Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos taken by Jayger Quinn. Also click the AUDIO buttons to hear post-game comments from Gavin Frossard, Johnny Soderman, and the coaches from both teams.

GLADSTONE---The high school baseball season got underway on Tuesday as the Gladstone Braves swept a doubleheader from the Iron Mountain Mountaineers, 17-2, and 6-1, at Don Olsen Field. It was a rematch of last spring's regional semifinal game, but there were a lot of new faces on the field for both teams on Tuesday.
 

“We're just trying to build confidence in the kids and trying to get them better,” Iron Mountain Manager Jeff McLean said. “This isn't like football where you have the playoff points. Everyone gets in (the playoffs). We're just going to tell them to keep working hard, keep those heads up. Hopefully, we can recreate what we did last year.”

“I'm just happy that were able to get guys experience,” Gladstone Manager Tyler Swanson said. “We've got a lot of guys who have been around baseball. But they kind of hung around in the shadows of the (graduated) Tyler Darmograys and Braden Sundquists. Now is their time to shine, and I feel awesome for the guys that we got these games in. We've had this game scheduled for like four or five years, but we never played it (due to weather).”

Both teams used multiple pitchers as they tried to get the season off to a good start.

In the opener, the Mountaineers grabbed a 1-0 lead against Braves pitcher Nate Young on a walk and a pair of infield singles, with Jake Powell driving in the run. But the Braves loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning on a walk and two hit-batters. Gavin Frossard unloaded the bases with a booming three-run double to left field.

“He (Evan Mendini) threw me two fastballs in a row,” Frossard said. “The first one, I thought he (umpire Rod Rahoi) might have called it a strike, but it was a little inside, so he gave me the ball. Second pitch was right down the middle and I cranked it. It's awesome. That's one thing I've been trying to do better this year is, as soon as I get a (good) pitch, just rip it.”
 

Iron Mountain closed to within 3-2 in the top of the second inning as Young walked the leadoff man again and Connor Pickett drove in the run with a sacrifice fly.

Then came the bottom of the inning, when the Braves sent 19 batters to the plate and scored 14 runs on eleven base hits. Young had a two-run hit, while Johnny Soderman, Trevor Thorbahn, Rex Kelly, and Cooper Sanville all had run-scoring hits.

“Gladstone can hit the ball and they have tons of (pitching) arms,” McLean said. “They're a solid ball club and obviously we made a couple of mistakes and hit a few batters early on in that inning. Then, it was just a base hit fest. It went downhill from there. I think it took an hour. We couldn't get out of that second inning.”

Iron Mountain used three pitchers in a game that was called by the mercy rule after three innings of play. Sanville pitched a 1-2-3 third inning in relief of Young, who got the win, allowing two runs on two (infield) hits and a pair of walks.

In the second game, Gladstone struggled to hit the slow Mountaineer pitching. Lane Wender kept his team in the game, however, before giving way to Gerald Sampol-Torres in the fifth inning. The Braves used six pitchers: one for each inning of the game.
 

Offensively, Soderman smoked a two-run triple in the fourth inning to break the game open. He also pitched an inning in relief, and scored a pair of runs.

“It felt good to get out and play baseball, and do what I can do,” Soderman said. “I think we're capable of a lot. Throughout the off-season, many people have come out to the practices and we were short on pitchers. A whole bunch of people stepped up. I just wanted to get out and play some ball.”

“I think this group is special because the chemistry is so good,” Swanson said. “They get along. They're friends. You don't have to force it with them. They want to work. We've been throwing since November. It didn't matter what the score was of these games. Just for us both to get out here and play some ball on April 9th. That's a win in my book.”

Gladstone had just four hits in the second game as the guys popped up multiple pitches from Wender. Iron Mountain managed two base hits in the nightcap: by Adam Krackenburger and Derich Lindelbauer.

Iron Mountain comes back to Delta County Wednesday night for a single game against Escanaba. Game time is 5 ET/4 CT and it can be heard live on FM-93.5/AM-600 in Escanaba and on AM-1450 in Iron Mountain. Gladstone returns to action on Friday with a pair of games in Wisconsin Dells.