartz came over from short stop to get a ball that had been popped up between the circle and second base.
And she's.....Safe at the plate!
The top of the seventh was a nightmare for Negaunee, as four errors helped the Braves to turn a 2-0 game into an 8-0 rout. Becker had an RBI single, and Nicole Sharon had a two-run hit as part of that big inning. Christine Sharon ended up tossing a two-hitter. "It was a good game all the way to the seventh inning," Smith said. CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: GLADSTONE 13, HOUGHTON 0---After a brief break for a bite to eat, the girls were back on the field as a light rain fell. And the Braves served quick notice that the young Houghton Gremlins would not pull an upset on this day. Gladstone scored six runs in the first inning, two of them on a double by Schwartz. Jordan Kowalski, Nicole Sharon, and Christine Sharon had RBI hits in that inning. "We kind of expected that because they're young and they don't have much of a feeder program up there yet," Smith said. "The pitcher they had (Sten) was doing a good job."
Jordan Kowalski ready to pound the ball.
It was her third hit of the game. 'They were throwing me a lot of inside pitches," Sharon said. "It's not something that I like, but I decided to turn on them this time." Then Schwartz put the icing on the cake with a long two-run home run in the fourth inning to make it a 13-0 game.
Jordan Schwartz RBI double
Christine Sharon pitched the first three innings to earn her second pitching win of the afternoon. Alison Austin pitched the final two innings. The two combined to throw a no-hitter, as Houghton got just one baserunner in five innings (on an infield error). Gladstone (26-5-1) advances to the regional tournament in Charlevoix next Saturday. Click the thumbnails in the "ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS" box to see more pictures, more videos, and listen to audio highlights and interviews. Thanks to Mike Dagenais for taking the pictures and videos! |
Date | Time | Opponent | Score | Record |
4/7 |
2:00 PM |
Escanaba Eskymos
|
2 - 3 (L)
|
|
4/19 |
4:00 PM |
at Gwinn Model Towners
|
14 - 1 (W)
|
|
4/19 |
6:00 PM |
at Gwinn Model Towners
|
22 - 3 (W)
|
|
4/24 |
4:00 PM |
at Escanaba Eskymos
|
0 - 4 (L)
|
|
4/24 |
6:00 PM |
at Escanaba Eskymos
|
2 - 10 (L)
|
|
4/25 |
4:00 PM |
Marquette Redmen
|
5 - 4 (W)
|
|
4/25 |
5:45 PM |
Marquette Redmen
|
3 - 2 (W)
|
|
4/26 |
4:00 PM |
Manistique Emeralds
|
11 - 0 (W)
|
|
4/26 |
6:00 PM |
Manistique Emeralds
|
16 - 0 (W)
|
|
4/30 |
4:00 PM |
Rapid River Rockets
|
0 - 8 (L)
|
|
4/30 |
6:00 PM |
Rapid River Rockets
|
3 - 6 (L)
|
|
5/1 |
4:00 PM |
Houghton Gremlins
|
6 - 2 (W)
|
|
5/1 |
6:00 PM |
Houghton Gremlins
|
6 - 5 (W)
|
|
5/4 |
4:00 PM |
at Manistique Emeralds
|
12 - 9 (W)
|
|
5/4 |
6:00 PM |
at Manistique Emeralds
|
7 - 0 (W)
|
|
5/7 |
4:00 PM |
at Munising Mustangs
|
9 - 3 (W)
|
|
5/7 |
6:00 PM |
at Munising Mustangs
|
19 - 0 (W)
|
|
5/8 |
4:00 PM |
at Houghton Gremlins
|
9 - 0 (W)
|
|
5/8 |
5:00 PM |
at Houghton Gremlins
|
8 - 0 (W)
|
|
5/10 |
4:00 PM |
at Gladstone Braves
|
0 - 10 (L)
|
|
5/10 |
6:00 PM |
at Gladstone Braves
|
2 - 14 (L)
|
|
5/15 |
4:00 PM |
Escanaba Eskymos
|
1 - 9 (L)
|
|
5/15 |
6:00 PM |
Escanaba Eskymos
|
2 - 9 (L)
|
|
5/18 |
4:00 PM |
Norway Knights
|
10 - 0 (W)
|
|
5/18 |
6:00 PM |
Norway Knights
|
10 - 0 (W)
|
|
5/19 |
2:29 PM |
at Petoskey Northmen
|
1 - 3 (L)
|
|
5/21 |
3:00 PM |
at Rapid River Rockets
|
0 - 1 (L)
|
|
5/21 |
5:00 PM |
at Rapid River Rockets
|
3 - 9 (L)
|
|
5/23 |
4:00 PM |
at Norway Knights
|
8 - 2 (W)
|
|
5/23 |
6:00 PM |
at Norway Knights
|
15 - 1 (W)
|
|
5/29 |
6:00 PM |
Pickford Panthers
|
15 - 0 (W)
|
|
6/1 |
3:00 PM |
at Gladstone Braves
|
0 - 8 (L)
|