Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette Lake Linden-Hubbell’s Caleb Gregiore tries to track down a ball that came loose from his glove during a close play at the plate during a doubleheader against Ontonagon Thursday at Dollar Bay Field.

DOLLAR BAY — It was the battle of the “newbies” on the Dollar Bay baseball diamond Thursday afternoon as Ontonagon County and Lake Linden-Hubbell played each other. Both baseball programs are in their first season. Lake Linden proved to be the better team as they swept the Lumberjacks, 11-0 and 16-6. Both games ended early due to the mercy rule.

“It was the first baseball win for our school which is pretty awesome,” said Lakes manager Andy Crouch. “Our kids played very well. We hit the ball well, and we fielded the ball well. It was a big day for us.”

In the opening game, the Lakes got things started with two runs in the first inning. The runs came in mainly due to errors by the Lumberjacks.

They added eight more in the third off the Lumberjacks’ starting pitcher Brendan Polkky. Cole Gregoire got things started when he punched a double to the center-field fence. Pitcher Carter Crouch helped his own cause with a single, and left fielder Caleb Klein then followed suit with a base hit of his own. Second baseman Alex Mahrley then hit a line drive through the left side of the infield.

After three innings, the Lakes were leading 10-0.

Ontonagon had a hard time connecting with Lake Linden’s starter, Crouch, in the first game. In four innings, the right-hander allowed only two hits and struck out six and just one walk in a shutout. The Lumberjacks could not put any hits together and the game ended 11-0 after just four innings.

It was a different story, however, in the second game. In the third inning, the Lumberjacks overcame a 1-0 deficit and took a five-run lead. While outfielders Michael Nordang and Conner Negro both had hits, most of the squad’s six runs came on walks and then wild pitches.

But the hometown team was not going down easy as the Lakes put together a five-run rally against Ontonagon’s starter Ryan Driesenga and tied the game at 6-6 after three.

The Lakes continued their assault in the fourth by scoring a whopping 10 runs and ending the game at 16-6. Marcus Sutherland swung the hot bat for Lake Linden as he was 3-3 at the plate with five RBIs.

“Not only was it our second win,” said Crouch, “but our kids came back from behind to win that second game. That was exciting to see them compete in that way.”

While the Lumberjacks (0-8) have yet to win a game this year, not all was lost.

“It’s been a learning experience,” said manager Kaleb Priess. “However, I have seen a lot of improvements since that first game.”

He said the biggest learning curve that his boys have had to adapt to is the speed of the game and faster pitching. In the Ontonagon area’s summer league, the oldest kids are 16. Now in high school ball, he has 14-year olds facing 18-year olds.

“It is a change,” Priess said. “But we keep getting better with each game. Just look at the difference between Games One and Two today. We went from no runs to hitting doubles, a triple and scoring six runs in that second game.”

He added that his players tend to harder on themselves than the coaches.

“They get frustrated and down on themselves,” he said. “But they have the ability to improve. We started out a month or so ago, not knowing what we were getting into, but the kids have stuck with it and most importantly are having fun on the field.”