Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette Northern Driveline’s Brent Loukus takes a lead off first base as Bill Pelli of Coldwell Banker -Craig Heinonen plays the field on Thursday in Stanton.

STANTON – The 2024 Leo Durocher Tournament got under way on Thursday with Northern Driveline earning a 4-1 win over Coldwell Banker -Craig Heinonen in the opener. Ross Kinnunen gave credit to Northern’s winning pitcher Brent Loukus. He went the distance for the win striking out five along the way.

“Brent pitched well and kept us off balance at the plate,” said Kinnunen. “I thought Carson (Turner) pitched well for us, but they got a quite a few solid hits off him, and that made the difference.”

Northern jumped on the scoreboard first in the third with Aksel Loukus and Chad Nordstrom both getting doubles and scoring. They added another two in the fourth.

Brent Loukus opened that frame with a triple to deep left and came home a batter later when catcher Buzz Rajala slapped a double to right. Rajala then scored thanks to an RBI single by Alex Nordstrom.

Neither team scored after the fourth, and this one ended at 4 -1.

Kinnunen added that he hopes that his team can earn a win today against Garnet Garage, but it will be a tall order to fill.

“They are tough,” he related. “They have had our number over the past few years in this tournament as we know anything can happen in baseball.”

The Leo Durocher Tournament will continue today with pool play and wrap up on Sunday afternoon with the championship game slated for 4 :30.