Calumet shortstop Aksel Loukus dodges an inside pitch in front of Houghton catcher Nick Horning on Tuesday, April 27, 2021, in Houghton, Mich. (Eddie O’Neill/The Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — A cold, gloomy Tuesday afternoon did not deter fans from filling the bleachers at Houghton High School’s new baseball complex.

The new field had been more than two years in the making and the Gremlins did not disappoint in the home opener as they defeated the Copper Kings in a pair of 8-0 wins for a doubleheader sweep.

With the two wins, the Gremlins move to 2-1 on the season with their only loss coming last week at Kingsford.

“I’m proud to say that Kade Farrell was the first Houghton pitcher to record a shutout win here, and Dylan Primeau got the first hit,” said Houghton head coach Joe Romano.

In the first game, the Gremlins wasted no time in getting on the score board. They scored four runs on the first due to a rough start by Calumet starter’s Dean Loukus and errors in the field.

Tuesday was Calumet’s first time playing outside, and it showed. Copper Kings head coach David Yeo wasn’t all that disappointed with his team’s opening day performance.”

“There is a lot of work to do, but I was very happy with the pitching,” he said. “We had some situations where we had men on base but we just couldn’t score.”

The Gremlins would go on to score three more runs in the third and one more in the fourth before the game was called. Farrell notched two strike outs per inning for a total of eight.

The Copper Kings best chance to score was in the fourth inning when Tom Voelker and Carter Kilpeth had back-to-back singles but that’s as good as it got.

In the second game, the Copper Kings went with Brayden Cima on the mound. The Gremlins hurler was Dylan Horning. This game looked much like the first.

The Gremlins came out with a bang with Farrell starting things off with a single. That was followed by a Nick Horning RBI double, and Reid Heathman followed suit with a RBI double of his own. When all was said and done, the Gremlins had three runs on the board.

Farrell led off the second with another single and the Gremlins would go one to score two runs. In, the third inning, they notched three more due to walks and a base hit by Cam Kishke. The Copper Kings could only muster three hits in the four-inning match up and left five men on base.

“I give credit to Houghton,” Yeo said. “They hit the ball and put the ball in play.”