RIVALRY BASEBALL: Gladstone Outlasts Esky, 8-5

Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and to hear post-game comments from Casey Alworden, Tyler Darmogray, and Esky Coach Scott Hanson.

ESCANABA---It's not often that the Gladstone Braves come into a baseball match-up with the Escanaba Eskymos as the underdog. But that was the case Friday night as the Braves, facing a fire-throwing pitcher who's signed with to play Division One college baseball, tried to hold their own in the first rivalry match-up at Al Ness Field.

The Braves did more than hold their own as they took advantage of walks, errors, and got a few timely hits to post an 8-5 win over the Eskymos.

Jared Hanson, who signed with Central Michigan University, struck out eleven Braves batters, but he also walked five and threw away a pick-off play to first base. He eventually left after throwing 102 pitches, just shy of the pitch count limit, and ended up with a no-deicision.

"I think six of the eight runs they scored, six of those runners got on by walks," Escanaba Manager Scott Hanson said. "That's not what we teach. We want our pitchers throwing strikes. Jared walked more than he normally would. That's frustrating. I think he was a little amped up early, and maybe overthrowing a bit early."

"Kudos to Gladstone. They took advantage of that situation."

Gladstone scored its runs in the seventh inning off Escanaba reliever Trent Lawson.

Catcher Nick Martin got a one-out bunt singlem Braden Sundquist drew a walk, and then the Eskymos elected to intentionally walk Cam Kelly to load the bases, and it almost worked as Lawson struck out Noah Peterson for the second out of the inning,

But Lawson walked Johnny Soderman to force in the go-ahead run, and then sophomore Casey Alworden smacked a shot past a drawn-in shortstop to bring home two runs, essentially ending the game. It was a big win for Gladstone, and it was the Braves' fourth straight following a shaky season-opening loss against Iron Mountain.

"They were throwing the first-pitch strike to me the whole game," Alworden said. "I knew it was coming. I just had to sit back on it and turn on 'er. He's a really good pitcher. He's probably one of the best pitchers we'll see all year. It was good to see that. I think we did pretty good against him for the most part. Could've got our bats goimng a little more, but it's all right."

The Eskymos won two of three games from the Braves last season, but before that, Gladstone had dominated the series between the two rivals. This year seems to be Escanaba's year, with more experienced players and two pitchers who can throw in the high 80's.

But, at least on this day, the Braves were opportunistic enough to grab a rivalry win.

Escanaba fell behind 2-0 in the first inning when Jared Hanson walked the first two he faced, and then Hanson's pick-off throw to first was wild, allowing one run to score. Then a ground ball to third by Noah Peterson was missplayed, allowing another run to come home.

The Eskymos got a run back in the second inning on an RBI single to right field by Matt Zimmerman, but in the third inning, Cam Kelly got ahold of a Hanson pitch and crushed it to the gap for a triple. Kelly scored on a wild pitch, making it 3-1.

"Personally, I think Jared made a mistake on that pitch to Cam," Coach Hanson said. "Cam made a heck of a play. Good for him. Cam's a great player. We've known Cam forever and played with Cam forever (in travel ball). Cam is a playmaker. So, congrats to him and the team."

Escanaba cashed in on a couple of Darmogray walks in the bottom of the inning when Scott Hiller punched a two-run single to center field, tying the game at 3.

And then in the fourth inning, the Eskymos grabbed the lead on back-to-back RBI hits by Lawson and Hunter Lancour.

Escanaba had a chance to blow it open with runners still on second and third, but when Bon LaChance ripped one up the middle off the glove of relief pitcher Braden Sundquist, Darmogray, now playing at short, got there and made the throw to first to end the inning.

"That is very hard, especially because it changes angles right awayas it goes off his glove," Darmogray said. "So, you just have to readjust to it. I just got back to it and made the play."

Darmogray also turned a 6-3 double play in the bottom of the seventh inning, against Escanaba's arguably-fastest player, Hiller.

"It just came right to me and I called off Casey (Alworden)," Darmogray said. "I just stepped to the (second base) bag and threw it to first. I thought I was gonna overthrow it at first, but I didn't and I ended up getting it."

"We've got a real solid defense out there," Alworden said. "Me, Ty, Braden, Noah was really good at third today. We're solid out there."

"He made some huge plays at short," Esky's Coach Hanson said. "If he doesn't make those plays, I mean, those are game-changers, too."

That kept the game at 5-3, and it was big because in the fifth inning, Hanson walked both Martin and Sundquist, and Peterson smoked a two-run double to left field to retie the game at 5-5. That shot was just out of the reach of a diving Zimmerman in left field.

"Game of inches," Coach Hanson said. "It's a learning experience. They had some plays, and we didn't make some plays, and that was the difference."

It was an overall great game for Peterson, who also made three defensive putouts.

Jared Hanson ran out of pitches at that point, and after Lawson got a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth, the Braves played "small ball" with Martin in the seventh, and capitalized on walks to get the win.

Gladstone improved to 4-1 on the season while Escanaba fell to 3-2.

Darmogray got a no-decision for the Braves, allowing five runs on four hits and four walks in 3 1/3 innings. Sundquist got the win in relief, throwing 3 2/3 innings, allowing four hits. He struck out three and retired 10 of the final 13 men he faced.

"This will definitely boost our confidence a lot," Darmogray said. "This is probably one of the better team's we'll face this year and also, one of the better pitchers."

Gladstone has the weekend off before traveling to Hermansville to face North Central in a doubleheader Monday afternoon. Escanaba will host Iron Mountain at noon on Saturday, and then will also host Peshtigo in a doubleheader on Monday.