Click the thumbnails to see photos taken by Mallory Burie, and to hear post-game interviews.
GLADSTONE---The Gladstone High School baseball team took advantage of multiple errors to score eleven runs in the third inning and beat the North Central Jets 14-2 Monday afternoon in Gladstone. Nick Proehl drove in four runs as the Braves won their fifth straight game.
The game was played in 40-degree weather, with a gustry wind blowing in that took the wind chill factor below freezing.
"I told them before the game that I did not want to hear any excuses about the cold," NCA Manager Ben Snyder said. "And I'll tell you what, not a single one of them complained about the cold."
NCA starting pitcher Nate Pipkorn worked through the first two innings without giving up a run, and the Jets took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning on a double by Kaden Malone and an error on in infieild grounder by Pipkorn. But then came the bottom of the third inning, when the Jets made five infield errors, including three on consecutive plays. Snyder replaced Pipkorn wth Malone on the mound, but things got even worse for him. When the inning was over, 17 men had come to the plate for Gladstone.
"I'm happy with both of them (Pipkorn and Malone)," Snyder said. "They both deserved a lot better."
From the Gladstone perspective, it was a game to get everyone on the field, and the pitching was carefully managed. Nick Proehl started and worked 1 2/3 innings before leaving after throwing 22 pitches. Ditto for Carter Sanville, who exited after 39 pitches and 2 1/3 innings, and Xavier Lepzig, who threw 24 pitches in his one inning of work.
Offensively, it wasn't all NCA errors that plated runs for the Braves. Proehl drove in four runs with a pair of base hits, and Landon Pepin brought home two runs with a triple.
"The final score doesn't tell the story of this game," Gladstone Manager Tyler Swanson said. "They gave us a good run at the start. He (Snyder) has kind of a young, inexperienced team. Unfortunately, you have to go through the growing pains sometimes.If you want to win ballgames, you've got to do it any way you can do it. You're not always going to be able to drive doubles to the gap. Your're gonna have to do it ugly sometimes, and you kind of bleed some base hits in there."
"We did good," Proehl said. "We put the bat on the ball. We put balls in play. Our defense was pretty good, too. Pitched awesome. It was an all-around pretty good game."
Gladstone improved to 5-2 on the season, while North Central's record fell to 3-6.
And now both teams get ready to play rivalry games. The Jets will host the Stephenson Eagles in a doubleheader on Wednesday in Hermansville.
"I'm hoping for a bounce-back game," Snyder said. "I want to come out, hit the ball well, play some clean defense. We have some work to do tomorrow (Tuesday) at practice in order to get ready for it."
Gladstone will make the short trip to Escanaba Tuesday night to face the arch-rival Eskymos. Escanaba picked up a 7-6 win over the Marinette Marines Monday night in Marinette to improve ir=ts record to 2-3 on the season against an extremely tough set of oppoents. Tuesday's game will be Escanaba's home opener, and will kick off a seven-game homestand.
"They're nice to play with," Proehl said. "I've known them forever. I've been playing with them since I was eight years old."
"It's going to be a good ballgame," Swanson said. "It's a rivalry game and it's something we look forward to. We're just looking to go and compete.It's always a cool atmosphere. The weather is supposed to be a little warmer, and I like playing there."
The Escanaba-Gladstone game starts Tuesday at 5:00 and you can hear it live on FM-93.5 and AM-600.
The North Central-Stephenson game starts at 4:00 CT on Wednesday and can be heard libe on FM-107.3.
