• HS Baseball 5/15: Gladstone 5, Marquette 3 (8 Inn)
  • HS Baseball 5/15: North Central 11, Bark River-Harris 6 (8 Inn)
  • HS Softball 5/15: Escanaba 10, Negaunee 0
  • HS Baseball 5/15: Norway 13, Iron Mountain 4
  • HS Baseball 5/15: Kingsford 12, Houghton 0
  • HS Softball 5/15: Kingsford 11, Marquette 6
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Saturday May 17, 2025
LaMarche Overpowers Braves In Softball DH Sweep

Click the thumbnails to see a video of Noblet's big two-run double, amd a video of several of LaMarche's strikeouts.

GLADSTONE---It was a battle between two of the top softball teams in the state of Michigan, but the Escanaba Eskymos rode the pitching of their ace to a doubleheader sweep over the Gladstone Braves, 5-2 and 8-3, Tuesday at the Gladstone High School softball field.

Grayson LaMarche struck out 19 batters in a complete-game win the opener, walking no batters and allowing only two hits. The two Gladstone runs in the seventh inning were unearned thanks to an Eskymo error. Then in the second game, LaMarche struck out 13 batters as she threw five shutout innings, before giving way to Landry Bray for the final two innings in the circle.

It was this kind of dominating performance that has the Eskymos hoping that they can get over the hump against top-ranked and two-time defending state champion Gaylord, and their ace pitcher, Aubrey Jones. The Eskymos (23-2) are ranked third in the state in Division Two.

Gladstone, meanwhile, falls to 20-3 n the season and is ranked fourth in the state in Division Three. Both the Eskymos and Braves have ventured downstate several times this spring in search of tough opponents that can get them through hard games in the post-season.

In Game One, Gladstone pitcher Tia Schone did her best to keep the Braves in the game, throwing three shutout innings before the Eskymos scored in the fourth inning on a Clara Braun base hit. With the bases loaded, Schone got Chloe Dubord to bounce out to keep it a 1-0 game.

In the fifth inning, Mackenzie Engebretson's RBI single made it a 2-0 game, and then the biggest hit of the game, a two-run double by Addy Noblet, made it 4-0. Gladstone scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning on an error off a Maddie Sundquist grounder, but LaMarche finished it off with her 18th and 19th strikeouts to end the game.

In the second game, LaMarche allowed one hit, to Allie Larson in the second inning, but she struck out 13 of the 15 outs she recorded before Bray took over in the circle. Lauren Pere pitched the whole seven innings for the Braves, allowing eight runs (six earned) on seven hits.

The Eskymos head to Negaunee for a doubleheader on Thursday before going downstate for three more games on Saturday. Gladstone will also be downstate on Saturday for three games in Saginaw, and one of them will be against Escanaba's nemesis: Gaylord.






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