Indians Drop Out of District Tourney
The Gladstone Indians will not participate in the District Eleven Tournament this weekend at Al Ness Field in Escanaba. Indians Manager Jim Beauchamp informed Legion Baseball Chairman Don Hudon on Monday that Gladstone will withdraw from the tournament due to a lack of players.
Seven members of the 15-man Indians roster also play Senior Little League ball, and six of them committed to playing for Gladstone's Senior team at a state tournament in Detroit this weekend. That left the Indians with nine available players for the district tournament.
Beauchamp asked Legion officials to let his team play with nine, instead of the 12 that is required. That was denied. Beauchamp also asked that the district tournament start a day earlier so his players could play, but that was also denied. He also asked that the names of people who played earlier for the Indians, but had quit, be added to the roster. That request was denied.
Three strikes, the Indians are out.
"This is sad because we really had a chance to do well there," Beauchamp said. "We've only lost two of our last 18 games, we beat Esky twice, and the kids were peaking at the right time."
Sault Ste. Marie also dropped out of the tournament Monday, because the Travelers only had 10 players available. That leaves Escanaba, Menominee and Mid County to play this weekend.
Beauchamp vowed that there will not be a repeat of this scenario next year, as he will not have any 15 year-olds, and maybe no 16-year-olds, on his roster next year. Gladstone is scheduled to host the state tournament in 2008 at Don Olsen Field.
Indians Win Tourney; Season Over?
The Gladstone Indians won the Mid Pen League tournament championship on Saturday, and are now hoping for a miracle to let their season continue into the districts.
With the senior Little League team winning a U.P. championship on Saturday, seven players on the Indians roster are headed downstate next weekend....at the exact moment the district tournament is scheduled in Escanaba. That leaves the Indians with nine players, and you need 12 to field a team in the American Legion post-season. If an effort to get that requirement waived fails, the Indians will forefeit.
On Saturday, the lack of players was clear as the team started the championship game with Negaunee with only eight players. That's because J.J. Beauchamp and Aaron Frazer were playing in a U.P. tournament game for the senior league. The Diamonds agreed to move the 3 p.m. start time to 4:30, but the senior game was a long one, so the Legion game started with only eight players.
Well, not exactly. Negaunee agreed to an unusal temporary substitution. Indians Manager Jim Beauchamp would play right field until his son showed up. NO KIDDING! The Old Man was in right field. He wasn't allowed to bat, so the Indians got an out when his spot came up, but Manager Beauchamp relived a bit of his youth by playing a few innings until his son arrived.
Negaunee scored a run in the second inning off Indians starter Andy Lauscher, but he stranded two men on base. Then, in the third, Kevin Thompson came in to pitch, even though he pitched earlier in the day against Ishpeming. Why? Well, K.T. knew he had 98 strikeouts on the season and wanted the Century Mark. He got it when he fanned, of all people, Ryan Ayotte, son of Negaunee Coach Steve Ayotte.
The Indians tied the game when Thompson and Lauscher singled in the fourth inning, with KT eventually scoring on a fielder's choice off the bat of Elliot Veraghen. Then, just as Beauchamp and Frazer arrived at Escanaba's Al Ness Field (where the game was moved to), the Indians rallied in the fifth inning.
Jordan Gobert led off with a double, got bunted to third by Chris Darling, and scored on a double by Beauchamp (no...NOT the old man). Cory Murray was safe on an error by the pitcher, Matt Viau drove in a rin on a grounder, and Thompson came through with an RBI single to make it 4-1.
Beauchamp pitched the final two innings to save it for Thompson, who got two wins in one day. He was the winning pitcher earlier in the day as the Indians beat Ishpeming, 7-1, in the semifinals. Beauchamp got things started in the first inning with a solo home run off Blue Storm ace Derek Burke. Then, the Indians went to work in the third inning, scoring six times.
The inning started when Darling struck out but was safe on a passed ball. Josh Sargent followed with a single, then Murray was safe on an error. Viau followed with a two-run single to make it 3-0. Beauchamp hit a sacrafice fly to make it 4-0, then Lauscher was safe on an error as another run scored.
Ishpeming got a run off Thompson in the fifth when Matt Sunberg singled, and was forced out at second by Mike Lyman. Lyman eventually scored on a passed ball, breaking the shutout. But Thompson still earned the win, allowing four hits, one walk, and struck out eight.
Gladstone started the tournament with an 11-1, late-night win, Friday against Mid-County. A combination of the 8:48 first pitch and the fact the Mavericks were winless made this a less-than-exciting ballgame.
The Indians came out flat, and did not hit the ball hard against Mid County starting pitcher Colt Cunningham. Gladstone took advantage of seven Mavericks errors to post its 30th win of the season.
The Indians scored three runs in the second inning, with two coming in when an Lauscher fly ball was dropped in right field. A third run scored on a wild pitch. Thompson's RBI single made it 4-0 in the third.
The Mavericks got a run on an Indians error in the fourth inning, but Matt Viau hit a sacrafice fly in the bottom of the inning to make it 5-1. The Indians put it away with four runs in the fifth, highlighted by a two-run single by Sargent. The game ended on the mercy rule in the sixth inning on a sacrafice fly by Lauscher (after three Mavericks errors).
Murray pitched all six innings, allowing two hits, one earned run, and four walks. He struck out 11 batters. Cunningham took the loss for the Mavericks.
