Houghton’s Grace Brunet pitches against Ishpeming on Tuesday, May 25, 2021, in Houghton, Mich. (Adam Niemi/The Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — What a difference a day makes.

Ishpeming softball head coach Ben McGuire said his girls played their best defense of the season on Monday against Calumet.

But their strong defense was all for naught in being swept by the Copper Kings.

On Tuesday, the Hematites added another crucial element. McGuire’s squad not only displayed strong defense again but combined it with strong bats and earned an 11-9 win over the Houghton Gremlins in game one of a double header. The second game was canceled because of rain.

It was a back-and fourth battle the whole seven innings.

Houghton, who played the guest team in game one, took a 1-0 lead in the first, but Ishpeming came back to tie it at the end of two.

In the top of the third, Gremlins’ Clea Oilanketo came out swinging with a fly ball to left. She stole second and came home on a series on misplays by the Hematites. Two batters later Kenzie Ekdahl had an RBI single through the right side of the field which allowed Chloe Morley to score. Ekdahl would eventually come home on a number of errors by the Ishpeming infield.

“We started off rough there early on in the game, but we battled back,” McGuire said. “I was really happy with that. Often we have a bad inning and we get down on ourselves. We pack it in so to speak, but that didn’t happen tonight.”

Back-to-back singles and a double brought two runs in for the Hematites in their half of the third to close the gap to a 4-3 Gremlins lead.

They continued swinging big in the fourth where they tallied five runs off Gremlins’ pitcher Grace Brunet. This rally included a lead-off single by Abby Koski followed by a base hit up the middle by Jenna Maki. Emily Morton kept the rally going with an RBI single of her own. There was a walk and two more base hits and the Hematites took their first lead of the game at 8-6.

“I was very happy with that inning as the girls added runs one swing at a time,” said McGuire. “Olivia Corp who had a triple and two singles today was key as was the bat of Emily Morton.”

Houghton wasn’t giving up and came back to tie it in the top of the fifth and at 8-8 this battle headed into last two innings.

Houghton head coach Mel Baker said the Gremlins had their chances to take the lead but made errors on the base paths.

“We were too hesitant at times and not aggressive enough at others in terms of base running,” she said.

The Hematites put the nail in the coffin in the sixth where Corp started it off with a line drive to center. A few batters later, Maki came through again with a rocket double off the fence in left center. She would come home herself on some misplayed balls by the Gremlins.

The Hematites appropriately shut the Gremlins down in the top of the seventh with a dazzling 4-3-4 double play.

“That was a great way to end the game,” said McGuire. “This was a complete-game win.”