REL Inc.-Mohawk Technology poses with the Copper Country Twilight League plaque after defeating Craig Heinonen Coldwell Banker 7-3 in the championship game on Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021, in Stanton, Mich. (Adam Niemi/The Daily Mining Gazette)

STANTON — If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

And then again, and again, and again, and once more.

That’s what REL Inc.-Mohawk Technology did to win its first Copper Country Twilight League championship on Sunday in a 7-3 win against Craig Heinonen Coldwell Banker.

REL Inc.-MT’s championship came in its fifth season since joining the league, finally getting over the hump after falling in the championship game the previous two seasons.

“It takes a few years in this league,” said REL Inc.-MT player-manager Tyler Loukus. “Defensively, can’t make dumb errors, dumb plays, and just gotta come around and hit the ball.

Good season overall. Everyone came and hit the ball. We didn’t have many errors in the field, which that’ll kill you in this league.”

Coldwell Banker took a 3-0 lead against REL Inc.-MT early on in the championship.

Then, REL Inc.-MT came to life with a four-run fourth to take its first lead. It added three insurance runs in the fifth for a 7-3 lead.

Coldwell Banker, which had rallied late for a 6-5 win against Garnet Garage in the semifinals, was all out of late rally heroics. REL Inc.-MT set down Coldwell Banker in order in the sixth. Coldwell Banker got a leadoff single from Eric Anderson in the seventh, and he stole second. But he was stranded there after Owen Kariniemi struck out and both Andrew Kinnunen and Brady Turner each grounded out to pitcher Grant Johnson to end the game.

Johnson threw a complete game for REL Inc.-MT, giving up three runs on three hits with four strikeouts and three walks.

REL Inc.-MT’s fourth inning runs came with one out. Travis Pietila singled, Brent Loukus followed with a double to score Pietila. Rory Anderson walked, then Brian Halonen doubled to score Loukus. Alex Nordstrom doubled to score Anderson and Halonen. A groundout and fly out ended the inning with Nordstrom stranded at third.

Coldwell Banker got off to a fast start in the first inning with a two-run home run by Luke Paul. The team added a run in the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Kariniemi to score Scott Wesa.

Paul started on the mound for Coldwell Banker and was relieved by Brady Turner. The duo combined to give up seven runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and eight walks.

“It was a fun day of baseball. Fun to get a come-from-behind win in the first game to make it to the championship,” said Craig Heinonen Coldwell Banker player-manager Ross Kinnunen. “Then, we just kind of fell apart a little bit there in the championship game. They had a few innings — four runs in one, three in another — and we just couldn’t seem to get ahead. Top to bottom, they have good hitters. It wasn’t like we kicked the ball around, we just couldn’t quite put them away. Those seven runs were tough for us as a team. Our whole order wasn’t as good as it’s been all year.”

REL Inc.-MT reached the league championship after a 10-0 win against Houghton Building Supply-Stanton in the first semifinal.

Coldwell Banker reached the championship with a late rally for a 7-6 win against Garnet Garage in the other semifinal. Kinnunen said that before the seventh inning began, Scott Wesa joked he’d get the go-ahead hit after Carson Turner ties it.

Then, Carson hit a two-run double to tie it. Wesa stepped up to the plate and walked it off with an RBI single.

“It was funny. Scott Wesa was talking about in the dugout, he said ‘I’m gonna come up to bat’ in this inning after Carson ties it and I’ll get a hit to win it for us.’ Then we were kind of joking, then Carson hit it well,” Kinnunen said. “We came in confident. We just knew we had to do it and glad it worked out for us that inning, so it was awesome.”

HBS-Stanton’s hopes for defending last season’s Twilight championship looked good after three shutout innings against REL Inc.-MT, until the bats came to life. REL Inc.-MT scored two in the fourth, and four each in the fifth and sixth to advance.

REL Inc.-MT being in the championship game was no surprise. The team was atop the league standings throughout the season, with consistent offense and enough pitching to cover innings.

In an adult league in which pitchers are sometimes picked by finding someone whose arm is the least sore, REL Inc.-MT’s starters were effective to the extent that Loukus had another arm ready to go that he didn’t end up needing.

“We had two good games from our pitchers,” Loukus said. “Alan Jurmu went against Stanton and he went the full game. Grant Johnson just went the full game. We had one more but we didn’t even bring him in. It actually made my job easier, it was nice. They pitched a hell of a game, both guys.”

Coldwell Banker 200 100 0 — 3 3 2

REL Inc.-MT 000 430 x — 7 8 3