Gladstone Girls Rally To Win District Championship

GLADSTONE---It was a long way back for the Gladstone Major Little League All-Stars (age 11-12), but the girls rallied from the bottom of the loser's bracket to win a district softball championship Wednesday night at Howes Field.

After losing to Escanaba in last Friday's tournament opener, 5-1, the Gladstone girls needed to win five softball games to earn a trip to the state finals in Boyne City.

Gladstone beat Norway, Kingsford, and Iron Mountain North, by a combined score of 53-2, setting the girls up with a rematch against Escanaba and fireballer Gabby Salo.

The first game could have gone either way, as both teams had chances to score throughout the evening. But it was Gladstone that got the clutch hit late to win it.

Escanaba took a 1-0 lead when Jalin Olson doubled in the bottom of the first inning. Sam Soper followed with a bunt, and the ball was thrown away, scoring the run.

Gladstone tied the game in the third inning as Natalie Belanger got a two-out single, stole second, and scored on a base hit by Tina Olson. It stayed tied going into extra innings as Salo and Gladstone's Brittany Schwartz locked up in a pitcher's duel.

Escanaba had a chance to win it in the bottom of the eighth inning, when the Orange and Black had a runner at third with only one out. Gladstone brought its infield in, and Schwartz was able to get the next two outs to force a ninth inning.

Gladstone's Taylor Zeise 2-run hit in 9th

Gladstone pounced on Salo in the top of the ninth inning. Taylor Trudeau and Morgan Letteriello got base hits, and Andie Ballenger bunted to load the bases. That's when Taylor Zeise came through with a two-run single, giving Gladstone a 3-1 lead. Gladstone eventually scored three more runs on passed balls and wild pitches to win comfortably, 6-1.

Schwartz got the win, going eight innings, allowing two hits and one run (unearned). She struck out five and walked one. Salo took the loss, despite being overpowering at times. She went all nine innings, allowed five hits and four walks, and struck out 19 batters.

After a long delay between games due to a potential protest, the two teams hooked up again in a winner-take-all district championship game.

Escanaba was again the "home" team.

Gladstone scored in the top of the first inning when Sydney Herioux doubled and scored on a wild pitch.

The big hit came in the third inning as Maddie Ahlgren ripped a two-run single to give the Purple a 3-0 lead.

Salo and Schwartz were back on the mound in this game, but Salo only had three innings left to pitch and Schwartz only had four.

So, Escanaba had Nicole Kamin pitch, while Gladstone turned to Letteriello (she had tossed the ninth inning earlier). Gladstone put the game away in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Jenna Tardiff and a two-run single by Tina Olson.

Escanaba's Nicole Kamin catches line drive for double play

The game ended when Letteriello struck out Salo.

In the championship game, Schwartz pitched the first inning, and then Letteriello tossed the final five innings.

Letteriello allowed two hits and fanned six. The Gladstone pitchers walked just one batter in 15 innings of pitching on Wednesday.

Gladstone's Maddie Ahlgren drives home two runs

Salo threw three innings for Escanaba, striking out five batters. That means that she fanned 24 batters in 12 innings of work on Wednesday.

Kamin took the loss in the second game, giving up five runs on five hits in three innings of pitching. Gladstone advances to the 16-team state tournament in Boyne City late next week. We will post the state tournament schedule when it becomes available.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos from Wednesday night's tournament games.