(Mitch Vosburg photo) Iron Mountain outfielder Aiden Ellis tracks down a fly ball against Gladstone on Thursday at Don Olsen Field in Gladstone.

GLADSTONE — Eight seniors were honored before Gladstone baseball’s doubleheader against Iron Mountain on Thursday.

And fresh off the heels of being swept by Kingsford after committing nine errors in the two games the Braves were looking to bounce back. The Braves did exactly that as their senior class shined in a pair of wins over the Mountaineers.

“It was nice for (the eight seniors) to be honored before the game and then come out and play a pretty clean game,” Braves skipper Tyler Swanson said. “Both pitchers did a nice job throwing strikes. All of our guys are starting to contribute a little bit. It’s good to see.”

The Mountaineers, on the other hand, didn’t fare as well inside the confines of Don Olsen Field. Iron Mountain failed to score a run despite placing 13 runners in scoring position.

“That’s kind of been our season in a nutshell,” Mountaineers coach Jeff McLean said. “We just made too many mistakes defensively, and we didn’t score any runs.”

Gladstone 11,

Iron Mountain 0

Gladstone wasted no time jumping ahead. The Braves led 2-0 after one behind an RBI sacrifice fly from senior Isaac Ketchum and senior Gavin Frossard scoring off a passed ball. The lead ballooned to 4-0 after two thanks to an RBI double from senior Casey Alworden and another RBI poke from Ketchum.

Then the third inning arrived, and the flood gates opened.

A grand total of 13 Braves stepped into the batter’s box in the frame where the home squad mustered seven runs.

Frossard earned the win on the mound, surrendering four hits with four walks and four strikeouts in four shutout innings of work.

Lane Wender earned two hits for the Mountaineers. Evan Mendini was tagged with the loss. Aiden Ellis struck out one batter in 1/3 inning of relief.

Gladstone 7,

Iron Mountain 0

Gladstone, once again, got started early. Ketchum ripped a two-run single and Davin Mantonen added an RBI poke for a 3-0 lead after one. Landon VanTassell added an RBI single in the second and Bret Seger chipped in an RBI sacrifice fly in the third for a 5-0 lead after three.

But the Mountaineers began to mount a rally off Gladstone sophomore Nate Beauchamp.

Ian Marttila led off the fourth with a double that snuck by Gladstone right fielder Chase Potes. With one out, Max White drew a walk as Marttila swiped third base.

But Beauchamp refused to be rattled. He got Wender and Charlie Anderson out via ground balls to strand two Mountaineers in scoring position to end the threat.

Beauchamp allowed two hits and walked three while fanning four across six innings to earn the win. Mattonen was 3-for-3 with two RBIs. Ketchum was 2-for-3 with a triple, two RBIs and two runs scored. VanTassell also earned two base hits.

Wender took the loss for the Mountaineers.