Pictured is the Houghton softball team. The team includes Clea Ollanketo, Delaney Salmi, Kiara Markham, Danielle Williston, Jada Guilbault, Lexi Burns, Mackenzie Collard, Aydra Williamson, Brynn Arko, Reagan Moyle, Jacey Sleeman, Fayah Zapolnik, Estella Soumis, Emmy Pietila, and Romi Mattson. The team is coached by Melissa Baker and Josie Connors. (Levi Erkkila/For the Gazette)

MARQUETTE — On Friday, March 29, four Copper Country softball teams made their way to Marquette for the annual Spring Swing Invite. The two-day tournament occurred on the Northern Michigan University’s Superior Dome turf. The Calumet Copper Kings, Hancock Bulldogs, Houghton Gremlins, and Lake Linden-Hubbell Lakes got invited to participate with 13 other teams from the U.P. and Wisconsin.

The Gremlins, Kings, and Lakes took the field four times over the 48 hours, while the Bulldogs played three times. The number of innings in each game varied due to a 75-minute time limit that decided the end of the contest.

The Gremlins went 2-1-1 on the weekend

The Houghton Gremlins took on Lake Linden-Hubbell in their first tournament game; however, the Gremlins ended up on the wrong side of a 4-3 score. All seven runs came in the first. Stella Soumis threw every pitch over the four-inning game, giving up four runs on three hits.

After a walk, Clea Ollanketo scored on a Mackenzie Collard two-run shot, which Brynn Arko followed with a hit and a run. Aydra Williamson was the only other Gremlins player to get a knock.

In their second game, Houghton blew out rival Calumet in four innings, 11-1. Reagan Moyle started on the mound, but after 1 1/3 innings, she left the game after getting hit with a ball off a Calumet bat. Moyle gave up zero runs and two hits before getting replaced by Roni Mattson, who completed the remaining 2 2/3 innings while giving up one hit and one run.

Five Gremlins had two hits: Ollanketo, Williamson, Fayah Zapolnik, Collard, and Arko. Soumis, Williston, and Emmy Pietila each had one hit. Arko homered and led the team with four RBIs.

Ollanketo cleared the bases and had two RBIs, Zapolnik added two, and Collard, Soumis, and Pietila each contributed one.

The Houghton bats were on display again during their opening match of Day Two, as the Black and Orange pounded Westwood 10-4. Mattson pitched the whole game and gave up the four Westwood runs on five hits. Zapolnik went 3-3, netting three RBIs and three runs. Ollanketo, Pietila, Mattson, Soumis, and Jada Guilbault each had two knocks, each had two knocks, while both Williamson and Danielle Williston had one. Pietila and Soumis drove in two, and Williston and Mattson had one RBI.

The final Gremlin game was a four-frame contest with Wittenberg-Birnamwood that ended in a 3-3 tie. Soumis got the ball and pitched the entire game, surrendering three runs on seven hits. Ollanketo hit a home run, Williamson stole home for a run, and Pietila drove Collard home on an RBI groundout. Collard produced two hits, with Zapolnik, Mattson, and Pietila adding one.

Houghton head coach Melissa Baker was happy with her team’s performance throughout the weekend.

“To start the weekend, we definitely had some nerves even with six seniors out there,” Baker said. “I believe the lights and the atmosphere in the dome caused the nerves, but after they shook off the rust, I was pretty happy with what I saw this weekend.

“I was especially happy with the last game, which was 3-3, and Wittenberg had the bases loaded with only one out, and we held them from scoring.”

Baker talked about the team’s ability to put up runs.

“Our strongest part right now is our bats,” she said. “Once one bat gets going, the rest seem to follow.

“I feel like we are strong on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. We’re pretty solid out in the field because we have some years of experience.”

After the way their season ended last year, the Gremlins and Baker have a specific goal for the year.

“We lost to Negaunee in the district championship game, which is in the back of our minds,” she said. “We really want to beat Negaunee, so that’s where we’re at for now. Negaunee is a very well-coached and tough team; that is what we are striving for.”