Coldwell Banker Craig Heinonen won their first Leo Durocher Memorial Tournament victory Sunday at Stanton Field. Coldwell Banker is Andrew Kinnunen, Trevor Halonen, Chase Kinnunen, Cody Turner, Carson Turner, Ross Kinnunen, Cam Anderson, Austin Kinnunen, and Carson L’Esperance. (Eddie O’Neill/For the Gazette)

STANTON — Coldwell Banker Craig Heinonen’s player-coach Ross Kinnunen summed up his team’s first Leo Durocher title best.

“I have been playing in this league (Twilight League) for over 10 years, and have been in the finals I think three times and never won,” he said. “This feels good.”

This high-scoring title game saw three lead changes before Coldwell Banker could put some distance between themselves and their opponents, and clinch a 12-10 victory over the Channing Railroaders.

After no one scored in the first, Coldwell Banker opened the second with a triple, courtesy of starting pitcher Carson Turner.

He crossed home a batter later on a long sacrifice fly to center. The lead however was short-lived as Channing countered with two runs. That two-run lead by Channing morphed into a 6-4 lead after three.

While Coldwell Banker added three tallies in the fourth, Channing stayed ahead with a two-run home run blast by Austin Kuivanan. Channing led 8-7 after four innings.

No one scored in the fifth, but Coldwell Banker went back on top with three in the sixth and blanked the Railroaders with good defense that same frame.

Trevor Halonen started things off in the sixth with a single. A walk to Chase Kinnunen put two RBIs out there for Cody Turner, and the tournament’s most valuable player followed through with a double. Coldwell Banker led 10-8 with three outs to go.

They added two more runs in the seventh. Walks issued by Channing’s pitcher proved to be deadly. Trevor Halonen and Austin Kinnunen both reached on four balls, and by the time the inning ended, it was now a four-run lead for Coldwell Banker (12-8).

Channing, however, was not going down easy. A walk to Elliot Dankoff and a hit-by-pitch to Keith Juidici put the Railroaders within two runs and just one out. To make it more interesting, an error in the outfield by Coldwell Banker, as well as a base hit and a walk, loaded the bases with one out. The winning run was a first. However a 6-4-3 was executed perfectly by Coldwell and the game was over.

While no one likes to lose, Channing’s player-coach Ken Pekarek was pleased with the way his team played.

“One of my guys said this was going to be a football score, and it was,” he said. “It was a great game. We battled back and came up a little bit short – that’s baseball.”

Road to the finals

Both semifinal games were close ones to start Sunday. Up first was Garnet Garage versus Channing. The Railroaders downed their opponents, 5-3.

“Elliot Dankoff was a horse on the mound for us,” said Pekarek. “He threw a hell of a game for us.”

Dankoff struck out eight Garnet Garage batters for the complete-game win.

“It was a back-and-forth battle for us,” added Pekarek. “We were down 1-0, but scored five in the third and that was all we needed.”

After Dankoff started that third frame with a lead-off hit by pitch, Pekarek brought him home on a double. He then scored on a single by Zach Sperne. Preston Hutchinson had an RBI hit as well and came home as the fifth run of the inning.

In similar fashion, Coldwell Banker just needed one big inning to clinch victory over Northern Driveline.

Their fourth inning put them in the lead at 4-1, and that is how the score sat for the remainder of their semifinal game.

Swinging big bats that inning and scoring runs were Carson Turner, Ross Kinnunenn and Carson L’Esperance.

“We played good baseball this weekend,” said Ross Kinnunen. “We pitched well and hit the ball well.”

MVP

Cody Turner was named the tournament’s MVP, and rightfully so, according to Ross Kinnunen.

“He threw well in that first game allowing just one run,” he said. “But beyond that, he had a home run on opening night for us and had numerous RBIs for us. He played great defense at short. He is very deserving of the honor. I am proud of him and all the boys for a good weekend of baseball.”

Up next

The Twilight League will took Tuesday off this week and will pick up again on Thursday with Coldwell Banker taking on Northern Driveline in Stanton. Garnet Garage hosts Houghton Building Supply/Stanton at the Bostwick Field at Houghton High School. Both games start at 6:30 p.m.

Coldwell Banker Craig Heinonen pitcher Carson Turner throws from the mound during the championship game of the Leo Durocher Tournament against Channing in Stanton Sunday. (Eddie O’Neill/For the Gazette)