Negaunee, MI – May 15, 2019 – It was a battle of high-powered offenses on Wednesday afternoon as the Negaunee Miners baseball team hosted the Gladstone Braves in a game that was broadcast live on Fox Sports Marquette 105.1-99.9. Mark Evans and Gregg Nelson handled the pre-game show, with Travis Nelson taking over for his father as the game started.
Gladstone wasted no time in the first inning, with Carson Shea hitting a lead off double to begin the game. Shea advanced to third base on a passed ball, and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Braves a 1-0 lead. Cooper Cavadeas scored later in the inning to bring the score to 2-0, and that’s where the score stood heading into the home half of the inning. Negaunee was unable to generate any offense as Gladstone pitcher Cam Kelly produced a 1-2-3 inning, and after one inning, Gladstone led 2-0.
Negaunee’s defense was able to quickly record the first two outs before Caden Alworden smashed a single to left. Shea hit the next pitch to the same area to advance Alworden to third, but the Miners were able to get out of the jam and get to the bottom of the second with no harm done. Alex Munson led the inning of with a walk, and stole second shortly thereafter. Jason Waterman hit a single to right-center field to bring Munson around and make the score 2-1 Gladstone. Negaunee loaded the bases, but a bad display of baserunning led to a double play that stranded all runners and ended the inning.
Negaunee again quickly put the first two hitters for Gladstone out before Drake Forrest got on base on a single to left field and stole 2nd. He came around to score on a single by Forrest, but the third out was made as Forrest tried to head to second and was tagged out. Negaunee again went down 1-2-3 in their half of the inning, so heading to the top of the 4th the score was 3-1 with Gladstone in the lead.
A flurry of offense from the Braves including several bunts, a couple steals, and a base hit or two gave them a 5-1 lead after the top of the fourth inning. Munson led the inning off on a double for the Miners before scoring on a throwing error by the Braves’ catcher. Gladstone’s Cam Kelly walked the next two batters in a row before being replaced on the mound by Zach Hanson. Hanson was able to get out of the inning unscathed, and Gladstone led 5-2 heading into the 5th.
Forrest reached base on a walk early in the inning for Gladstone, and then scored on an RBI double to extend his team’s lead to 6-2. Peterson struggled with control as the inning went on, and was replaced by Brenten Belanger with no outs. Belanger had a similarly difficult time against the Braves’ lineup, giving up several hits including a Drake Forrest two-run homer and Gladstone held a 14-2 lead heading to the bottom of the 5th. Facing the mercy rule, Negaunee did their best to fight back, but were unable to score a single run as Gladstone won 14-2 in five innings.
Listen to the archived game broadcast here.
