Portage Lake pitcher Allie Mettlach prepares to deliver a pitch during a game of the Little League Minors District 11 softball tournament against Negaunee Sunday at the Houghton High School field. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — On Saturday, the Portage Lake Little League Minors softball team got contributions from seven of their nine hitters in a win over Marquette. On Sunday, all nine hitters were involved as Portage Lake defeated Negaunee in District 11 tournament play, 15-0.

In the second inning, all nine batters drew walks and scored in a 10-batter inning that saw Portage Lake turn a 4-0 advantage into a 13-0 lead.

“It’s a strong group of girls, for sure,” said Portage Lake manager Phil Pietila. “A lot of second-year girls, just a couple first-year girls on their whole roster. So, I like our group a lot. I think if they play the way they can play, we’ve got a pretty good team right now.”

Negaunee did not have an answer for how hard Portage Lake pitcher Allie Mettlach threw from the pitcher’s circle. She issued a walk to start the game, and that was one of just two baserunners Negaunee had in three innings. Their other was a single by Ayla Swanson in the second inning with one out.

“She pitched a gem today,” Phil Pietila said, when asked about Mettlach’s performance, “a lot of strikes. She throws a lot of strikes. She throws a hard ball, too. So, super happy to have her and Avery (Pietila) as pitchers. It’s going to help our group down the stretch.”

Between Mettlach and Avery Pietila, Portage Lake pitchers have given up just one hit in two games.

“Our pitchers have been working on the mental side of it,” said Phil Pietila. “It’s, as you know, a mental game too. When you have a bad pitch, you have a couple bad pitches. You get down 3-0 in a count, you have to battle back, and they play travel ball, so they’re used to the mental side, for sure.”

Where Mettlach thrived in the circle, Negaunee pitchers Eliana Fredrick and Kenley Laitala struggled with their control throughout the game, which led to the nine walks in the second inning, and a number of passed balls that led to runs.

Negaunee manager Matt Perry, while disappointed with the final score, felt that his team worked hard to battle through their mistakes. They also had to deal with the fact that their game against Baraga on Saturday was delayed on Saturday due to rain, and finished in the morning Sunday, hours before they had to face Portage Lake.

“The girls were all hyped up this morning,” he said. “I think the little lull in between the games (was) a little too much rest time. But, they did good. They played well. They had fun.”

As the walks mounted, he was more concerned with making sure his team continued to put the effort in, and he was happy with what they were able to accomplish despite the score.

“(It’s hard to) keep that energy up and just try to keep those kids focused,” he said. “They were doing everything they could. They had fun. (We) just try to keep the positive attitude with them.

“Once you get that down inside of your head, it’s hard to pop them back out of it. So, they did good. I’m proud of them. They just (have) little things we have to clean up.”

In the bottom of the first inning, Portage Lake got to work quickly. Avery Pietila drew a walk to lead off. She stole second and then got to third on a Mettlach sacrifice before scoring on a passed ball. Anna Hanson walked and stole second. A passed ball moved her to third before a Reagan Riley sacrifice brought her home. Miina Heinonen then walked and advanced to third on a pair of passed balls. McKinley Soli singled to right field to bring Heinonen home. Soli then advanced to second and later third on a pair of passed balls. One last one brought her home to make it 4-0 in favor of Portage Lake.

The score remained there until the second inning when Ivy Biekkola led off with a walk. She came around and scored on a trio of passed balls. Hadley Koski walked and she also later scored on a trio of passed balls. Avery Pietila walked and stole second before the play came to an end. She scored on a pair of passed balls. Mettlach walked and stole second before a pair of passed balls brought her home and gave Portage Lake an 8-0 lead.

In between those passed balls, Hanson walked. Three passed balls later, she scored. Riley walked, which ended Negaunee pitcher Eliana Fredrick’s day in the circle. Kenley Laitala came in to relieve her.

With Riley on the basepaths, Heinonen also walked. Both scored on the same passed ball with Soli at the plate. Soli walked and later scored on a passed ball to push Portage Lake’s lead to 12-0. Helminen walked and also scored on a passed ball before the final out was recorded.

As they came to the plate in the bottom of the third inning, Portage Lake could trigger a mercy rule win with two more runs scored.

Hanson singled to center field with one out. Riley then singled to short. Heinonen singled to left field, and Portage Lake had the bases loaded with Soli stepping to the plate. She dropped a fly ball down the first base line between the first baseman and the right fielder, and turned that into a bases-clearing triple. With Hanson and Riley both crossing the plate, Portage Lake reached the 15-run rule, which ended the game without Heinonen scoring.

Up next

Marquette and Negaunee met Monday evening to determine who will face Portage Lake Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. at the Houghton High School softball field.

Portage Lake left fielder Hadley Koski slides into home plate to score a run during the second inning of a Little League Minors District 11 softball tournament against Negaunee Sunday at the Houghton High School field.