ESCANABA---The emotions were as raw as the brutal mid-May weather conditions Saturday for the Gladstone High School girls softball team.
With Head Coach Ashley Hughes away because of the sudden death in her family, everyone pitched in to help an emotional group of girls play at the Escanaba Softball Challenge.
With temperatures hovering in the upper 30's and low 40's, a brisk north wind, and occassional snow flurries and ice pellets, the Braves managed to win two close games before losing to the host Eskymos in their final game on Saturday.
Gladstone began the day with a roller-coaster 5-4 win over the Neenah (Wis.) Rockets, then followed that up with a dramatic 3-2 win over the Marquette Redettes.
The Braves ended their day with a 10-0 loss to the Eskymos.
With Hughes gone, assistants Teresa Shepeck and Liz Gendron stepped up to run things, with plenty of help from Jeff Hansen, Bill Buchmiller, and Braves alum Lexi Hongisto.
The game with Neenah saw the Braves fall behind 2-0, with pitcher Jenna Steinhoff giving up a solo home run and a couple of defensive mistakes giving Neenah the second run. Gladstone battled back in the bottom of the fourth inning, getting on the board with an RBI groundout by Taylor Hunter.
Then Kaylin Holden came through with an RBI triple to bring home the tying run. Alyssa Polley followed with an RBI single to make it a 3-2 game.
Things got tough for the Braves when Neenah scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning, but Gladstone scored two in the bottom half, with Holden getting the walk-off run-scoring double.
Then, the Braves beat a Marquette team that they had lost two twice already this season before running into an angry Eskymo team that had been stunned earlier in the day by Rapid River.
Gladstone will be back in Escanaba to face the Eskymos in a doubleheader on Tuesday, with those games being broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com. First pitch on Tuesday is 4:00.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos from the Gladstone-Neenah game.
With temperatures hovering in the upper 30's and low 40's, a brisk north wind, and occassional snow flurries and ice pellets, the Braves managed to win two close games before losing to the host Eskymos in their final game on Saturday.
Gladstone began the day with a roller-coaster 5-4 win over the Neenah (Wis.) Rockets, then followed that up with a dramatic 3-2 win over the Marquette Redettes.
The Braves ended their day with a 10-0 loss to the Eskymos.
With Hughes gone, assistants Teresa Shepeck and Liz Gendron stepped up to run things, with plenty of help from Jeff Hansen, Bill Buchmiller, and Braves alum Lexi Hongisto.
The game with Neenah saw the Braves fall behind 2-0, with pitcher Jenna Steinhoff giving up a solo home run and a couple of defensive mistakes giving Neenah the second run. Gladstone battled back in the bottom of the fourth inning, getting on the board with an RBI groundout by Taylor Hunter.
Things got tough for the Braves when Neenah scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning, but Gladstone scored two in the bottom half, with Holden getting the walk-off run-scoring double.
Then, the Braves beat a Marquette team that they had lost two twice already this season before running into an angry Eskymo team that had been stunned earlier in the day by Rapid River.
Gladstone will be back in Escanaba to face the Eskymos in a doubleheader on Tuesday, with those games being broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com. First pitch on Tuesday is 4:00.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos from the Gladstone-Neenah game.
