Calumet pitcher Alex Tarnowski, right, chats with Copper Kings manager Dave Yeo during a pitching change in the sixth inning of an MHSAA Division 3 district tournament baseball game played against Negaunee at the Irontown Field in Negaunee on Tuesday. (Caden Sierra/Mining Journal (Marquette))

NEGAUNEE — The Negaunee High School baseball team accomplished several things with the Miners’ 5-2 win over Calumet at Irontown Field in Negaunee on Tuesday evening.

Most importantly was advancing through the opening round of the MHSAA Division 3 district tournament being hosted by Houghton.

Then as an extra prize was sending off the NHS eldest players in a good way on Senior Night.

“It felt good, because this is a district game especially, so playing (this) game, it’s a big spot, especially to win a game like that,” NHS senior Mason Banfield said.

Negaunee manager Jason Siik was pleased with the Miners’ performance, particularly after a long layoff due to several recent rainouts.

“I like how we played today,” he said. “We came in with a focus and we looked focused in warmups and we told the kids that we’ve got to play good clean baseball.

“We had a few errors here and there. But overall, I think we played well.”

The Miners scored most of their runs in the second inning with RBIs by Aiden Steele, Matthew Peters, Howard Johnson and Owen Cardinal.  

Steele earned the pitching win for Negaunee, allowing three hits and two unearned runs over seven innings as he struck out four and walked two. 

Alex Tarnowski took the loss for Calumet, giving up five runs on four hits over 5 2/3 innings, striking out six and walking three. Darin Berg also saw time on the mound for Calumet in the sixth inning. 

Johnson, Peters, Steele and Jack Siik each recorded a hit for the Miners, with Johnson, Cardinal, Peters and Steele driving in runs. 

“Overall I thought we played pretty good baseball, timely hitting and Aiden pitched really well today, which was huge for us,” Coach Siik said.

“We left too many guys on base again, especially with no outs,” Calumet head coach Dave Yeo said. “We weren’t getting the clutch hit when we needed it, but Negaunee is a good team — hats off to them.”

After the game, the Miners recognizing their seniors, with each of them receiving a goodie bag along with the opportunity to be joined by their families at the pitcher’s mound for photos.

“It feels great; we all worked together this offseason to try to win a district,” Negaunee senior Matthew Peters said. “We got one game in, but now we have two more left to win (the district).”

UP NEXT

The Miners travel to Houghton on Saturday for what they hope will be two more games. With Houghton and Hancock squaring off in the first semifinal game at 10 a.m., Negaunee faces Iron Mountain in the second semi listed on the MHSAA website as starting at 12:30 p.m. The district championship pits the two earlier winners at 3 p.m.