SWEET REPEAT! Braves Win D-3 Regional Title

TRAVERSE CITY---"Our leaders were our leaders".

That's how a physically and emotionally-drained Don Lauscher described his team's two victories at the MHSAA Division Three regional tournament Saturday in Traverse City.

For all the talk of the huge number of freshmen and sophomores in the lineup, it was the team's few veterans who stepped up when they were needed the most on Saturday.

Senior Jake Peterson pitched eight innings of two-hit ball, and fellow senior Justin Jurek threw three innings of relief in his longest stint of the season, leading Gladstone to a 3-2 win over Tawas in an eleven-inning marathon in the semifinals.

And then in the championship game, junior Hunter Garling was dominant as he tossed a complete-game three-hitter, leading the Braves to a 4-2 win over Traverse City St. Francis in the championship game.

None of the runs allowed all day long in either game were earned runs.

""Every regional chapionship is special, but this one is even moreso because of how far we've come," Lauscher said, with a few tears in his eyes. "What about Rizz and Jure. The two seniors really stepped it up. Kudos to them. They carried us. They were the ones talking in the dugout, keeping the other guys in it."

But the Braves sure didn't make it easy on themselves. In the semifinal game against Tawas, Gladstone took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI double by Tyson Seymour and a run-scoring hit by Braeden Lamberg.

But they wouldn't give Peterson any more run support, in fact, the Braves had no hits for five straight innings against Tawas.

Peterson walked two batters in the third inning, and it looked like Jurek would easily get a base-stealer at third base. He overthrew the bag, however, and Tawas scored a run on a ground ball by Kristian Fiske.

Peterson helped his own cause in the sixth inning as he caught a botched bunt attempt and threw to firs base for a double play.

It stayed 2-1 until there were two out in bthe bottom of the seventh inning when Brad Carson hit a grounder toward second base. Lamberg's off-balance throw missed the mark at first base, and the game was retied at 2-2, forcing extra innings.

Gladstone had a great chance to score in the top of the ninth inning with a Peterson hit and two walks. But Garling struck out with the bases loaded. The Braves finally broke threw against Tawas (also named the Braves) with a two-out rally in the eleventh inning.

Owen Hanson drew a walk, and then got a clutch stolen base. He scored on a single by Peterson, who had two hits after starting the game 0-for-4 at the plate.

Peterson threw 119 pitches in eight innings, allowing only two hits and no earned runs. He struck out ten batters and walked four.

Jurek was effective in the ninth and tenth innings, but gave up a leadoff double to Jon Lewis in the eleventh inning.

Jurek's mind immediately went back to a regular season loss in Green Bay, when he came on in relief and was shelled, allowing the Preble Hornets to record a walk-off win.

"Yep, that was definitely in my mind," Jurek admitted. "I was thinking 'please don't let this be another Preble'. I decided that it was not going to happen."

Jurek, however, made the play of the game when Adam Moffatt hit a tap on the left side of the infield. Jurek never hesitated in throwing to third to cut down the lead runner.

"It was all instinct," Jurek said. "It wasn't like I had a plan to do that if the ball was hit to that side of the field. I was kind of surprised when I saw him going, and I knew I had enough time to get it over there."

Jurek walked the next man on a 3-2 pitch, but got a pop up and strike out to end it.

Tawas pitcher Cougar Wallace threw a strong nine innings, allowing only two Braves runs. The losing pitcher was Jeff Ross, who gave up Peterson's base hit in the eleventh inning.

"We should have closed that game out a lot earlier," Lauscher said. "But a few mistakes hurt us, again. That's the youth of our team. But they bounced back."

After Traverse City St. Francis beat Mancelona, 5-1, in the second semifinal, the Braves were back on the field against St. Francis in the championship game. They got the early jump with two runs in the first inning, one of them on an RBI hit by Seymour.

Gladstone added a run in the second inning on a pop fly RBI single to left by Jurek. And in the fifth inning, Jurek was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on a wild pitch.

That 4-0 lead seemed to be more than enough for Garling, who was so sick last week that he missed several days of school and did not play in the district tournament last Saturday. But he was humming along on this day, keeping the Gladiator hitters off-balance. Garling struck out ten batters and yielded only three base hits.

"I was feeling great from the get-go," Garling said. "Because I was out last week, my arm felt fresh."

The Gladstone defense fell apart in the sixth inning, however. The Gladiators scored two runs on a walk, two infield errors, and a base hit by Connor Sweet.

"You could tell, with our youth, the pressure got to some of our guys," Lauscher said. "You could just see it in their faces. But it's a learning experience and in the end, they got the job done."

But with two on and one out, Garling got a strike out and a fly out to end the sixth inning.

In the seventh, Garling collided with Lucas Weinert on a chopped between third base and the mound.

But Garling came through after that by getting a ground out, a pop up, and he ended the game with an emphatic swinging strike out on a 3-2 pitch.

"As soon as I saw that, I was stoked," Garling said. "This was a goal from the beginning of the year."

It's another regional title for the Braves, in back-to-back years. But this one seemed to be more special than last year because the team had to pull together 14 freshmen and sophomores to go along with the four veteran players.

"I don't even know what to say," Peterson said. "It's exciting. We knew that St. Francis was a better team than the last one (Tawas). I just thought 'this is my last chance' as a senior, and I've got to do it. Last year, we were expected to come down here and win this. But this year, they weren't expecting it. This one is really special."

Regional Championship Final Out

"Last year, we had the lofty ranking of #2 in the state," Jurek remembered. "This year, we kind of struggled through the season. There were a lot of bumps in the road. I think we surprised a lot of people with this game."

Gladstone (27-9) will face Muskegon Oakridge in the Division Three state quarterfinals Tuesday at Traverse City West High School. The Braves beat the Eagles by one run in last year's quarterfinal game. Tuesday's game starts at 12:00 noon and it will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos taken by Lori Jurek and videos taken by Laura Lamberg.

MORE PHOTOS/VIDEOS HAVE BEEN ADDED!! Check them out! And we will post more Monday night from the hotel in Traverse City!

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

4/11	1:00 PM	at Appleton North Lightning	1 - 9 (L)	0-1

4/11	3:30 PM	at Appleton North Lightning	0 - 16 (L)	0-2

4/17	4:00 PM	at Cadillac Vikings	7 - 4 (W)	1-2

4/17	6:00 PM	at Cadillac Vikings	6 - 3 (W)	2-2

4/18	11:00 AM	at Kingsley Stags	12 - 0 (W)	3-2

4/18	1:30 PM	at Kingsley Stags	6 - 3 (W)	4-2

4/20	4:30 PM	North Central Jets	ppd - rain (L)	ppd

4/21	4:30 PM	Negaunee Miners	7 - 5 (W)	5-2

4/23	4:00 PM	at Norway Knights	3 - 6 (L)	5-3

4/24	4:00 PM	at Grayling Vikings	2 - 0 (W)	6-3

4/24	6:30 PM	at Grayling Vikings	9 - 4 (W)	7-3

4/25	1:00 PM	at Charlevoix Rayders	2 - 7 (L)	7-4

4/25	3:00 PM	at Charlevoix Rayders	7 - 4 (W)	8-4

4/27	4:30 PM	Superior Central Cougars	19 - 4 (W)	9-4

4/27	6:30 PM	Superior Central Cougars	15 - 0 (W)	10-4

4/28	4:30 PM	Escanaba Eskymos	5 - 4 (W)	11-4

4/30	4:30 PM	Marquette Redmen	10 - 4 (W)	12-4

5/1	5:30 PM	at Peshtigo Bulldogs	6 - 7 (L)	12-5

5/2	12:00 PM	at D.C. Everest Evergreens	4 - 6 (L)	12-6

5/2	3:00 PM	at Wausau West Warriors	9 - 5 (W)	13-6

5/4	4:30 PM	Norway Knights	3 - 0 (W)	14-6

5/4	6:45 PM	Norway Knights	10 - 0 (W)	15-6

5/7	4:30 PM	at Escanaba Eskymos	4 - 5 (L)	15-7

5/9	10:00 AM	Hancock Bulldogs	10 - 2 (W)	16-7

5/9	12:30 PM	Hancock Bulldogs	19 - 0 (W)	17-7

5/11	5:30 PM	at Green Bay Preble	3 - 4 (L)	17-8

5/13	4:00 PM	at Negaunee Miners	10 - 0 (W)	18-8

5/13	6:00 PM	at Negaunee Miners	3 - 1 (W)	19-8

5/16	12:00 PM	at Green Bay Notre Dame	5 - 4 (W)	20-8

5/18	6:00 PM	at Crivitz, Wis.	4 - 3 (W)	21-8

5/19	4:30 PM	at Marinette Marines	7 - 1 (W)	22-8

5/22	5:00 PM	at Marquette Redmen	1 - 5 (L)	22-9

5/26	6:00 PM	Hancock Bulldogs	14 - 1 (W)	23-9

5/30	12:00 PM	at Negaunee Miners	8 - 3 (W)	24-9

5/30	5:00 PM	Houghton Gremlins	7 - 2 (W)	25-9

6/6	10:00 AM	at Tawas	3 - 2 (W)	26-9

6/6	4:00 PM	at Traverse City St. Francis	4 - 2 (W)	27-9

6/9	12:00 PM	Muskegon Oakridge	6 - 5 (W)	28-9

6/12	11:30 AM	at Buchanan Bucks	4 - 6 (L)	28-10