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Houghton baseball sweeps Calumet

Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette Houghton’s Cameron Cischke and Calumet’s Aksel Loukus watch a pitch from Calumet’s Brayden Cima come to the plate during the first game of a doubleheader Tuesday in Wolverine.

WOLVERINE — The Calumet Copper Kings baseball squad was looking for their first win of the season coming into this week, and they almost had it in the opening game of a doubleheader against the Houghton Gremlins Tuesday afternoon.

The Copper Kings raced out to a 7-1 lead after the opening inning, but the Gremlins chipped away until they fought back, earning a 16-11 victory in the end.

“We hit the ball well in that first one, but walks and errors later on killed us,” said Calumet manager David Yeo.

Junior Carter Kilpela opened the first reaching on an error. Senior Seth Coppo followed with an RBI double.

Senior Dean Loukus and sophomore Aksel Loukus also added RBI singles over the course of the inning.

Looking to grind their way back into the game, the Gremlins finally broke through with three runs of their own in the second to cut the Copper Kings’ advantage to 7-4.

Houghton continued to chip away, and they broke through with a seven-run fifth inning. Calumet did not do itself any favors by committing four errors – three of which came in the outfield. Copper Kings pitchers added to their difficulties by walking in two runs.

“We have to catch those routine fly balls,” said Yeo. “There is no way around that.”

The Copper Kings added three runs in the seventh, but by then it was too late.

Joe Romano, head coach of the Gremlins, was pleased with the play of juniors Reed Heathman and Dylan Primeau, both of whom found ways to get involved when the team needed them to.

“Both those guys are coming around and hitting the ball well,” Romano said.

Romano was also encouraged by the play of his young second baseman.

“I am really happy with the play of our second baseman Cam Cischke as well.”

The Gremlins hitters remained hot in the second game, as they cruised to a 21-3 victory to complete the sweep.

Cischke got the win for Houghton on the mound as he pitched four innings and helped his own cause with three hits and a number of RBIs. 

“What else can I ask from a sophomore,” said Romano. “He just had a great game.”

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