BIRMINGHAM, Mich.---The Gladstone 10u Minor Little League All-Star team rolled to a 13-0 win over Jackson Northwest in the first state tournament game Friday evening in the Detroit suburb of Bormingham.

Mason Soper got things going with a two-run single in the first inning, and Gladstone added four runs in the second inning to expand the lead to 6-0. And it was the bottom of the order that did it, with consecutive base hits from Benson Ellison, AJ. Wills, Elliott Pankanen, and Abel Belanger.

Soper ripped a triple in the third inning for his second hit of the game, and Jaxdon Quigley put the game on ice with a bases-clearing, three-run hit that helped to invoke the mercy rule in the fourth inning.

Jackson did not get a base hit against four Gladstone pitchers. Their only baserunners came on two walks and a hit-batter. Gladstone pitchers combined for six strikeouts.

Pool play continues at the state tournament for Gladstone on Saturday against Traverse City, which lost to powerhouse Taylor North, 7-4, on Friday.

The other Upper Peninsula team in this 16-team tournament, Negaunee, lost to Ira Township out of the Port Huron area, 5-0.

The tournament runs through Wednesday, hosted by Michigan District Four.