Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and to hear from Iron Mountain Player of the Game Joe Powell and Tournament official Carl Brunngraeber.
ROCK, Mich.---The Iron Mountain North 10u Minor Little League All-Stars fell behind 7-1 Monday night, but scored 20 unanswwered runs to eliminate Escanaba, 21-7, in Rock.
Then the Gladstone-Norway game was suspended by darkness in the final inning, with Gladstone clinging to an 8-7 lead as the clock stretched past 9:30 p.m. and it became tough to see the ball.
Things looked good early for Escanaba as they sent eleven batters to the plate and scored five times in the first inning. Ryder Bjorne had a double and scored a run during the rally, and Brock Gagnon had an RBI single. Other runs came home on hit batters amd walks.
Escanaba tacked on two more runs in the second inningm with Drew Irving delivering the RBI hit. So with a 7-1 lead, Escanaba Coaches Scott Bjorne and Brandon Gagnon rolled the dice and removed Irving off the mound after he had allowed no hits and struck out four batters in the first two innings. That move backfired, and the Escanaba defense collapsed.
Iron Mounrain North scored five runs in the third inning, seven more in the fourth, two more in the fifth, and six more runs in the top of the sixth inning. That's 20 unanswered runs, and it was fueled by twelve Escanaba errors. And Iron Mountain hit the ball along with those errors as four more Escanaba pitchers went to the mound and struggled to get outs.
Iron Mountain got a huge three-run, bases-clearing double to the center field fence in the third inning, and Paxton Anderson added a two-run hit of his own. Iron Mountain used four pitchers, with both James Powell and Joe Powell reliving starter Jack Oman.
The result eliminated Escanaba from the tournament and sent Iron Mountain North into the loser's bracket final, but they still don't know who they will play. That's because the Gladstone-Norway game saw each team have one bad inning, and as the night wore on, it became too dark to continue playing. So that game, with Gladstone ahead, 8-7, will resume Tuesday afternoon.
Whilre the Escanaba-Iron Mountain game took more than two-and-a-half hours, the Gladstone-Norway game started off at a break-net pace, with Gladstone's Jacxdon Quigley dueling with Norway's Reed Amderson in the first few innings.
And Gladstone had the better of it as Quigley used his blazing fastball to shut out Norway in the first three innings, striking out seven batters, and allowing only two baserunners. And Quigley delivered the big hit on offense, a rocket two-run triple in the third inning that gave Gladstone what it looked like would be a comfortable 3-0 lead.
But this is 9-and-10 year-old baseball, and anything can happen. And it did as Gladstone's defense imploded in the bottom of the fourth inning with four errors, along with a huge RBI double by Colton Flesher for Norway's only hit of that inning. But, it was a 4-3 lwad.
Gladstone loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth inning on base hits by Elliot Pantanen and Mason Soper, plus a hit batter. But Anderson managed to get the next three outs, with Carter Roman grounding into a force play with Quigley in the on-deck circle.
Quigley worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth inning and finished with eleven strikeouts in five innings of work. But he reached his pitch limit, and would not be able to go in the sixth inning if Gladstone managed to extend the game in the top of the sixth.
Anderson also ran out of pitches, so Norway also had to go to the bullpen. In the top of the sixth, an infield hit by Qigley, two walks and two hit batters, and a clutch hit after multiple foul balls by Benson Erickson helped Gladstone score five times and take a 8-4 lead.
But, here comes the bottom of the sixth inning, and Gladstone pitcher Joe McDonald struggled as darkness fell. Chase Freberg had a big lead-off hit with two strikes on him from the #12 hole, then a walk and wild pitch plated a Norway run. A fly ball off the bat of Miles Langin brought in another run, then a walk and an error brought in two more runs.
The home plate umpire called the game due to darkness, but allowed the coaches to pursuade him to allow the game to continue. A few moments later, with the score now 8-7 and the tying run at third base for Norway, he again halted the game, this time for good.
That ignited an angry response from the Norway coaches and parents, and some unpleasant words were exchanged from both sides of the field from behind the fenceline as the kids walked off the field. Luckily, cooler heads eventually prevailed, and there was no further conflict.
That game will be resumed at 5:00 ET Tuesday, with Iron Mountain playing the loser immediately after. The winner of the suspended game will advance to the district championship game on Wednesday, with a spot in the state tournament in the Detroit suburb of Birmingham on the line.
ROCK, Mich.---The Iron Mountain North 10u Minor Little League All-Stars fell behind 7-1 Monday night, but scored 20 unanswwered runs to eliminate Escanaba, 21-7, in Rock.
Then the Gladstone-Norway game was suspended by darkness in the final inning, with Gladstone clinging to an 8-7 lead as the clock stretched past 9:30 p.m. and it became tough to see the ball.
Escanaba tacked on two more runs in the second inningm with Drew Irving delivering the RBI hit. So with a 7-1 lead, Escanaba Coaches Scott Bjorne and Brandon Gagnon rolled the dice and removed Irving off the mound after he had allowed no hits and struck out four batters in the first two innings. That move backfired, and the Escanaba defense collapsed.
Iron Mounrain North scored five runs in the third inning, seven more in the fourth, two more in the fifth, and six more runs in the top of the sixth inning. That's 20 unanswered runs, and it was fueled by twelve Escanaba errors. And Iron Mountain hit the ball along with those errors as four more Escanaba pitchers went to the mound and struggled to get outs.
Iron Mountain got a huge three-run, bases-clearing double to the center field fence in the third inning, and Paxton Anderson added a two-run hit of his own. Iron Mountain used four pitchers, with both James Powell and Joe Powell reliving starter Jack Oman.
The result eliminated Escanaba from the tournament and sent Iron Mountain North into the loser's bracket final, but they still don't know who they will play. That's because the Gladstone-Norway game saw each team have one bad inning, and as the night wore on, it became too dark to continue playing. So that game, with Gladstone ahead, 8-7, will resume Tuesday afternoon.
And Gladstone had the better of it as Quigley used his blazing fastball to shut out Norway in the first three innings, striking out seven batters, and allowing only two baserunners. And Quigley delivered the big hit on offense, a rocket two-run triple in the third inning that gave Gladstone what it looked like would be a comfortable 3-0 lead.
But this is 9-and-10 year-old baseball, and anything can happen. And it did as Gladstone's defense imploded in the bottom of the fourth inning with four errors, along with a huge RBI double by Colton Flesher for Norway's only hit of that inning. But, it was a 4-3 lwad.
Gladstone loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth inning on base hits by Elliot Pantanen and Mason Soper, plus a hit batter. But Anderson managed to get the next three outs, with Carter Roman grounding into a force play with Quigley in the on-deck circle.
Quigley worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth inning and finished with eleven strikeouts in five innings of work. But he reached his pitch limit, and would not be able to go in the sixth inning if Gladstone managed to extend the game in the top of the sixth.
But, here comes the bottom of the sixth inning, and Gladstone pitcher Joe McDonald struggled as darkness fell. Chase Freberg had a big lead-off hit with two strikes on him from the #12 hole, then a walk and wild pitch plated a Norway run. A fly ball off the bat of Miles Langin brought in another run, then a walk and an error brought in two more runs.
The home plate umpire called the game due to darkness, but allowed the coaches to pursuade him to allow the game to continue. A few moments later, with the score now 8-7 and the tying run at third base for Norway, he again halted the game, this time for good.
That ignited an angry response from the Norway coaches and parents, and some unpleasant words were exchanged from both sides of the field from behind the fenceline as the kids walked off the field. Luckily, cooler heads eventually prevailed, and there was no further conflict.
That game will be resumed at 5:00 ET Tuesday, with Iron Mountain playing the loser immediately after. The winner of the suspended game will advance to the district championship game on Wednesday, with a spot in the state tournament in the Detroit suburb of Birmingham on the line.
