RIDE THE WAVE: Menominee Rolls Past Gladstone

GLADSTONE---The Menominee Red Wave jumped to an 8-0 lead and rolled past the Gladstone Indians, 12-4, in an Upper Peninsula u-19 baseball contest Sunday in Gladstone.

It was the first match-up between the two rivals in the local independent league which was formed after the American Legion cancelled its program due to tyhe coronavirus.

The Indians have had the Red Wave number in recent years, with Gladstone beating Menominee in the state championship game twice as part of a threepeat as Class A state champions.

But on this day it was Menominee, along with some players from across the border in Marinette and Wausaukee, Wis., who got most of the last laughs.

The Red Wave grabbed a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Keagan Monroe, who has committed to play NCAA Division One football at Central Michigan University, came through with a booming two-run double to the outfield fence off of Gladstone starting pitcher Riley Baldovski.

Then in the fourth inning, Menominee sent eleven batters to the plate and scored six more runs, with Andrew Schroeder's two-run single being the highlight. The Indians, playing just their second game of the summer, made three errors in that inning.

The Indians tried to come back. Schroeder no-hit the Tribe through 3 1/3 innings and worked around a half-dozen walks, but in the fourth inning, Blake Krouth came through with a two-run double to the fence to cash in on two of those walks and cut the gap to 8-2.

The comeback continued in the sixth inning when Dayton Bernson and Parker Frappier both got hits and Krouth drew a walk.

Zach Hanson was hit by a pitch, forcing in a run and ending Schroeder's day on the mound. Dante Sartorelli came in to pitch and gave up a sharply-hit single to Caden Alworden to bring home a run and cut the Menominee lead to 8-4.

The bases were still loaded with one out, and the tyingSartore run was at the plate, when Sartorelli struck out Indians #3 and #4 hitters, Dan Martin and Drake Forrest, swinging.

In the top of the seventh inning, Sartorelli keyed a four-run Menominee rally with an RBI triple to the fence to essentially put the game away. Gladstone scored twice in the bottom of the seventh when Sartorelli walked four batters and gave up a hit to Bernson, but he got Martin to bounce out with the bases loaded to end the game.

SUNDAY'S U.P. BASEBALL SCOREBOARD
Menominee 12, Gladstone 6
Menominee 10, Bark River 1
Escanaba 11, Negaunee 1
Copper County 8, Escanaba 7
Iron Mountain 11, Copper Country 8
Iron Mountain 10, Bark River 2
Marquette 12, Ishpeming 0 (Game One)
Marquette 16, Ishpeming 0 (Game Two)

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS above to see photos taken by Lori Jurek, video highlights and post-game comments from Sartorelli and Monroe.