Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette J. Peltier Construction’s Charlie Bastien gets a hit during Portage Lake Little League Majors action Thursday at E.B. Holman School Field.

STANTON — Passion was the name of the game for J. Peltier Construction as they battled their way back from a 6-1 deficit to earn a 14-10 victory over Tervo Agency in Portage Lake Little League Majors action Thursday night at E.B. Holman School Field.

The win was important for Peltier as it was their first win on the young season. According to manager Jesse Kentala, their win came on the heels of a good practice on Wednesday, along with a little more zip on the field for game day.

“We played with some energy, and that is what I like to see,” he said.

Peltier got on the scoreboard first as catcher Todd Kilpela started the game off with a triple to deep center field and crossed home plate on a double by starting pitcher Lathum Salmi just a few batters later.

In the bottom of the first, Tervo did not go down easily. They scored six runs on four hits and took advantage of quite a few throwing errors by Peltier in the field. First baseman Kade Jenkins started things off for Tervo with a triple of his own. Catcher Kalvin Kylla and third baseman Logan Niemi both had singles as did shortstop Luke Hill and second baseman Cale Ollenkato.

In the second, Peltier chipped away at the lead as they posted four runs. It was the outfield’s chance to shine at the plate as right fielder Rylan Maki and left fielder Conner Laila both got base hits on drives to the gap.

“We got the bat on the ball and that is always more fun to watch,” said Kentala.

The Tervo squad added one more of their own and after two innings it was a 7-5 game in their favor. Neither team scored in the third as both teams played stronger defense and committed fewer errors, which proved to be an improvement from the first two innings.

“As the game went on, the kids were focused on making the right play,” said Kentala. “Baseball is such a thinking game and we began to think the game through well, which was fantastic.”

In the top of the fourth, Peltier tied it at seven. Kilpela again started the hit parade off with his third hit of the day — a single up the middle. He came home on a Salmi double. First baseman Jorren Rosala in turned knocked him in a line drive to left to even the score.

However, the tie did not last long as Tervo’s Jenkins smacked his second triple of the day off the centerfield fence and came home on a wild pitch in their half of the fourth.

Peltier came right back, though, with two of their own in the fifth to take a 9-8 lead. Maki smacked a double and Charlie Bastien got his first hit of the day in the form of a hard hit ball just out of reach of the second baseman. They held Tervo to a three-up, three-down bottom of the fifth and took their winning momentum into the last inning.

Tervo’s pitching struggled as they gave up five walks and Peltier was able to score five runs on those walks and just one hit. It was the proverbial “one bad inning” that Tervo just could not get out of.

“That’s been our nemesis,” said Tervo manager Anders Hill. “We seem to get trapped in making a lot of errors for an inning or two. It has hurt us a couple of times this year.”

While Tervo did score two more runs in the bottom of the sixth, it was not enough to close the gap.

Despite the loss, Hill was pleased with his team’s effort.

“The kids played really well and hard,” he said. “We will get them the next time.”

With the win, Peltier improved to 1-3 on the season. Tervo dropped to 2-2.