Northern Driveline ties Twilight series
Defeats Garnet Garage 13-7 to force tiebreaker Tuesday
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STANTON -- What a difference a game makes. In the opening game of the Twilight League Championship Series Tuesday, the best Northern Driveline could do was get a runner on third. Thursday, not only did they get a runner on third, they had 13 of them cross home plate in a 13-7 win over Garnet Garage.
The win tied the best-of-three series at one game a piece and set the stage for a third and deciding game this coming Tuesday.
Nine of their double-digit runs came in their first at bat.
All but one on the Northern Driveline nine hitters crossed home plate at least once in the opening frame as they went through the line-up and then some. It was a great way to start the game according to player-coach Alex Nordstrom.
"We hit the ball well, and the bats came alive," he stated. "It set the tone as it was timely hitting."
Timely hitting included six singles and two doubles before the third out of the first was made and it didn’t stop there.
In the second inning, Northern Driveline added four more. This included doubles by Oskar Loukus and Nordstrom and an RBI single by Darin Berg. After two innings, they led 13-3.
Garnet Garage avoided the 10-run mercy rule by scoring a fourth run in the top of the fifth. It came by way of an Eli Heathman triple and an RBI single by Mike Saari.
In their last at-bat, Garnet Garage added three more runs. This included Kevin Bostwick scoring after opening the seventh with a double. A Gaborik Carlson home run scored the final two.
Loukus earned the complete-game win for Northern. Chris Saari suffered the loss for Garnet Garage.
Both games in this title series have been won by 10 or more runs. Will Game Three be another offensive battle?
"Success breeds on success," said Nordstrom. "So let’s hope we are ready to go on Tuesday."
Up next
The final game of the 2026 Twilight season is set for Tuesday in Houghton. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.