Houghton Building Supply-Stanton starting pitcher Levi Frahm delivers in the second inning of a game against Northern Driveline Thursday at Stanton Field. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

STANTON — For the briefest of moments, Northern Driveline had their batter on base and things looked good. Then, eight straight strikeouts later, they trailed 2-0 en route to a 3-0 loss to Houghton Building Supply-Stanton in a game that had playoff ramifications at Stanton Field.

Coming into the game, Stanton and Northern Driveline were tied with each other in terms of head-to-head play, but with the win Thursday, Stanton positioned themselves ahead, winning the tiebreaker between the two teams as playoffs loom.

“(This win was) important, if you’re looking for seating, and not going into a playdown, elimination game, it was important to get the tiebreaker, and, I guess, a half-game lead on them in a sense,” said Stanton player-coach Daron Durocher, “because we’re 5-5, they’re 5-6. It gave us the tiebreaker in the head-to-head series. So, if we can win one more, we’re guaranteed not to be in the play-in game, which is kind of what you want to avoid.”

Pitcher Levi Frahm went four innings on the mound for Stanton. He started off by walking center fielder Aksel Loukus. However, he followed that up with eight consecutive strikeouts before walking shortstop Brent Loukus and player-coach Evan Larson back to back with one out in the fourth and then racking up his ninth strikeout.

“(Levi) knows his limits,” said Daron Durocher. “He came in, said, ‘I’m done,’ and did I want it to be done? No, because he’s a really good pitcher, but he knew where he was. He knows his body, and he gave me what we needed to get the lead, and pulled it.

“He’s better than he knows, I think. I mean, maybe he does know it, but he’s very humble.”

In all, Northern Driveline had just one hit, three walks, a hit batsman, and one player reach on an error in the game. Player-coach Evan Larson’s squad has been shutout in each of their last two games.

“We had eight (strikeouts) in the beginning, and I think we closed the door with six in a row,” he said. “So yeah, hats off to their pitching. We didn’t capitalize at all. Fifteen strikeouts in a seven inning game, can’t expect to win too many games like that.

“We’ve got to wake up the bats. I think we haven’t scored in the last two games so, obviously, you’re not going to win any games playing like that.”

If there was a positive for Northern Driveline, it was the pitching of Joe Halonen. The youngster held Stanton to just five hits and two walks.

“That’s all you can ask from anyone, especially at his age,” said Larson. “We feel bad we didn’t give him any support, but that’s a heck of a game on the hill.

“He just, he starts ahead, stays ahead. Very rarely do you see him go through three-ball counts at all. So, the poise, he just stays locked in and does his thing. It’s great to see.”

With both starting pitchers proving hard to solve, the game rolled into the fourth inning at 0-0. Daron Durocher led off with a single to right field. A passed ball moved him to second. Third baseman Dax Durocher singled to left field, putting runners on the corners. Another passed ball allowed Daron to score and Dax to move to second. A balk pushed Dax to third base before another passed ball brought him him.

In the fifth, Stanton added one more run, this time more traditionally. Joel Durocher drew a walk, and stole second base before Frahm singled to left field. The hit gave Durocher time to score from second base and give his team a 3-0 lead.

Eli Luoma came in to relieve Frahm in the bottom of the fifth, and he finished with six strikeouts, including three straight in the bottom of the seventh to close out the game.

Up next

Northern Driveline has one game left, a matchup with REL Inc./Mohawk Technology Tuesday at Wolverine Field at 6:30 p.m.

Stanton is back in action Tuesday as well, but they will play a doubleheader against Coldwell Banker Craig Heinonen at Stanton Field, starting at 6 p.m.

Houghton Building Supply-Stanton starting pitcher Levi Frahm connects with a pitch during a game against Northern Driveline Thursday at Stanton Field. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

Northern Driveline pitcher Joe Halonen releases a pitch during the first inning of a game against Houghton Building Supply-Stanton Thursday at Stanton Field. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)