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Tough losses: L’Anse drops two games to Iron Mountain Thursday

Jamie Glenn/Daily Mining Gazette L’Anse’s Kailyn Voskuhl waits for a pitch during a game against Iron Mountain as part of a doubleheader Thursday in L’Anse.

L’ANSE — Despite getting off to a strong start on a chilly Thursday evening, the L’Anse Purple Hornets softball team dropped both games of a doubleheader to the visiting Iron Mountain Mountaineers, who have are playing their first season in the WestPAC. The Purple Hornets came out hot early, but could not find a way to turn those hits into runs, falling in a 10-0 mercy in the opener and 13-5 in the nightcap.

In the first inning, the Purple Hornets had bases loaded but were unable to convert when they had their chances.

“In that first inning, we kind of got on the ball but we weren’t able to put any runs over the plate,” said Purple Hornets assistant coach Jessica Rossi. “Then we fell into some errors on defense and got behind. Then we weren’t really able to get on base after that point.”

Faster play in the outfield and stolen bases got to the Purple Hornets pitcher, Josie Rice, who gave up nine runs on seven hits. Kailyn Voskuhl took over to close out the first game, which she did well, giving up just one walk and one run, but it was too little too late for the hosts.

“We were just trying to get them a little bit off because they were hitting the ball well,” said  Rossi. “We were hoping to change up the speed there because they both have different pitches and pitch styles. We were just trying to get out of the inning, to try and give us a chance to come back in that game.”

It did not help that two of the three baserunners in the first inning were on base on two of the three hits L’Anse had in the opener. Their third and final hit came from their second to last at bat.

While the second game ended in favor of the visiting Mountaineers, 13-5, the Purple Hornets made some adjustments in the lineup including some substitutions and three pitching changes. The moves allowed the hosts to come away with a more cohesive game.

Kailyn Voskuhl walked and later hit home plate after a sacrifice fly by Haley Nankervis.

Claire Mongrain was hard to beat on the mound for Iron Mountain. The Mountaineers also saw success at the plate, hitting almost every pitch in the opening innings.

“In the second game, Claire Mongrain, the pitcher, was hot,” said Mountaineers manager Dean Lefebvre. “She was pitching real good. She got a little bit tired there in the seventh inning, but I think she ended up with around 165 pitches between the two games and she (had) a real strong performance today.”

After struggling to put much together offensively in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings, the Purple Hornets finally got things going in the sixth.

Summer Dudo reached on a fielder’s choice. Voskuhl and Maija Rice both doubled. All three reached home plate, with Dudo scoring on Voskuhl’s hit, Voskuhl scoring on Rice’s, and Rice scoring while Nankervis, who walked, reached second on an error.

“We made some errors and that kind of plagues you all season long, so we’re trying to cut down on our errors and improve,” said Lefebvre.

Iron Mountain will face three conference opponents next week, including Houghton and Calumet.

“We’ve got Houghton and Calumet,” said Lefebvre. “We’re in the WestPac now, so (we’re) there next week. We have three games next week with all (of them) WestPac opponents, so hopefully we can have a good week next week and get six conference wins. This is the first time we’ve played L’Anse. It’s a beautiful facility and we’re glad (that) we came up (to play).”

L’Anse coaches Janet Rossi and Doug Mills were happy to see their dugout pull together and are looking forward to three doubleheaders next week, the first against the Jeffers Jets.

“The second game we’re happy that we went (for) a full seven innings,” said Janet Rossi. “We only went four (in) the first game so, pitching was pretty good the second game.”

“We were able to pitch all three pitchers, which was important,” said Mills “We got them in the game (and) everybody played. We (had) a couple timely hits to keep playing. They (Iron Mountain) is a little bit ahead of us, (but) we knew that coming in. They start earlier and their pitcher was strong. She seemed to gain momentum as she worked through the second game.”

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