Coldwell Banker Craig Heinonen pitcher Andrew Kinnunen delivers a pitch during a game against Garnet Garage Tuesday at the John Bostwick Memorial Field in Houghton. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — When the final out was recorded, and he and his team had returned to their dugout at the John Bostwick Memorial Field Tuesday, Ross Kinnunen had a smile on his face that was well-earned. The player-coach of Coldwell Banker Craig Heinonen had just seen his team finally defeat the Twilight League’s top team, Garnet Garage, on their own turf, 5-1.

“Yeah, it feels good,” he said. “We actually beat them in the Leo (Durocher Memorial Tournament) too, but this is the first time in the regular season in a long time.”

Ross Kinnunen knew that Garnet Garage did not have their best lineup, while his team did, but a win is a win.

“They’re missing a few other guys,” he said. “They weren’t their full squad. We were just talking before the game. We rarely had our full squad for the year. So, tonight we had our regular squad, and it showed. We played good defense. We pitched really well, and we hit well. So, we did all three facets of the game pretty well.”

Garnet Garage player-coach Kevin Bostwick was quick to point out that it did not matter who was playing, his team needed to make things happen, and they did not.

“I think that’s the easy way out, right?” he asked “To say it’s the lineup, I think everyone can agree, you look at that game, we weren’t the better team. We didn’t play well in the field, a couple innings where we had runners and you only scratch one, or you can only string one hit together. The better team won the game, and unfortunately for us, this is kind of what the playoff team is going to look like. So, we have to figure it out pretty fast with this group.”

The good news for Garnet Garage is that they have one more tuneup on Thursday.

“I think you always want to go into playoffs playing your best baseball, and it’s nice to have one more tuneup, especially after how this one kind of turned out for us, and how we played,” said Bostwick. “So, one more audition before the big dance. Hopefully (we will have) a better result and then going to playoffs, (we’ll be) ready to roll.”

After being the team the last few games that jumped ahead with a big inning, Garnet Garage found themselves behind right away.

Right fielder Cam Anderson drew a walk from Garnet Garage pitcher Kade Farrell to lead off. Second baseman Trevor Halonen followed with a walk of his own. A passed ball moved both into scoring position before a double to the right field fence by catcher Eric Anderson put Coldwell Banker up 2-0 as Anderson and Halonen scored. Center fielder Carson Turner sacrificed to push Anderson into scoring position and he came home when shortstop Cody Turner reached on a defensive error.

From there, Coldwell Banker pitcher Andrew Kinnunen made life miserable for Garnet Garage from the rubber. He only struck out three, but he kept the Twilight League’s top team to just six hits over seven innings.

“He mixed it up well,” said Ross Kinnunen. “I mean, he was throwing a couple eephus pitches as we saw, and just tried to keep them off balance. They’re a great hitting team. They’re the best hitting team in the league. So just, you have to mix it up. You can’t just throw one or two, you have to mix it up. He did really well tonight.”

Coldwell Banker added to their lead in the third. Anderson led off with a single to center field. Two batters later, Cody Turner singled to right field. Left fielder Brogan Turner singled, and suddenly the bases were loaded with Andrew Kinnunen coming to the plate. He hit into a fielder’s choice, which scored Anderson.

Garnet Garage needed something to go their way, and it finally happened in the bottom of the fourth. With two out, shortstop Gaborik Carlson drew a walk. He stole second with second baseman Brandon Norkel at the plate. Norkel then singled to center field, giving Carlson time to get home from second.

The excitement of finally scoring was squelched in the top of the next inning as Carson Turner got on base thanks to a defensive error. He got to second before the play came to an end. A passed ball advanced him to third. Brogan Turner sacrificed to bring him home and close the door at that point.

Garnet Garage got a man on in the bottom of the fifth when Bostwick came up with a two-out single over third base, but a lineout ended the threat. Then, in the bottom of the seventh, left fielder Carter Crouch singled to third to lead off, but three straight fly outs ended the game.

For Coldwell Banker, the win felt like a big confidence boost with the playoffs next week.

“It feels really good, because it does give us confidence going into the playoffs,” Ross Kinnunen said. “If we have our full squad, we can play with anybody. They’re the best team in the league, and they’ve been for years. To be able to beat them feels good.”

Up next

Garnet Garage travels to face REL Inc./Mohawk Technology Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Wolverine Field.

Garnet Garage second baseman Brandon Norkel tracks down a fly ball during a game against Coldwell Banker Craig Heinonen Tuesday at the John Bostwick Memorial Field in Houghton. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)