EAST LANSING---Don Lauscher has been saying all season long that "little things" can make the difference between winning and losing an important baseball game.
And the Gladstone Braves manager was spot-on with that comment as the MHSAA Division Three state semifinals were played Friday at Michigan State University.
The Braves took an early 3-0 lead, but made several mistakes that the Buchanan Bucks took advantage of. The Bucks scored three runs in the fifth inning to beat the Braves, 6-4, sending the Gladstone boys back across the Mackinac Bridge for the second straight year.
"Too many mistakes," Lauscher said. "And they capitalized on every single one of them. That's what good teams do. That's what it takes, and unfortunately for us, it didn't happen."
" They're a good-hitting team. Their 3-4-5 hitters could really hit the ball."
And even though the Braves built a 3-0 lead in the second inning, Lauscher bemoaned the fact that the his team did not score in the first inning.
That's because the Braves had the bases loaded with nobody out on hits by Jake Peterson and a walk to Hunter Garling. Ben Schwalbach and Hunter Botruff each took called third strikes, and Tyson Seymour hit a slow roller back to the mound.
"I had a feeling that at some point, that was gonna come back to bite us." Lauscher said. "And it did. We just stranded way too many hitters (eight for the game). We had eight or nine hits today, but not the timely hits."
"Again, a few mistakes killed us. That's baseball."
Still, Gladstone did jump out to an early lead as Buchanan pitcher Jarrett Thomas struggled to throw strikes. He walked five batters in the first two innings, and the Braves finally made him pay when Peterson ripped an opposite field double to score two runs in the second inning.
Lauscher called for a delayed steal moments later, and it worked, as Peterson scored from third as Jurek stole second base.
On the mound, Peterson threw well early, but gave up two hits and a walk to load the bases in the bottom of the third. Buchanan's Chad Adkerson hit one to the right side that Seymour speared.
But Peterson didn't cover first base. Second baseman Braeden Lamberg did, but he couldn't get there in time, so a run scored for Buchanan.
And then, a wild pitch allowed the Bucks to close to within 3-2.
Gladstone got a run back in the top of the fourth inning when Lamberg singled off the first baseman's glove against new pitcher Kyle Leazenby. Peterson followed with an infield hit.
After a wild pitch and a stolen base, Garling's sacrafice fly made it 4-2.
Peterson worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the fourth inning, and in the top of the fifth, Botruff led off with a beautiful bunt single.
Seymour bunted Botruff to second base, but the next two batters popped up, stranding yet another runner in scoring position.
And then came the bottom of the fifth inningm when the "little things" went against the Braves. With one out and no one on, Bryce Vineyard hit a ground ball to Schwalbach at short. Schwalbach, playing with a bum shoulder, missplayed the ball for an error.
Sure enough, Christian Hall followed with a single, and with two men on, Thomas smoked a double to the outfield fence, scoring both runners to tie the game at 4-4.
Next, Peterson was called for a balk, moving Thomas to third base. That was huge because Adkerson followed with a fly ball to score Thomas from third. Had the balk not happened, the fly ball would not have scored a run for Buchanan.
Down 5-4, Gladstone had one last chance to re-tie the game in the sixth inning. Lamberg led off with a single, and Peterson tried to bunt him to second base. The bunt was too close to the pitcher, and the throw went to second base.
The Bucks barely made the play as the second baseman's foot stayed on the bag as he reached for the wide throw.
Garling, though, followed with his second hit of the game, bringing up Jurek with runners at first and second. Unfortunately for Jurek, he hit a ground ball to third: one of the worst places to hit it. It was a 5-3 double play, ending the inning.
Buchanan added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth as Gavin Morris led off with a double, got bunted to third by Austin Hall, and scored on a sacrafice fly by Josiah Smith. Leazenby retired the Braves 1-2-3 in the seventh, ending the game.
Lauscher says that for his team, it was a game of missed opportunities.
"
That's where we really have to grow as a team," Lauscher said. "We got better with it toward the end, but the thing that came back to bite us was those backwards K's (called third strikes)."
"I mean, with guys in scoring position, there's called strike two, called strike three. You just can't have that. Put the ball in play!"
CLICK HERE to see the statistics, couresty of the MHSAA.
Even so, Lauscher was proud of his team's effort on this long playoff run.
"I thought we were just as good as they were," Lauscher said. "They could really hit, but defensively, they were just so-so. We just had to put the ball in play."
Lauscher also saluted his two seniors, Jurek and Peterson.
"They are second to none," he said. "They're quality kids. I just feel bad for them. And in about a month or so, we'll get the younger kids into fall ball and start over again."
Gladstone finished with a 28-10 record, just one win shy of last season's 29-5 mark.
The Bucks (24-7) advance to Saturday's state final against Jackson Lumen Christi.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos taken by Lori Jurek and videos shot by Laura Lamberg. Thanks ladies!!
And the Gladstone Braves manager was spot-on with that comment as the MHSAA Division Three state semifinals were played Friday at Michigan State University.
"Too many mistakes," Lauscher said. "And they capitalized on every single one of them. That's what good teams do. That's what it takes, and unfortunately for us, it didn't happen."
" They're a good-hitting team. Their 3-4-5 hitters could really hit the ball."
And even though the Braves built a 3-0 lead in the second inning, Lauscher bemoaned the fact that the his team did not score in the first inning.
That's because the Braves had the bases loaded with nobody out on hits by Jake Peterson and a walk to Hunter Garling. Ben Schwalbach and Hunter Botruff each took called third strikes, and Tyson Seymour hit a slow roller back to the mound.
"Again, a few mistakes killed us. That's baseball."
Still, Gladstone did jump out to an early lead as Buchanan pitcher Jarrett Thomas struggled to throw strikes. He walked five batters in the first two innings, and the Braves finally made him pay when Peterson ripped an opposite field double to score two runs in the second inning.
Lauscher called for a delayed steal moments later, and it worked, as Peterson scored from third as Jurek stole second base.
Jake Peterson drives home two to make it 2-0.
But Peterson didn't cover first base. Second baseman Braeden Lamberg did, but he couldn't get there in time, so a run scored for Buchanan.
And then, a wild pitch allowed the Bucks to close to within 3-2.
After a wild pitch and a stolen base, Garling's sacrafice fly made it 4-2.
Peterson worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the fourth inning, and in the top of the fifth, Botruff led off with a beautiful bunt single.
Seymour bunted Botruff to second base, but the next two batters popped up, stranding yet another runner in scoring position.
And then came the bottom of the fifth inningm when the "little things" went against the Braves. With one out and no one on, Bryce Vineyard hit a ground ball to Schwalbach at short. Schwalbach, playing with a bum shoulder, missplayed the ball for an error.
Buchanan's Jarrett Thomas drives home two.
Next, Peterson was called for a balk, moving Thomas to third base. That was huge because Adkerson followed with a fly ball to score Thomas from third. Had the balk not happened, the fly ball would not have scored a run for Buchanan.
The Bucks barely made the play as the second baseman's foot stayed on the bag as he reached for the wide throw.
Garling, though, followed with his second hit of the game, bringing up Jurek with runners at first and second. Unfortunately for Jurek, he hit a ground ball to third: one of the worst places to hit it. It was a 5-3 double play, ending the inning.
Buchanan added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth as Gavin Morris led off with a double, got bunted to third by Austin Hall, and scored on a sacrafice fly by Josiah Smith. Leazenby retired the Braves 1-2-3 in the seventh, ending the game.
Lauscher says that for his team, it was a game of missed opportunities.
"
Jake Peterson strikes out Austin Hall.
"I mean, with guys in scoring position, there's called strike two, called strike three. You just can't have that. Put the ball in play!"
CLICK HERE to see the statistics, couresty of the MHSAA.
Even so, Lauscher was proud of his team's effort on this long playoff run.
Lauscher also saluted his two seniors, Jurek and Peterson.
"They are second to none," he said. "They're quality kids. I just feel bad for them. And in about a month or so, we'll get the younger kids into fall ball and start over again."
Gladstone finished with a 28-10 record, just one win shy of last season's 29-5 mark.
The Bucks (24-7) advance to Saturday's state final against Jackson Lumen Christi.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos taken by Lori Jurek and videos shot by Laura Lamberg. Thanks ladies!!
