Coldwell Banker Craig Heinonen’s Cody Turner waits for a pitch during a game against Houghton Building Supply-Stanton Tuesday at the Hancock Driving Park. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

HANCOCK — Baseball can be a game of opportunities, or a game of inches. In a 2-1 game in favor of Coldwell Banker Craig Heinonen Tuesday, a close play at first base turned a one-run game into a four-run game, and Coldwell Banker held on from there to earn a 5-1 win over Houghton Building Supply-Stanton at the Hancock Driving Park in Twilight League play.

Despite Stanton starting pitcher Levi Frahm going 5 2/3 innings and striking out 13, Coldwell Banker did all of their damage in just two innings out of six, and that was enough to get the job done.

“Their pitcher pitched well,” said Coldwell Banker player-coach Ross Kinnunen. “I mean, he had, I think, 13 strikeouts they were saying, so a lot of strikeouts. But, we were opportune. We had a few opportune hits. So yes, that was good. That was probably the name of the game. That’s how we scraped together five runs.”

As good as the offense was, Ross Kinnunen also mentioned how effective his team was defensively as well.

“Andrew (Kinnunen), our pitcher, pitched really well, kept them off balance all game,” Ross Kinnunen said. “I think he had a handful of K’s too. So yeah, (we) played good defense, pitched well, and hit at opportune times.”

Frahm had not pitched since last season’s Leo Durocher Memorial Tournament, but Stanton player-coach Daron Durocher was happy with what he saw.

“(We had) good pitching,” he said. “Well, we walked a few, got in trouble, runs get scored when you put the leadoff guys on. I’m not sure if that was the case each time, but pretty sure it was when they got their few runs. Otherwise, Levi, for the first time pitching in about a year, that was pretty good.”

By the same token, Stanton could not find ways to help their pitcher out offensively. They only had five hits in the game off of Andrew Kinnunen.

“We couldn’t get the bats rolling,” said Daron Durocher. “Well, we had a couple opportunities, we ran ourselves out of a couple opportunities. One of them (was) bad luck, the other one just forgot the out count, and that happens in this league. So, it is what it is.”

Stanton actually earned the early lead in the game, just half an inning in. Joel Durocher led off with a walk. He stole second before Zach Geborkoff sacrificed to put him 90 feet from home. Two batters later, Frahm singled to right field to bring Durocher in and give his team the lead, 1-0.

Coldwell Banker found a way to get right back into the game in the bottom half of the first. Brogan Turner and Trevor Halonen both drew walks. A passed ball moved both of them into scoring position before Cody Turner singled to right field to bring both runners home.

From there, Frahm settled in. He struck out the side in the second, and got two out of three in the third before striking out three straight batters in the fourth.

The game remained 2-1 in favor of Coldwell Banker into the fifth before they found a way to get some insurance.

Brogan Turner led off with a single. Three batters later, Carson Turner bounced a ball down the first base line that ended up just out of reach of Stanton’s first baseman. As the ball rolled into right field, Brogan Turner rounded third and scored. Carson Turner got to second on the play. Cody Turner was then hit by a pitch. A passed ball allowed both runners to move into scoring position. Cam Anderson singled to center field, scoring both Carson and Cody Turner, and suddenly a 2-1 game became a 5-1 game.

In the top of the sixth, Stanton had one last look. With two out, Eli Luoma walked. Owen Dickman then singled to left field. A passed ball moved both runners into scoring position, but Bryce Hanner flew out to end the threat.

“It takes one break to happen, and then there you go, there’s the game,” said Daron Durocher. “Especially when we’re not crushing the ball, or the couple opportunities that I saw, we hit it right to somebody. There were a couple really good hit balls. They were just right at somebody, and they made the plays.”

Up next

Twilight League is off on Thursday for the holiday, but returns to action next Tuesday.

Houghton Building Supply pitcher Levi Frahm stretches to throw a pitch during the first inning of a game against Coldwell Banker Craig Heinonen Tuesday at the Hancock Driving Park. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)