Calumet’s Taylor Vertin pitches against Ishpeming on Monday, May 24, 2021, in Calumet, Mich. (Eddie O’Neill/The Daily Mining Gazette)

CALUMET — Joel Rastello, head coach of the Copper Kings softball team, has a mantra for his team this season.

It goes something like this: “When Elli (Djerf) is on the mound,” he said, “we win games.”

That proved true again on Monday as the Copper Kings swept the visiting Ishpeming Hematites 7-3 and 10-1 in a West PAC doubleheader. Djerf threw a complete game with no walks and six strikeouts. She struck out the side in the fourth inning.

” I told the girls that this is one of the most spirited teams that I’ve ever coached,” added Rastello. “They are loud and positive, and that helps on the field. They do not get, down and they lift each other up.”

Calumet eased to a 10-1 win in the second game.

Djerf helped her own cause in the bottom of the first as she led off with a walk and stole second. Jenna Loukus followed suit with a walk. That put hard-hitting Laura Giachino at the plate with two runs out there, and she came through with a line drive over the shortstop which allowed both runners to score.

The Copper Kings kept the bats hot in the second with second baseman Kate Newman kicking things off with a double. Two batters later Djerf swung for the fences and landed on third with a triple. After two innings, the Copper Kings led 5-0.

“We hit the ball well there in the early innings and that was not an easy task as (Ishpeming) played very good defense,” Rastello said.

Hematites head coach Ben McGuire agreed on his team’s strong defense.

“This was the best defensive game we’ve had all year,” he said. ” We are a young team but we fielded the ball well, and I was happy with that.”

While the Hematites, would finally get on the scoreboard twice in the sixth and added another run in the seventh, it wouldn’t be enough to catch the Copper Kings.

In the second game, the Copper Kings kept their bats rolling. Giachino was the star of the game as she hit a three-run home run over the left-field fence. Taylor Vertin earned the win on the mound.