Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Gladstone’s Ben Wilson slides into home after hitting an inside-the-park home run against Munising during a Minor Boys’ All-Star area tournament game Friday at Escanaba.

ESCANABA — The Gladstone Minor Boys’ All-Stars baseball team (age 9-10) overcame Munising 12-2 in four innings here Friday to move on in the area tournament.

Munising jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first two innings thanks to Isacc Beaverson scoring on a passed ball, and Lyrik Rautanen drawing a walk with the bases loaded to score Denny Ramsey.

Coming into the bottom of the second trailing, Gladstone immediately put two on base with a single from Braxton Breitenbach and a walk from Xavier Leipzig. Before Carter Sanville drew a walk, Breitenbach scored on a passed ball for Gladstone’s first run of the game. Ben Wilson was up next and put Gladstone firmly in the lead with an inside-the-park home run that also scored Leipzig and Sanville. Morgun Lynch then doubled on a fly ball to score Quade Pepin and Henry Sholten to increase its lead 6-2.

“It was a good game. The kids, after yesterday’s game, got a little tense when we were down 2-0, but they pulled it back together,” Gladstone manager Mike Sanville said. “They hit the ball very well. They hit a lot of hard line drives, and I’m proud of the kids. They were a little nervous to start after yesterday. Ben was a little nervous going to the pitching mound, but he came in and hit the ball well.”

In the bottom of the third, Gladstone extended its lead further. Sanville singled and advanced to second on an error to start the inning. After reaching third, he scored on a passed ball. Andrew Junttila made it to first on a fumbled ball on his third strike and ultimately scored another passed-ball run after stealing third.

Gladstone added four more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Breitenbach doubled to score Jackson Lee, and Leipzig singled to score Breitenbach. Leipzig advanced to second, then third and scored on a passed ball. Pepin then sacrificed to score Wilson and end the game.

“The tournament’s always fun, and I can’t wait for next year,” Munising coach Kyle Connaughton said. “Any time you get a chance to play baseball is a good day in my book. The game was fun. We didn’t have as many pitchers as I’d like to have, but that just gives other kids a chance to step up and play positions they haven’t played before. It was a good game with beautiful weather and good umpiring. Gladstone’s a good team too. They hit the heck out of the ball, and I give them a lot of credit.”

Junttila earned the win for Gladstone over 2 2/3 innings, and Wilson pitched 1 1/3 innings. Beaverson took the loss for Munising over 2 1/3 innings, and Nolan Connaughton pitched 1 2/3 innings.

Gladstone faces Tri-County today at 1 at Karl Dickson Field for a chance to move on to the district tournament.

“We’ve got some pitchers ready to pitch,” Sanville said. “It’s great to see these kids grow. They’re putting the effort out every day, and every time they come out they’re playing better baseball.”