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Anderson’s walk-off HR gives Greens a win over Gladstone

(Todd Rose/Escanaba Daily Press photo) Dickinson County Greens celebrate a walk-off win over Gladstone after a two-run home run by Ian Anderson during the opening day of the American Legion Zone Tournament on Thursday at Don Nelson Field in Gladstone.

GLADSTONE — Momentum shifted back and forth between the Dickinson County Greens and Gladstone Indians but ultimately ended in favor of the Greens in the bottom of the seventh as they won 6-5 Thursday night in Gladstone on opening day of the American Legion Zone Tournament.

With a runner — Blake Julian — on base, Ian Anderson stepped into the batter’s box and walloped the ball over the centerfield fence for a two-run walk-off home run to win the game.

Tensions reached a boiling point in the bottom of the fifth. A meeting with both managers was called behind home plate by the home plate umpire.

Both managers said afterward the meeting helped cool things off between the two teams.

“I think there’s always tension between these two teams. There was tension from high school season and it bleeds over to here,” Gladstone manager Scott Kwarciany said. “Both teams wanted it, and both teams did everything to win tonight. For us, it was just a matter of wanting to get a win on our home field.”

Gladstone drew first blood in the matchup with Nick Martin hitting a double down the left-field line to drive in Mason LaChance.

The home team also got runs in the fourth — off a sacrifice fly RBI from Owen Trombley — and fifth — Ryan Polley scoring off a Dayton Berson hit to right field — put the Indians up 3-0.

With the bases loaded in the sixth for the Greens, the momentum switched with the crack of Blake Julian’s bat as he drove in three runs on a double to the centerfield fence to tie the game. He was ushered home by Hunter McCarthy moments later to make it 4-3.

Again, the pendulum swung in Gladstone’s direction in the seventh as Polley put down a sacrifice bunt to bring in two runs and take the lead 5-4.

Greens manager Paul Julian gave Polley and the Indians kudos for the play.

“The way Gladstone executed that suicide (bunt) was flawless,” he said. “At that point, I thought, ‘(I’m) a little scared right now.’

“But then the older boys in our dugout always seem to bring everyone up. That’s done, let’s move forward. And you see what happened. Holy cow.”

On the Indians’ side of things, Kwarciany was happy with how the team played.

“I thought, first of all and foremost, that we played better than we’ve played in a long time,” he said. “We needed this. This is good momentum for our team.”

After stuttering through the season, Kwarciany said the team was starting to all get on the same page.

“We struggled most of the season, but we regrouped here at the end,” he said. “We had some good practices heading into this week, so there’s nothing to be disappointed about with the way we played. … If we play like this, like the way we played tonight, I think we’ll do just fine.”

Dickinson County plays Menominee at 12 p.m. Central today in Gladstone.

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