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Calumet sweeps L’Anse

Erkkila earns both wins on the mound for Calumet

Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette Calumet's Emily Erkkila delivers a pitch during the fifth inning of the first game of a doubleheader against L'Anse Wednesday at the Aura Field in Aura.

AURA — With area weather as difficult as it has been, local softball teams have had a hard time just getting any scheduled games in. Wednesday, the L’Anse Purple Hornets played just their third and fourth games of the season, losing a non-conference doubleheader to the Calumet Copper Kings, 6-2 and 9-7, at Aura Field.

The opening game featured arguably two of the top pitchers in the area in Calumet’s Emily Erkkila and L’Anse’s Maegan Kraft, both of whom are seniors and have seen much of each other the last few seasons. When the dust settled, it was Erkkila who was the hero of the day as she earned both wins for the Copper Kings.

“She’s definitely a good pitcher,” said Erkkila of facing Kraft, who recently committed to Finlandia University. “It’s fun to be competitive like that back and forth. It kind of motivates me to keep going and throwing as hard as I can.”

Erkkila did not allow a hit until the top of the fourth inning of the opening game and did not issue a walk until the fifth. She racked up six strikeouts in the contest.

“I feel like mixing up location was really [important],” said Erkkila. “Throwing my change-up kind of kept them off balance.”

The Purple Hornets struggled with the fact that they have not had much playing time prior to Wednesday, and that fact showed at the plate. In the opening game, the Hornets managed only two runs on three hits and two walks. In the nightcap, they were held off the scoreboard until the fifth inning, when they finally strung together back-to-back singles to drive in three of their seven runs.

Still, manager Janet Rossi was pleased with the amount of effort and the lack of quit in her Hornets.

“Our batting didn’t come around until the end of the second game, really,” said Rossi. “The kids didn’t give up. They kept fighting for it. What can you ask for better than that?”

The Copper Kings led 2-0 in the opener before Joanna Berg singled. Molly Helminen followed with a single of her own, putting pressure on Kraft on the mound. Jaden Rilei bunted. Two batters later, Kendra Keranen singled to score a run. Errors allowed two more runs to cross home plate before the end of the inning, as the Copper Kings jumped ahead by five runs.

“We gave them a couple of runs on a couple of mental mistakes,” said Rossi. “Otherwise, that was a battle. It could have been a 4-2 [or] 3-2 ball game.”

Needing to respond, the Purple Hornets managed to earn a run back in the fifth and sixth innings, cutting the Copper Kings’ lead down to 6-2. While they had the top of the order up to bat in the top of the seventh, L’Anse could not get another baserunner on before the final out.

In the nightcap, Copper Kings manager Joel Rastello turned to Kayley King on the mound, despite the fact that she was still suffering the effects of an illness which had sapped her energy. Visibly laboring, King fought her way through long enough to pitch four strong innings, surrendering no hits until the bottom of the fourth, when L’Anse managed to follow two walks with two straight singles, evening a 3-0 game at 3-3.

While King did not finish the game, Rastello was extremely pleased with the effort she gave throughout the contest.

“She’s really come along this year,” said Rastello. “I am proud of how hard she’s worked. She got us a good five innings so that Emily didn’t have to throw too much.”

Calumet led 1-0 in the game until the top of the fourth when Celia Kiilunen walked. Rilei followed with a single. Erkkila singled to center field to knock Kiilunen home. Keranen then singled, knocking Rilei home and opening up a 3-0 lead.

The Purple Hornets turned a walk by Erika Tollefson into a very profitable bottom of the fourth inning when Sarah Dix walked and two batters later, Bailey Froberg singled to center field to bring Tollefson home. Kraft followed with a single of her own to bring both Dix and Froberg home, evening the score.

With the game tied at 3-3 in the top of the sixth and Calumet having loaded the bases, Rossi pulled starting pitcher Josie Rice and turned back to Kraft. The Copper Kings took advantage of defensive miscues by the Purple Hornets and racked up five runs before the final out was recorded.

L’Anse potted two runs in the sixth thanks to some defensive lapses by the Copper Kings to pull back to 8-5. Calumet extended that lead to four in the top of the seventh when Rilei tripled to left field and eventually scored on a single by Erkkila.

The Purple Hornets added two runs in the bottom of the seventh before the Copper Kings recorded the final out on a pop-up in foul territory.

L’Anse returns to the field Thursday when they travel to face rival Baraga at the Baraga Field at 4 p.m.

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