Houghton sweeps Copper Kings in twinbill
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HOUGHTON -- The Houghton Gremlins sent the Calumet Copper Kings home early with a sweep on their home diamond Tuesday.
The Gremlins (10-0) won the opener 12-0 in four innings and the second game 15-3 also in four. In short, Houghton is playing very good baseball day in and day out. Just ask their coach
"We are on a roll," said head coach Joe Romano. "We have good all-around players who know the game of baseball."
Romano added that there isn't not a real weak spot in their lineup or in the field.
On the other hand, the Copper Kings struggled to put a complete inning together. In both games, the boys from Calumet had innings in which they gave their opponent six outs due to missed fly balls and errant to first.
"You cannot do that and expect to stay in the game," said Calumet head coach David Yeo. "We must make the plays and not give them chance after chance each inning."
In the first game, it was the third inning that was the 'disaster inning' for the Copper Kings. The Gremlins batted around the lineup and all nine men crossed home plate. Houghton third baseman Gaborik Carlson even scored twice. After posting two runs in the second that was all the Gremlins needed to take the win in the opener. Dylan Horning was on the mound and earned the win for the Gremlins.
In the second game, the Copper Kings had their best inning in the first where they scored their only three runs of the day. Carter Kilpela, Alex Ternowski and Len Kilpela all crossed home thanks to a two-hit four-walk inning given up by the Gremlins. After that, the Copper Kings went down in order for the remaining three innings due to the strong pitching of Jonah Horning.
The Copper Kings lead was short lived as the Gremlins posted a 12-run first inning. As they went through the lineup Kade Farrell, Reed Heathmen and Dylan Primeau all rattled the bats much to the delight of their coach. "These guys get up there to the plate and are looking to hit the ball," noted Romano. And when they do connect its hard, and that's what you need. Our top of the lineup makes things happen."
Yeo wishes his players had some of the same toughness at the plate on his bench.
"We have way too many guys who wait and watch strike three go them," he said. "We have plenty of good athletes on this team with very little baseball sense. It is something we are working on."
Game one
CHS 000 0 - 0
HHS 0210 x - 12
Game two
CHS 300 0 - 3
HHS 0120 x - 15