Indians Split At Marinette Firecracker Tournament

MARINETTE, Wis.---The Gladstone Indians split a pair of games at the Marinette Firecracker Tournament on Saturday, losing to Manitowoc, 10-2, before rebounding to beat Green Bay, 9-1. Jared Crow threw a one-hitter in the late game.

The Indians had the first game of the day on the Haase Field, and it was a tight game most of the way. Gladstone got RBI singles from Carson Shea and Crow in the early innings, and despite a solo home run for Manitowoc, it was a 2-2 tie going to the fifth inning.

Gladstone pitcher Ben Kelly had wiggled off the hook several times, stranding Manitowoc runners in scoring position in three innings. But the fifth inning was rough, with Manitowoc taking a 3-2 lead on a squeeze bunt by Trent Van Ess.

With Ian Schwalbach on in relief for the Indians, things went downhill from there, as Manitowoc batted around and scored seven runs to take the 10-2 win.

The second game went much better for the Indians as the Shockers could not hit Crow. And Crow’s teammates gave him a 3-0 lead in the first inning as Cooper Cavadeas and Schwalnach had RBI singles.

Crow’s grounder with Parker Frappier at third base scored a run as well.

Gladstone scored five runs in the fourth inning to put the game out of reach, with the highlight being a home run to center field by Schwalbach.

Shea contributed an RBI single during that inning, and Schwalbach picked up his third RBI of the game with a bases loaded walk.

Crow struggled at times with walks, issuing seven free passes. But other than the fifth inning, when he walked three batters, including Kyle Zorn with the bases loaded, Crow was on top of things.

The future Bay College pitcher finished strong, retiring the Shockers 1-2-3 in the sixth inning, and then after a leadoff walk in the seventh, Crow got a line drove 4-3 double play and a strikeout to end the game.

He fanned six batters and allowed just one hit, a bloop single by Ben Navarre in the third inning. Crow got the final out on his 106^th pitch, just getting in under the pitch count limit for a complete game.

Dom Mariucci threw 3 2/3 innings and took the loss for Green Bay, giving up eight runs on nine hits. Lucas Frutig tossed the final 2 1/3 innings and gave up one run on a Cooper Cavadeas double and Crow sacrifice fly.

Cavadeas had two doubles in the game for Gladstone.

The Indians face the host Marinette team at 2:00 ET/1:00 CT on Sunday. The game will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (NewsTalk 600) and www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos. Thanks Lori Jurek for the help!Also, click the AUDIO buttons to hear post-game comments from Crow and Schwalbach.