SLAMMIN' CAMRON: Kelly Rallies Braves To Win
MENOMINEE---For four innings, the Menominee Maroons high school baseball team hung in there with the Gladstone Braves in a make-up Great Northern Conference game Saturday afternoon at Spies Field. In fact, the Maroons had a 5-2 lead.
But over the final three innings, Braves senior Cam Kelly swung the big stick and things changed quickly. Gladstone scored seven runs in the fifth, two in the sixth, and five more in the seventh to post a 16-5 victory, breaking a four-game winless streak.
Kelly's day: five at-bats, four hits, two triples, one single, one grand slam home run, and eight runs batted in. Not too shabby for the Kalamazoo College recruit.
Kelly had tripled home Braden Sundquist in the first inning to give the Braves the lead, but in the bottom of the first, Brody Waara doubled home Austin Malke to tie it at 1-1.
The next time up, in the third inning, Kelly smacked another RBI single, again bringing home Sundquist, giving Gladstone a 2-1 lead. But in the bottom of the inning, Menominee got an unearned run after Waara got his second hit of the game and scored on an infield error.
Menominee took the lead against Braves pitcher Tyler Darmogray in the fourth inning.
Aiden Sevon got a one-out base hit, then Darmogray walked both Gable Buck and Chad Kenny to load the bases. Darmogray walked Chase Linsmeir to force in a run, then Malke smacked an RBI single to center field to give Menominee a 4-2 lead.
At that point, Darmogray's day on the mound was over and Sundquist came on to throw. He gave up a base hit to Waara, bringing home another run, but Sundquist got a strikeout and a groundout to strand the bases loaded and keep the Bravces within 5-2.
Things changed in the top of the fifth inning as the Braves batted around and scored seven times. Darmogray started the inning with a single, moved up on a passed ball, and scored on a single by Darmogray. Nick Martin walked, and then Kelly came up and smacked his second triple of the game. That brought in two runs, tying the game at 5-5.
Gavin Frossard came up and smacked an RBI single to center field, giving the Braves a 6-5 lead, and there still were no outs in the inning. John Soderman drew a walk, then after Casey Alworden flew out, Aeden Creten singled home Frossard to make it 7-5.
Gladstone led, 9-5, after Darmogray's infield hit brought home two runs, and then the Braves scored two more runs on bases loaded walks in the sixth inning.
The icing on the cake came in the top of the seventh inning when Kelly smacked a grand slam home run over the left field fence at the very spaciious Spies Field.
Sundquist got the pitching win, allowing no runs on three hits in 3 2/3 innings of relief. Malke took the loss, allowing eleven earned runs on ten hits.
Waara led Menominee offensively by going 4-for-4, with two runs batted in. Malke added two base hits.
