Hancock celebrates after defeating Lake Linden-Hubbell to win the MHSAA Division 4 District 97 championship on Friday, June 4, 2021, in Lake Linden, Mich. (Eddie O’Neill/The Daily Mining Gazette)

LAKE LINDEN — For the second consecutive season, the Hancock Bulldogs lifted the MHSSA Division 4 District 97 trophy high in the air as they defeated the Lake Linden-Hubbell Lakes 13-3 in just five innings on Friday at the Boneyard.

With the win, the Bulldogs to the MHSSA Region 25 regionals where they will face the winner of the weekend’s District 98 tournament.

The Lakes were the second team the Bulldogs mercied in the district tournament. The downed the Ironwood Devils 12-2 in the semifinal round earlier in the day. That game saw two over-the-fence home runs by Bulldog catcher Sophie Heinonen.

“Sophie was dialed in all day,” said Hancock head coach Randy Heinonen. “She hit those two bombs in the first game and kept hitting the ball hard in the final game. Everything she hit was hard, and she was able to find the gaps.”

Heinonen added that Sophie wasn’t the only key to a successful district tournament. In short, the Bulldog’ run to the title was a team effort.

“This was certainly the best ball we played all season,” he said.”It couldn’t have come at a better time.”

The Lakes earned their spot in the district finals with a 10-7 semifinal victory over the Gogebic Miners. That game included a six-run third inning for the Lakes. While Gogebic came back to tie it and take a 7-6 lead in the fourth, it didn’t last long. Lake Linden put the game away in the sixth with four additional runs.

“The bats came alive for us in that first game, and we played good defense,” said Lakes head coach Curtis Kinnunen.

The Lakes kept their bats going in the championship game as they jumped out to a 2-0 after two innings. They added one more in the top of the third, but the Bulldogs jumped on the board with three of their own in that inning to tie it at three.

Then in the fourth, the Bulldogs poured it on with a one-out seven-run rally. It was a combination of good hitting, good base running and taking advantage of poor play by the Lakes.

Elli Heinonen started the inning off with a single. Two batters later Kalli Chynoweth stroked a double to left center. Josie Hembroff followed with an RBI double of her own. A base on balls, a series fielding and throwing errors put three more runs on the board and Sophie Heinonen at the plate. She came through once again with a line-drive single up the middle. Ellie Heinonen was back up for the second time in the inning and had her second hit of the frame. Two strikeouts by the Lakes hurler Olivia Shank stopped the Bulldogs run.

“Olivia pitched very well and so did our first-game starter Kara Kinnunen,” said Kinnunen. “It’s nice to have two pitchers. But we have games in which have an inning or two where we have a bunch of errors and we get down on ourselves, and that is what happened today.”

Meanwhile the Bulldogs kept the momentum going and tagged on three more runs in the fifth to take the title.

Despite the loss, Kinnunen said it was a good year for him and his team.

“We won our conference and I thought despite that bad inning today, we played well today,” he said.