IRON MOUNTAIN---They did it the hard way, and in 95-degree heat to boot.
But the Gladstone 10-and-11-year-old Little League All-Stars found a way to snatch a district championship away from Dickinson County teams that have dominated the lower levels of District Ten Little League for the past several years.
Gladstone lost to Norway, 6-1, in Tuesday's first game at Iron Mountain's Barkle Field.
But in the winner-take-all final, Justin Malmstead led the Purple and White to a 9-2 victory, sending Gladstone into this weekend's state sectional tournament in Gladstone.
Malmstead, despite some early wildness that led to a walk and a hit-battsman, was in control on the mound, handcuffing the Norway batters to just one base hit in five innings of work, before he reached his maximum pitch count of 85 throws.
Malmstead also delivered the key hit at the plate. Gladstone had already taken a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning on a couple of Norway errors when Malmstead came up with the bases loaded. He crushed one to the outfield fence off of Norway starter Jesse Jullian, scoring two runs.
"I was really excited when I hit it," Malmstead said. "Because I knew runs were gonna be scored, and that gave us a better chance of winning."
Malmstead was thrown out at third base trying to stretch it into a triple, but nobody in purple seemed to care. It was 4-0 and Gladstone had all of the momentum.
A couple of errors and f0ur wild pitches helped Norway close to within 4-2 in the bottom of the inning, but Malmstead struck out Alex Heigl to end the inning, and he fanned three batters in the fourth inning. Malmstead ended up with nine strikeouts.
Gladstone scored two runs in the fifth inning on RBI hits by Riley Baldovsky and Drake Forrest.
And in the sixth inning, Cole Hansen rocketed a triple to the fence and scored the icing-on-the-cake run that put Gladstone into the 9-2 lead.
Caden Alworden took over on the mound in the sixth inning, and walked the leadoff man. But Hansen, the catcher, threw out the runner trying to steal moments later.
And with two out, Malmstead made a defensive gem as he tracked down a foul pop fly near the first base dugout....from the second base position...to end the game.
In the first game, Norway won 6-1, with four of the five runs against Gladstone pitcher Zach Hanson being unearned runs. Norway's Hunter McCarthy had a huge game, with three hits and four runs batted in from the #2 hole.
Jullian had a pair of hits, and McCarthy may have set a record by being safe on an error four times in one game for the Norway All-Stars.
Norway's Noah Gorzinski tossed a complete game in that opener, allowing only two base hits in six innings of work.
Gladstone's Drake Forrest had both of his team's base hits in that game, and Forrest had two more hits in the championship game.
Gladstone will now face the District Eleven champions from the northern U.P. in a sectional tournament in Gladstone.
The winner of that sectional will advance to the state finals in Parchment (Kalamazoo) at the end of this month.
The sectional games in Gladstone are set for 2:00 and 4:00 on Sunday, and, if necessary, a third game would be played Monday night at 6:00.
All of the Gladstone boys sectional games will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and over the Internet at www.rrnsports.com.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos, videos, and listen to highlights and interviews.
But the Gladstone 10-and-11-year-old Little League All-Stars found a way to snatch a district championship away from Dickinson County teams that have dominated the lower levels of District Ten Little League for the past several years.
But in the winner-take-all final, Justin Malmstead led the Purple and White to a 9-2 victory, sending Gladstone into this weekend's state sectional tournament in Gladstone.
Malmstead, despite some early wildness that led to a walk and a hit-battsman, was in control on the mound, handcuffing the Norway batters to just one base hit in five innings of work, before he reached his maximum pitch count of 85 throws.
Malmstead also delivered the key hit at the plate. Gladstone had already taken a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning on a couple of Norway errors when Malmstead came up with the bases loaded. He crushed one to the outfield fence off of Norway starter Jesse Jullian, scoring two runs.
"I was really excited when I hit it," Malmstead said. "Because I knew runs were gonna be scored, and that gave us a better chance of winning."
Justin Malmstead Two-Run Double.
A couple of errors and f0ur wild pitches helped Norway close to within 4-2 in the bottom of the inning, but Malmstead struck out Alex Heigl to end the inning, and he fanned three batters in the fourth inning. Malmstead ended up with nine strikeouts.
And in the sixth inning, Cole Hansen rocketed a triple to the fence and scored the icing-on-the-cake run that put Gladstone into the 9-2 lead.
Caden Alworden took over on the mound in the sixth inning, and walked the leadoff man. But Hansen, the catcher, threw out the runner trying to steal moments later.
And with two out, Malmstead made a defensive gem as he tracked down a foul pop fly near the first base dugout....from the second base position...to end the game.
Gladstone Wins #2
Jullian had a pair of hits, and McCarthy may have set a record by being safe on an error four times in one game for the Norway All-Stars.
Gladstone's Drake Forrest had both of his team's base hits in that game, and Forrest had two more hits in the championship game.
Gladstone will now face the District Eleven champions from the northern U.P. in a sectional tournament in Gladstone.
The winner of that sectional will advance to the state finals in Parchment (Kalamazoo) at the end of this month.
The sectional games in Gladstone are set for 2:00 and 4:00 on Sunday, and, if necessary, a third game would be played Monday night at 6:00.
All of the Gladstone boys sectional games will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and over the Internet at www.rrnsports.com.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos, videos, and listen to highlights and interviews.
