Indians Lose Semi In Nine; De Pere Wins Tourney

GLADSTONE---When they woke up Sunday morning, the Gladstone Indians did not know if they would have a game or not. The Indians went 2-2 in the pool play portion of the Gregg Johnson Memorial Tournament, but in order for the team to advance to the semifinals, the Tribe had to hope for Ash-Port to defeat Chief Pontiac in a 9 a.m. game.

Ash-Port, with its spot in the semifinals already assured, managed to win that make-up game, 2-0, sending Chief Pontiac back downstate and the Indians into the Final Four.

But the question remained: would Gladstone be able to put up much of a challenge to the top-seeded and defending tournament champion DePere Panthers?

Hayden Hardwick reaches up and DePere's Andy Dereeter is out at first base.

The answer was a resounding "yes".

The Indians rode a clutch pitching performance by Matt Weyers and hit a pair of two-run homers to take a stunning 5-3 lead into the final inning.

But the Panthers managed to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh, and then win it in the bottom of the ninth, 6-5. DePere later beat Midland for the trophy, 7-3.

Indians Manager Jim Groleau had mixed emotions. He was pleasantly surprised with his team's effort on such a short notice. But disappointed that it slipped away.

"I'm proud of them. It was a good day to be an Indian," Groleau said. "The kids played great. They gave everything they had. But we were just one out short."

"I was surprised," Weyers said. "I was thinking: OK, DePere. Fifteen in three or maybe eight in five (mercy rules) and I was gonna get out of here and get back to bed. But we hit the ball, we were clutch, although we left a lot of guys on base."

Hayden Hardwick's long two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning off Panther left-hander Ross Kulick gave the Indians a 5-3 lead. Weyers, who was rocked in starts against Midland Berryhill and Ash-Port earlier in the tournament, threw with his heart in this one and had the Panthers down to their final three outs.

DePere battled back late in the game.

But good teams made plays at crunch time, and DePere had the top of its order at the plate.

Andy Dereeter led off with fly ball to center field. Peyton Jurek ran hard and lunged at the ball, but it hit off of the tip of his mit.

Trey Ryan followed with a ground ball to right field for a hit, putting two men on. Weyers got Tylor Nehring to fly out, but that brought DePere clean-up hitter Jameson Dickert to the plate.

Dickert had already driven in two of his team's three runs, and he clubbed an 0-1 pitch over Jurek's head to the center field fence. Two runs scored, tying the game at 5-5.

Weyers was able to collect himself, getting the next two outs to send the game into extra innings. Neither team scored in the eighth inning, and the Indians started a two-out rally against Panther relief pitcher Eric Grimmer.

Hardwick got the rally started with his second straight hit, and his Rapid River buddy, Jake Pearson followed with a single...his fourth base hit of the game.

Blake Ballard robbed in 9th Inning.

Jared Stenson drew a walk, loading the bases. Blake Ballard hit a pop fly to left field, and it looked like it would land and two runs would score. But because Ballard was 0-for-4 in the game, the Panthers were playing shallow, and Michael Caprario dove and caught it to end the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, Groleau went to the bullpen, bringing Ballard to the hill.

Weyers allowed nine hits in eight innings.

"You can't say enough about Matt," Groleau said. "When we showed up here this morning, we coaches asked ourselves 'who are we gonna throw?' Well, Matt said that he had a couple innings in him. Yeah, 130 pitches of a 'couple innings'. I couldn't get him off the mound. "

"He still didn't want to come out at the end, but I said 'you're done'."

"I was sore this morning because I already had like 70 or 80 pitches this weekend," Weyers said. "I wasn't expecting Coach to start me, but he gave me the ball and said 'do what you can do with it'. I thought I'd make it to second inning and my arm would fall off."

Nehring got a single to start the inning...not hard-hit, but effective. Dickert bunted him over (even though he was 3-for-3 with 4 RBI), bringing Collin Arndt to the plate. He hit a pop fly to right field, and it landed for a base hit. Paul Tomaszewski raced to the ball from second base, and DePere held Nehring at third base.

But Tomaszewski threw wildly to home plate, and Nehring came home to score the Panthers' winning run. It was the only error Gladstone made all afternoon long, and it left Groleau shaking his head and thinking about how close they had come to an upset.

"It's a game of inches," the first-year coach said. "They had a dribbler through the infield the one time, and that little flare that fell in right field for the game-winner. And Blake got robbed with the bases loaded. Oh, boy!"

Paul Tomaszewski leads off second base.

DePere jumped to a 2-0 lead on an RBI single by Dickert in the first inning, and a bunt single, stolen base, and two passed balls scoring a run in the third inning.

But in the fourth inning, Pearson led off with a double and rode home on a two-run homer by Stenson. Stenson had struggled earlier in the tournament, and at one point, got benched. But his home run got the team back in the game, emotionally as well.

"I got a kick of energy when Stenson hit his home run," Weyers said. "Something felt right, my arm moved back into place, and it felt good again. I was throwing my fastball hard again and I was hitting my spot on those outside corners."

DePere took a 3-2 lead on Dickert's RBI double in the bottom of the fifth, and after Weyers walked Arndt, things looked bad when Billy Shoman lofted a long fly ball to center field. But Jurek raced into the gap and hauled it in, saving two runs.

Hayden Hardwick 2-run homer.

But in the top of the sixth, Stenson also scored the tying run when he singled, and then advanced to third on a bad pick-off throw by Nehring. And on that play, Stenson kept running home as the throw from right field went past third base. Then in the top of the seventh inning, Hardwick hit his bomb to left field, giving the Indians a 5-3 lead that just didn't hold up down the stretch.

Gladstone (23-5) ended up with 13 base hits while DePere countered with 11.

"Heart, desire, determination," Groleau said, quoting longtime Gladstone High School coach and athletic director Matt Houle. "The kids left it out there today."

The Indians travel to Kimberly, Wis., for a tournament next weekend, and the teams there are just as good as the ones they faced this weekend. In fact, the Tribe will face Ash-Port in their first game Thursday night. There will be no radio coverage from Kimberly, but we will post updates here on rrnsports.com and on our Facebook page.

Click the thumbnails in the 'ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS' box to see more pictures and listen to more audio highlights from the game. Thanks again to Kym Frazer for taking these photos!

Friday, June 22 At Escanaba Al Ness Field
(All Times Are Eastern)
Midland Berryhill 9, Kingsford Blues 2
Midland Berryhill 7, Eastern U.P. Travelers 1
Kingsford Blues 7, Escanaba Cubs 6 (9 Innings)
DePere, Wis. Panthers 6, Sault Ste. Marie (Ont.) Black Sox 0
Escanaba Cubs 8, Sault Ste. Marie (Ont.) Black Sox 0 (5 Inn.)

Friday, June 22 At Gladstone Don Olsen Field
DePere, Wis. Panthers 5, Chief Pontiac Post 377 2
Chief Pontiac Post 377 vs Ash-Port, Wis., ppd.
Gladstone Indians 5, Eastern U.P. Travelers 4 (8 Inn.)
Ash-Port 11, Gladstone Indians 1 (5 Inn.)

Saturday. June 23 At Escanaba Al Ness Field
DePere, Wis. Panthers 7, Eastern U.P. Travelers 0
DePere, Wis. Panthers 9, Kingsford Blues 0
Ash-Port, Wis. 13, Kingsford Blues 4
Midland Berryhill 8, Escanaba Cubs 0
Chief Pontiac Post 377 7, Escanaba Cubs 1

Saturday, June 23 At Gladstone Don Olsen Field
Ash Port, Wis. 14, Sault Ste. Marie (Ont.) Black Sox 0
Midland Berryhill 10, Gladstone Indians 2
Eastern U.P. Travelers 5, Chief Pontiac Post 377 3
Gladstone Indians 11, Sault Ste. Marie (Ont.) Black Sox 6

Sunday, June 24 Final Rounds
Ash-Port, Wis. 2, Chief Pontiac Post 377 0
Semifinal: Midland Berryhill 5, Ash-Port, Wis. 1
Semifinal: De Pere, Wis. Panthers 6, Gladstone Indians 5 (9 Inn)
Championship: DePere, Wis. Panthers 7, Midland Berryhill 3

The Gladstone Indians walk off the field after a tough nine-inning loss to DePere Sunday afternoon.

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

5/2	6:30 PM	Marquette Redmen	11 - 1 (W)	1-0

5/6	1:00 PM	Channing Railroaders	10 - 0 (W)	2-0

5/9	7:30 PM	Escanaba Eskymos	5 - 4 (W)	3-0

5/12	1:00 PM	at Menominee Red Wave Legion	3 - 2 (W)	4-0

5/12	3:30 PM	at Menominee Red Wave Legion	15 - 3 (W)	5-0

5/14	6:30 PM	at Marquette Redmen	3 - 2 (W)	6-0

5/18	6:30 PM	at Ishpeming Blue Storm	10 - 1 (W)	7-0

5/19	12:00 PM	at Channing Railroaders	12 - 2 (W)	8-0

5/19	2:30 PM	at Channing Railroaders	9 - 1 (W)	9-0

5/22	6:30 PM	at Marquette Blues	2 - 5 (L)	9-1

5/29	6:30 PM	Ishpeming Blue Storm	4 - 0 (W)	10-1

5/30	6:00 PM	at Escanaba Eskymos	4 - 3 (W)	11-1

6/3	4:00 PM	Iron Mountain Golds	7 - 0 (W)	12-1 For.

6/3	6:30 PM	Iron Mountain Golds	7 - 0 (W)	13-1 For.

6/5	6:30 PM	at Iron Mountain Golds	10 - 5 (W)	14-1

6/6	7:00 PM	Menominee Red Wave Legion	5 - 4 (W)	15-1

6/9	1:00 PM	Oconto Falls Legion	7 - 10 (L)	15-2

6/9	3:30 PM	Oconto Falls Legion	12 - 2 (W)	16-2

6/12	6:30 PM	Kingsford Legion Blues	4 - 3 (W)	17-2

6/14	6:30 PM	Marquette Blues	3 - 0 (W)	18-2

6/17	1:00 PM	at Kingsford Legion Blues	11 - 2 (W)	19-2

6/17	3:30 PM	at Kingsford Legion Blues	11 - 6 (W)	20-2

6/20	6:30 PM	Channing Railroaders	8 - 2 (W)	21-2

6/22	5:30 PM	Eastern U.P. Travelers	5 - 4 (W)	22-2

6/22	8:00 PM	Ash-Port, Wis.	1 - 11 (L)	22-3

6/23	12:45 PM	Midland Berryhill	2 - 10 (L)	22-4

6/23	5:15 PM	Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario) Black Sox	11 - 6 (W)	23-4

6/24	11:30 AM	DePere Panthers	5 - 6 (L)	23-5

6/28	6:30 PM	at Ash-Port, Wis.	1 - 13 (L)	23-6

6/29	1:30 PM	at Neenah, Wis.	3 - 7 (L)	23-7

6/30	11:00 AM	at Hortonville, Wis.	11 - 4 (W)	24-7

7/5	6:30 PM	Channing Railroaders	10 - 0 (W)	25-7

7/8	4:00 AM	Iron Mountain Golds	1 - 0 (W)	26-7for

7/8	12:00 PM	Hancock Legion	6 - 2 (W)	27-7

7/8	2:30 PM	Hancock Legion	8 - 3 (W)	28-7

7/10	5:30 PM	Negaunee Diamonds	16 - 0 (W)	29-7

7/10	8:00 PM	Negaunee Diamonds	12 - 4 (W)	30-7

7/12	6:30 PM	Kingsford Legion Blues	8 - 2 (W)	31-7

7/14	3:00 PM	Iron Mountain Golds	7 - 0 (W)	32-7

7/14	8:00 PM	Channing Railroaders	14 - 0 (W)	33-7

7/15	1:00 PM	at Marquette Blues	3 - 5 (L)	33-8

7/19	8:00 PM	at Escanaba Cubs	3 - 0 (W)	34-8

7/21	12:00 PM	Eastern U.P. Travelers	6 - 5 (W)	35-8

7/21	2:30 PM	Eastern U.P. Travelers	0 - 16 (L)	35-9

7/26	3:00 PM	Hancock Legion	9 - 6 (W)	36-9

7/27	9:00 AM	Kingsford Legion Blues	9 - 7 (W)	37-9

7/27	3:00 PM	Channing Railroaders	14 - 4 (W)	38-9

7/28	10:30 AM	Escanaba Cubs	6 - 7 (L)	38-10

8/2	10:30 AM	Hudson Legion	11 - 13 (L)	38-11

8/3	10:00 AM	Menominee Red Wave Legion	6 - 7 (L)	38-12