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Shorthanded Indians Lose Firecracker Opener, 8-2
 MARINETTE, Wis.---The Gladstone Indians got off to a rough start for the second straight gane against the DePere American Legion Baseball team, and the result Friday night in Marinette was the same as it was last Sunday in Escanaba: a loss.  The Indians lost to this same DePere team, 6-1, last Sunday in the semifinals of the Gregg Johnson/Al Erickson Memorial Tournament in Escanaba...after falling behind, 6-0. This time, there is somewhat of an excuse, as shortstop Ben Schwalbach, center fielder Hunter Botruff, and right fielder Jack Stephenson were all gone to a basketball camp at Central Michigan University. That's because the Indians weren't scheduled to play any games this weekend, but they were added to this Marinette tournament at the last minute when the Copper Country team dropped out due to lack of players. Noah Olsen went to the mound for Gladstone, and pitched pretty well against a good-hitting DePere team. The main problem was walks: eight of them off of Olsen in five innings of work. There were also ten stolen bases against the Indians, and the team made four errors on defense. DePere took advantage of pretty much all of the above.  Gladstone had scoring chances early in the game, but hit into a pair of double plays. In the sixth inning, with the bases loaded, it looked like they would hit into a third double play but a throwing error allowed Owen Hanson to reach base and two runs scored on the play. Jake Peterson and Clay Cole each beat out infield singles in that inning. That cut the deficit to 6-2, but in the bottom of the sixth, Olsen reached the end of his rope as he walked the first two men he faced. Brandon Cooper came on to pitch and gave up a two-run double into the left field corner by Carson Jacques. That made it 8-2. Jacques was the winning pitcher for DePere, throwing all seven innings. Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos taken by Lori Jurek. |
