Todd Rose | Daily Press Gladstone’s Carter VanBrocklin (8) pitches against Bark River-Harris Tuesday in Bark River.

BARK RIVER — The Gladstone Braves and Bark River-Harris Broncos split Tuesday evening in Bark River.

The Broncos took the first game 9-1 with the win being credited to Nick Javurek, who started the game. Max Hall relieved Javurek after three innings and finished the game.

Gladstone grabbed a shutout win 14-0 with Carter VanBrocklin pitching all six innings of the game.

Both games were abbreviated to six innings due to the cold weather.

“That second game, I put our normal starters back in there,” said Braves coach Lucas LaCosse. “These guys are a good ball club to play. We had fun playing them.

“Carter VanBrocklin in his first outing, in my understanding three years, did great with the shutout. He’s definitely in our rotation aside from possibly being our starting catcher.”

The key to victory — aside from VanBrocklin’s pitching — for the Braves, said LaCosse, was getting the bats going on offense.

“We hit the ball well,” he said. “We put down some key bunts to get some runs early. It really got the kids into the game, and they stayed up. They never let up.”

A sacrifice bunt from Ryan Polley brought Tyler Darmogrey and John Soderman in to score to make it 2-0 in the second inning. From there, they kept the hits coming with two more runs apiece in the third and fourth, then eight in the sixth.

Darmogrey started the first game for the Braves, and Austin Bagwell relieved him in the fourth.

“That first game, I definitely wanted to get some of the younger guys in and get them some of the experience they need,” said LaCosse. “They held their own. The scoreboard might not say it, but they had hits. It’s just unfortunate they couldn’t get them together to get some runs. But they did well in that first game.”

VanBrocklin was 2-4 batting with two RBIs. Soderman, Mason LaChance and Ardan Creten each had two RBIs with one hit apiece. Poley had four RBIs off of one hit and his sacrifice bunt.

It was a complete opposite performance from the first game for the Broncos, said Bark River coach Al Botwright.

“It was the tale of two games,” Botwright said. “We didn’t do any damage with the bat at all (in the second game). We had scattered a few hits in there, but you have to give credit to their pitcher. He just shut us down completely in that second game.”

Botwright added, trouble throwing strikes and errors did not help the Broncos cause in the second game.

“In the first game, primarily, we hit the ball a lot better,” he said. “We actually played quite a nice game in the first one, and we definitely a lot more damage with the bats in the first one.”

In game two, Johnny Robinette was the only Bark River player to get a hit as he was 3-3.

The Broncos, as a team, had eight hits in the first game, with Robinette and Javurek each getting two.

Tyler Racicot started on the mound for Bark River in the nightcap. After three innings he was relieved by Carter Zawacki. Isaac Ives closed out the game pitching for the Broncos.

“Hats off to Gladstone’s pitcher (VanBrocklin). He pitched a whale of a game, and he just totally handcuffed us,” said Botwright. “Sometimes you just got to tip your hat to a guy who had your number…and he certainly did.”

Next up, Bark River hosts North Central Friday afternoon while the Braves plays Negaunee Thursday in Gladstone.