Houghton right fielder Kenzie Collard (8) crosses home plate during the first game of a doubleheader against Negaunee Monday at Houghton High School Field. Also pictured is Houghton pitcher Stella Soumis. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — Heading into a doubleheader Monday afternoon at Houghton High School, the Gremlins and the Negaunee Miners were two teams coming in with a lot of momentum as both teams had been playing good softball of late. As one might expect, the two teams split, with the Gremlins winning the conference matchup, 17-11, before the Miners held on to win the nightcap, 6-5.

Houghton committed seven errors over the course of the opening game, and yet, the Miners could not take advantage of nine hits and a walk.

“First game, that was a high scoring game,” said Gremlins coach Mel Baker. “Lots of errors on both sides. There were a lot of nerves involved, since both teams knew what was at stake with the conference. It was actually kind of an ugly first game, but we gritted through it and figured out how to win again.”

While Baker was all smiles about coming away with the win, Miners coach Randy Carlson was not as pleased.

“We were playing well coming in here today, and I was hoping that this was going to be kind of a week to build up for districts, and (I am) just disappointed overall,” he said. “The first game, (we) put 13 runners on with either walks or 11 walks and two hit by pitch. You just can’t do it. It’s just 17 runs. We haven’t given up 17 in a doubleheader, usually. It’s just frustrating.

“The weather wasn’t ideal, but that’s no excuse.”

For the Gremlins, falling behind early in the opener and then battling back to get the win was a lot like how they dealt last Thursday with the Hancock Bulldogs in a game that saw them struggle in the first inning and the battle their way back.

“It doesn’t really matter where we’re at in the lineup,” she said. “It can be any one of them to start it off, and then they just kind of feed off of each other. It’s really nice to see that it doesn’t have to be one person to start off the rally.”

Carlson was pleased with how his team performed offensively, but not so much with how it played defensively.

“For the most part, we hit the ball pretty well,” he said. “You score 11 runs, you should win games. That’s the thing, I’m not going to say anything about our offense. I think our offense did their job. We just gave up too many free bases.”

The Miners struck twice in the top of the first inning of the opener. Delaney Gladwell singled to left to lead off. Two batters later, Kallen Schultz grounded out, but Gladwell had already scored on a passed ball. Cassie Feys then reached on an error. Miya Fredrickson then singled to right field. Rheana Nelson made it to first on a dropped third strike and the bases were loaded for Alyssa Borlace, who immediately drew a walk, which scored Feys.

Houghton responded quickly. Center fielder Romi Mattson doubled to left field with one out. Right fielder Kenzie Collard then singled to center field, scoring Mattson. Collard scored on an error with pitcher Stella Soumis at the plate. Soumis then drew a walk. Shortstop Kia Markham reached on an error. Josie Switzer was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. First baseman Reagan Moyle singled, scoring Soumis and Markham, and the Gremlins led 4-2.

The Miners evened things at 4-4 in the top of the second.

The game remained there until the bottom of third when Houghton’s offense exploded. With Switzer at third and Moyle on second, left fielder Emmy Pietila drew a walk to load the bases. Two batters later, Mattson walked, scoring Switzer. Collard then hit a base-clearing triple to right field and the Gremlins led 8-4. They tacked on one more run when Collard scored on a passed ball.

Negaunee had a big inning of their own in the fourth. Gladwell singled to lead off. Megan Marker tripled to center, scoring Gladwell. Schultz then grounded out, but Marker scored. Feys reached on an error. Fredrickson reached on an error, scoring Feys. Nelson then reached on an error, but Fredrickson had already scored on a passed ball. Borlace then grounded out, but Nelson still scored, evening the game at 9-9.

Houghton responded quickly. Markham led off the bottom half of the inning with a single to left. Switzer walked. Moyle got hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Catcher Lexi Burns hit into a fielder’s choice, and reached first, with Markham scoring on the play. Pietila then reached on an error, scoring Switzer. Second baseman Ellie Hainault grounded into a fielder’s choice, but as she reached first, Moyle scored to make it 12-9 Gremlins.

Theresa Anderson led off the top of the fifth by reaching on an error. Gladwell followed with a single. Two batters later, Anderson and Gladwell both scored on an error and suddenly it was a 12-11 game.

Soumis led off the bottom half of the fifth with a walk. Markham reached on an error, but Soumis was tagged heading for second. Switzer then walked. Two batters later, Burns walked. Markham scored on a passed ball before Pietila walked. Hainault then singled to center, scoring Switzer and Burns. Mattson then reached on an error. Collard hit a line drive to center, scoring Pietila and the Gremlins led 16-11.

They added one more run in the sixth to seal the win.

Soumis went six innings to earn the win in the pitcher’s circle. She struck out one, walked one, and gave up nine hits.

In the nightcap, Gladwell led off by getting hit by a pitch from Mattson. Two batters later, Fredrickson singled. Feys then singled to center field, scoring Gladwell.

Houghton answered in the bottom of the first. Mattson singled to second. Collard then singled to center. Soumis hit into a fielder’s choice, and reached. Markham then singled to left, scoring Collard.

The game remained 1-1 into the third. Anderson walked to lead off. Gladwell followed with a double to right field. Marker lined out, but Anderson scored. Fredrickson then grounded out, but Gladwell scored and Negaunee led 3-1 at that point.

In the fifth, the Miners dug up another run. Anderson singled to left field. Three batters later, she scored on a wild pitch.

Houghton responded quickly with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Hainault drilled a ball to right field and scored an inside-the-park home run on the play with one out. Mattson then doubled to left field. Collard singled to center to bring Mattson home and cut the lead down to one, 4-3.

The Gremlins then tied things at 4-4 in the sixth. Markham singled past second base. Three batters later, she stole home.

Looking to get back into the lead, the Miners got to work in the seventh. Ainsley Brunette was hit by a pitch to lead off. Three batters later, Marker tripled to right field, scoring Brunette. Alyse Robar was hit by a pitch. She scored on a defensive error with Feys at the plate, putting Negaunee up 6-4.

Houghton had a chance to even things up. Hainault led off with a single to right field. Two batters later, Collard singled, advancing Hainault to third and giving the Gremlins runners on the corners. Hainault stole home with Soumis at the plate. Markham sacrificed to put both runners into scoring position. However, Switzer lined out to end the threat and the game.