Lake Linden-Hubbell’s Olivia Shanks hits against Calumet at the Boneyard on Monday, May 9, 2022, in Lake Linden, Mich. (Eddie O’Neill/The Daily Mining Gazette)

LAKE LINDEN — Most high school softball games seen to have that one big inning where enough runs come in to seal a win.

On Monday, at the Boneyard that frame was the bottom of the third. It was then that the Lake Linden-Hubbell Lakes (7-2 ) plated six runs and an 8-5 lead which led to a 10-7 victory over the visiting Calumet Copper Kings JV squad.

Headed into that half-inning, the Copper Kings led 5-2. Calumet had already had their big inning. It was the second where they tallied four runs. Two of those runs came in on a Lena Myhren triple. But they didn’t stop the Lakes’ bats in the next inning.

“Our batting came around and heads up base running was key to our runs in the third,” said Lakes’ head coach Curtis Kinnunen. “As well, we made some big plays in the field throughout the game.”

Starting the Lakes’ six-run rally was Sydney Suhonen with a double. Brooke Banfield followed suit with a double of her own two batters later. Then, starting pitcher Olivia Shank helped her own cause with a double before the third out was made.

After crossing home plate, Shank marched out to the circle and threw another two scoreless innings. She and reliever Emily Jokela had a combined 15 strikeouts on the evening including two innings where they struck out the side. As well, Jokela greeted Calumet’s starter Myhren with an over-the-fence home run to deep center field in the top of the first.

“She is hitting the ball really well this season and there was proof and point,” added her coach.

While the Copper Kings’ Audrey Erkkila would get a base hit and score in the sixth, and Dana Berg would do the same in the seventh, it would not be enough to catch the Lakes.

Despite the loss, Calumet head coach Rosalee Kangas was not disappointed. In particular, she liked what she saw at the plate.

“Our girls hit the ball really well,” she said. “We’ve come a long way from when we first began in the gym. We left too many on base in the end, but we are at least getting base runners and that’s what is important. Timely hitting was the difference in the ballgame.”

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