Gladstone senior Landon VanTassell tosses the bat toward the Braves dugout after being hit by a pitch during a game against Iron Mountain on May 8, 2025 at Don Olsen Field in Gladstone. VanTassell reached base three times in this game, once via walk and twice via hit by pitch. (“The Big Dog” Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press)

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, did not play clean baseball inside the confines of Don Olsen Field. In fact, the Mountaineers committed 11 errors and 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. So, hard to win a game if you don’t score any runs.”

Here’s what went down.

Game one

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 run-off two passed balls, an RBI double from senior Davin Mattonen, a two-run single from senior Bret Seger, a two-run two-bagger from Ketchum and an RBI single from senior Austin Pepin.

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

Ketchum, Frossard and Pepin all had multi-hit games. Senior Landon VanTassell reached base three times, once via walk and twice by being struck by a pitch.

Lane Wender earned two hits for the Mountaineers. Evan Mendini was tagged with the losscoughing up 11 runs (eight earned) off nine hits with four walks. Aiden Ellis struck out one batter in 1/3 inning of relief.

Game two

Gladstone 7, Iron Mountain 0

Gladstone, once again, got started early once again. Ketchum ripped a two-run single and Mantonen added an RBI poke for a 3-0 lead after one. VanTassell added an RBI single in the second and 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 of Gladstone sophomore Nate Beauchamp.

Ian Martilla led off the fourth with a double which snuck by Gladstone right fielder Chase Potes. Beauchamp battled back to strikeout Mending on seven pitches for the first out, but walked Max White as Martilla 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.

The Braves tacked on two runs off an RBI single from Mattonen and a Mountaineers error in the bottom of the fifth.

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, surrendering seven runs (four earned) off eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts while also earning a base hit.