Austin Hemmingson | Daily Press Gladstone’s Ian Schwalbach (left) attempts to tag Kimberly’s Tom Ellison at third base during Friday’s American Legion baseball game at Gladstone.

GLADSTONE — The Gladstone Indians had their chances, but couldn’t come through with the big plays when they needed them in a 7-4 loss to Kimberly, Wis. here Friday in the Gregg Johnson/Al Erickson Memorial American Legion Baseball tournament.

After putting up three runs in the bottom of the third inning, the Indians led 3-2 entering the fourth.

But Kimberly’s Kaleb Vandenberg led off the inning with a triple to right field. Casey Van Abel then reached on a Gladstone error, allowing Vandenberg to score and tying the game at 3. After Bryce Budiac walked, Van Abel scored when Gladstone catcher Cooper Cavadeas threw wild to third on a passed ball to make it 4-3.

The Cougars (2-0) extended their lead to 6-3 on a two-run triple by Vandenberg in the fifth.

“I’ve watched these guys all through high school and they have a lot of heart,” Cougars’ manager Travis Moran said. “They get behind each other no matter what; they pick each other up when they’re down. They just want to get out here; that’s all they want to do. When they come out and put their heart into it, there’s no stopping them, and they know that.”

The Indians (1-2) got a run back on an RBI single by Ean Terrian in the sixth, but Carson Shea flew out to center with the bases loaded later in the inning to end the threat.

“I think it came down to a couple routine plays that we didn’t make, and a couple transfers that would have turned into outs that we messed up on,” Indians’ manager Justin Jurek said. “Other than that, I think we were right in it the whole game. We were just a routine play or two away from winning by a lot more than they won by.”

The Cougars added a run on a solo home run to left by Trenton Holz in the seventh, but the Indians still had their chances in the bottom half.

Cavadeas led off the inning with a single and Dan Martin reached on an error to put runners on the corners. After Jared Crow was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Kimberly brought Holz in to pitch. He got Caden Alworden to hit a hard ground ball right back to him, allowing him to throw home and then the relay throw to first base completed the double play. Terrian struck out swinging to end the game.

“They were spraying them all over the field; we just happened to be in the right spot at the right time and made the plays when we needed to,” Moran said. “We had a couple diving plays, and it wasn’t just us — they had a heck of a good play at shortstop on a diving catch and another one in the outfield. It was good baseball by both teams; it just happened to come out in our favor, and I’m happy it did.”

The Cougars, who won their first game of the day 6-4 against DePere, Wis., struck first with single runs in the second and third before Gladstone responded with three in the third to briefly take a one-run lead.

Van Abel earned the win on the mound over four innings, surrendering three runs on four hits while striking out two. Evan Johnson and Holz pitched in relief. Holz led the offense with three hits while Vandenberg added two hits and two RBIs. Van Abel finished with two hits and an RBI.

Shea absorbed the loss for the Indians, allowing seven runs (six earned) on 10 hits while walking and fanning three through 6 1/3 innings. Cavadeas led the offense with two hits and an RBI while Crow and Cody Frappier each added a hit and an RBI.

The Cougars face Copper Country today at 10:30 a.m. and Marquette at 3 p.m., both at Escanaba. A single win locks them into the semifinals Sunday at Gladstone.

Gladstone, which opened the day with a 9-6 triumph against Marquette, hosts Copper Country today at 5:15. The Indians need a win and a DePere loss to have a shot at a tiebreaker (run differential in combined games) to make it to the semis.

“We need to just focus on the little things. We don’t need to make spectacular plays as long as we focus on the routine plays,” Jurek said. “Everything that we do during warm-ups, during practice, during games, needs to be done with a purpose. We want to have fun and we want to have a good atmosphere, but everything we do we need to do with a purpose.”