Indians Win Twice; Cubs Blanked At State Tourney
ADRIAN---The American Legion Baseball State Tournament started with six teams, and now there are three teams still standing as we head into the weekend. The host Hudson team has the upper hand, but the Escanaba Cubs and Gladstone Indians are both still alive as we head into Saturday's play. Since both of Delta County's teams have lost to Hudson in this tournament, both will need to beat the host team twice this weekend in order to bring the state championship trophy back across the Mackinac Bridge. Gladstone lost to Hudson, 2-0, Thursday night, and then on Friday, Escanaba was shut out by Hudson, 4-0. Now the two Delta County teams will have to face each other in an elimination game before taking their chances against the host team. GLADSTONE 10, GLADWIN 3---The Indians started the day on Friday needing a win over the Gladwin Lightning in a loser's bracket game. The game was scoreless in the third inning before Gladwin took a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Alec Gary. But the Indians scored four times in the bottom of the third, with Jake Peterson getting a two-run single and Hunter Garling getting an RBI hit of his own. The Indians added three more runs in the fourth inning to take a 7-1 lead, as Cody Frazer, Hayden Hardwick, and Garling had RBI base hits. The icing on the cake was Justin Jurek's inside-the-park home run in the fifth inning, just before they sat through an eleven-minute-long rain delay. Christian Groleaun pitched five innings to earn the win, allowing one run on two hits. He struck out four and walked four. Lucas LaCosse pitched two innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits. Drew Cantrell took the loss for Gladwin. GLADSTONE 5, HANCOCK 0---After a rain delay, the Indians faced Hancock for a second straight day. The Copper Country team had defeated Ida, 8-1, earlier in the day on Friday as Tyler LaDuron tossed a complete game. He was back on the hill for this one against the Indians, with four innings to work with under tournament pitching rules. Gladstone got a run in the second inning when Hardwick walked and eventually scored when Christian Tackman couldn't get the squeeze bunt down. Hardwick crossed the plate when he bumped the catcher's mit on his way in, jarring the ball free. The Indians scored again in the third inning when Jurek got a one-out triple and scored on a sacrafice fly by Christian Groleau. The lead grew to 3-0 in the fourth inning as Hardwick walked (again) and scored on a groundout by Tackman. In the sixth inning, Gladstone scored again on a bunt single by Garling, scoring Jake Pearson, who had doubled earlier in the inning. And then the fifth run came in when Peterson hit a fly ball to right field, scoring Garling from third. On that play, Tackman was way past second base and was doubled off of first. The run counted, though. Garling tossed all seven innings for Gladstone, allowing four hits and three walks. LaDuron took the loss, giving up three runs (two earned) on just one base hit. Mike Saari tossed the final three innings, allowing two runs on five base hits. Hancock finished fourth in the state, after taking third in the Upper Peninsula. HUDSON 4, ESCANABA 0---The Escanaba Cubs had a power outage against the host team on Friday, getting just two base hits and losing, 4-0, in Friday night's game. Things looked good early for the Cubs, as Ben Kleiman set Hudson down 1-2-3 in the top of the first inning. And in the bottom half of the inning, David Falish led off with a double over the center fielder's head, all the way to the Nicolay Field fence. Tyler Skufca bunted Falish to third base, but the next two batters, Nick Vandermissen and Brandon Punzel, both hit weak grounders to the mound to end the inning. Kleiman, who has been Escanaba's steadiest pitcher this season, gave up a single and two walks in the second inning. Hudson scored a run when Cody Nelson hit a grounder that Vandermissen turned into a 4-3 double play, tagging the runner between first and sceond, and then throwing to first base. In the fourth inning, Kleiman walked Hunter Borton, and then Mitchell Dempsey hit an RBI double past Cubs third baseman Tim Leuneburg. Dempsey scored on an error, and Ohman removed Kleiman from the hill, bringing in Andrew Sedlar. It was 3-0. Sedlar did well, tossing 3 1/3 innings of relief, giving up one run on two base hits. Besides Falish's lead-off double, the only base hit the Cubs could muster against Hudson pitcher Chris Thomsen was an infield single by Lueneburg in the seventh inning. The Cubs did get baserunners throughout the game when Falish, Devin Olsen, and Lueneburg were hit by pitches. But it never happened in the same inning. BATTLE OF DELTA COUNTY, WAY DOWNSTATE---So the tournament moves into the weekend with the Cubs and Indians set to face each other in a Battle Royale on Saturday. And it will happen more than 400 miles away from home. The game will start at 10:00 Saturday morning at Adrian College. The winner will play Hudson at 12:30, and will need to win that game to force a Sunday contest. The loser will get third place in the state. The Escanaba-Gladstone game will NOT be broadcast on the radio, but will be broadcast live over the Internet at www.rrnsports.com. The 12:30 game will be broadcast on both AM-600 and at www.rrnsports.com. Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos, as well as to listen to audio highlights and interviews. |
Date | Time | Opponent | Score | Record |
5/1 |
6:00 PM |
Marquette Redmen
|
9 - 7 (W)
|
1-0
|
5/8 |
6:30 PM |
at Marquette Blues
|
3 - 8 (L)
|
1-1
|
5/18 |
12:30 PM |
at Escanaba Eskymos
|
0 - 5 (L)
|
1-2
|
5/18 |
3:00 PM |
Negaunee Miners
|
14 - 3 (W)
|
2-2
|
5/19 |
12:00 PM |
at Kingsford Legion Blues
|
1 - 5 (L)
|
2-3
|
5/19 |
2:30 PM |
at Kingsford Legion Blues
|
4 - 16 (L)
|
2-4
|
5/23 |
6:30 PM |
Marquette Blues
|
4 - 15 (L)
|
2-5
|
5/28 |
6:30 PM |
at Channing Railroaders
|
1 - 5 (L)
|
2-6
|
5/31 |
6:30 PM |
at Marquette Blues
|
4 - 14 (L)
|
2-7
|
6/6 |
6:30 PM |
Ishpeming Blue Storm
|
12 - 0 (W)
|
3-7
|
6/8 |
1:00 PM |
at Hancock Legion
|
17 - 5 (W)
|
4-7
|
6/8 |
3:30 PM |
at Hancock Legion
|
15 - 7 (W)
|
5-7
|
6/10 |
6:30 PM |
at Mid County Mavericks
|
8 - 3 (W)
|
6-7
|
6/13 |
6:30 PM |
Kingsford Legion Blues
|
3 - 2 (W)
|
7-7
|
6/15 |
2:00 PM |
at Oconto Falls Legion
|
10 - 0 (W)
|
8-7
|
6/15 |
4:30 PM |
at Oconto Falls Legion
|
14 - 2 (W)
|
9-7
|
6/18 |
5:30 PM |
Channing Railroaders
|
7 - 4 (W)
|
10-7
|
6/18 |
8:00 PM |
Channing Railroaders
|
10 - 0 (W)
|
11-7
|
6/21 |
5:30 PM |
Eastern U.P. Travelers
|
3 - 2 (W)
|
12-7
|
6/21 |
8:00 PM |
Petoskey Legion
|
0 - 1 (L)
|
12-8
|
6/22 |
4:45 PM |
DePere Panthers
|
4 - 5 (L)
|
12-9
|
6/22 |
7:00 PM |
Plover, Wis.
|
3 - 8 (L)
|
12-10
|
6/25 |
8:00 PM |
at Escanaba Cubs
|
3 - 0 (W)
|
13-10
|
6/26 |
6:00 PM |
Newberry Warriors
|
4 - 3 (W)
|
14-10
|
6/26 |
8:00 PM |
Newberry Warriors
|
2 - 2 (T)
|
14-10-1
|
6/29 |
8:30 AM |
at Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario) Black Sox
|
3 - 2 (W)
|
15-10-1
|
6/29 |
12:30 PM |
at Newberry Warriors
|
3 - 7 (L)
|
15-11-1
|
6/30 |
1:00 PM |
Hancock Legion
|
2 - 3 (L)
|
15-12-1
|
6/30 |
3:00 PM |
Onaway Cardinals
|
10 - 1 (W)
|
16-12-1
|
7/3 |
6:00 PM |
Escanaba Cubs
|
3 - 1 (W)
|
17-12-1
|
7/7 |
1:00 PM |
Hancock Legion
|
13 - 3 (W)
|
18-12-1
|
7/7 |
3:30 PM |
Hancock Legion
|
3 - 7 (L)
|
18-13-1
|
7/9 |
5:30 PM |
Mid County Mavericks
|
11 - 0 (W)
|
19-13-1
|
7/11 |
6:30 PM |
Marquette Blues
|
6 - 0 (W)
|
20-13-1
|
7/20 |
4:00 PM |
Kingsford Legion Blues
|
1 - 5 (L)
|
20-14-1
|
7/24 |
5:00 PM |
Eastern U.P. Travelers
|
6 - 4 (W)
|
21-14-1
|
7/25 |
7:00 PM |
at Menominee Red Wave Legion
|
5 - 4 (W)
|
22-14-1
|
7/27 |
6:00 PM |
Hancock Legion
|
10 - 0 (W)
|
23-14-1
|
7/28 |
12:00 PM |
at Escanaba Cubs
|
15 - 0 (W)
|
24-14-1
|
8/1 |
1:30 PM |
Hancock Legion
|
15 - 1 (W)
|
25-14-1
|
8/1 |
6:30 PM |
at Hudson Legion
|
0 - 2 (L)
|
25-15-1
|
8/2 |
11:30 AM |
Gladwin
|
10 - 3 (W)
|
26-15-1
|
8/2 |
3:00 PM |
Hancock Legion
|
5 - 0 (W)
|
27-15-1
|
8/3 |
10:00 AM |
Escanaba Cubs
|
0 - 1 (L)
|
27-16-1
|