Lakes’ softball sails past Purple Hornets Monday

Lake Linden-Hubbell’s Becca Lyons (23) takes a lead off first behind L’Anse first baseman Danni Dantes during a game Monday at the Boneyard in Lake Linden. (Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette)

LAKE LINDEN — The Lake Linden-Hubbell Lakes softball team came out swinging on Monday afternoon at the Boneyard. They swung their way to a sweep of the L’Anse Purple Hornets with scores of 14-3 and 14-4.

“Our girls are eager to hit,” said Lakes coach Curtis Kinnunen. “We would rather hit than walk. It makes for a much more fun and interesting game. That’s what we preach.”

Of his squad’s 28 runs, Kinnunen added that he liked the 14 in the second game the best.

“We were down (4-2), and we came back to win by 10,” he said.

In that second game, the Purple Hornets and the Lakes (4-3)

both plated runs in the first frame. The Lakes the went ahead in the second courtesy of Marrisa Sullivan touching home on a Jovie Daniels RBI single.

However, their 2-1 lead was short-lived as the L’Anse nine regained the lead with three runs of their own in the top half of the third.

In that frame, second baseman Kiera Dakota reached first on an infield error. Shortstop Brooklyn Dompier then walked with four balls by Lakes’ starter Ashlyn Steves.

Now, with two on and just one out, up stepped third baseman Lola Cichosz. She proceeded to hit one deep that cleared the bases and put her on second with an RBI double.

She was the inning’s third run after Lindsey Biekkola brought her home on a single, making it a 4-2 game.

The Lakes inched closer with a run of their own in the bottom of the third to make it 4-3. That run came courtesy of catcher Olivia Shank, who tripled to open the inning.

Four runs were as good as it got for the Purple Hornets (0-6) off of Steves. Meanwhile, the Lakes knocked in five runs in the fourth for the lead, and six runs in the fifth for the 10-run mercy win after five innings. Payton Goldsworthy came in to relieve Steves and threw the fourth and fifth innings striking out five of the six batters she faced.

“Good pitching always helps,” said Kinnunen, “and we had that today in both games.”

If the Lakes’ bats came alive in the second, perhaps one reason for that is that they were dormant in the first game despite an 11-run win.

In short, L’Anse pitchers struggled to find the strike zone and walks equated to too many unearned runs.

Cichosz walked six in the first inning, and that equaled five Lakes runs. She was relieved in the second by Jadlynn Goyen, who did the same. She walked six, and the Lakes added five more runs. Add two more in the third, and it was a 12-0 Lake Linden lead.

However, the Purple Hornets avoided the shutout courtesy of strong base hitting in their part of the third.

Goyen helped her own cause with a lead off double. She cruised home with ease on a Keira Dakota triple. Dakota then scored on a Dompier single to make it 12-3.

More walks, however, issued by the Purple Hornets in the fourth led to two more runs and an 11-run lead and eventual victory.

Shank started the first game and earned the victory from the circle allowing just three runs in five innings.

Despite the lop-sided losses, L’Anse coach Tara Kurtycz is pleased with the growth made by her girls.

“Honestly, the progression from our first game to now is huge,” she said. “I am proud of what we put up.”

In particular, she was pleased with the effort put in for the second game.

“We did a much better job of gelling as a team. Our communication is something we are working on,” she said. “This team has a lot of potential.”

UP NEXT

The Lakes will play on Friday against Gogebic at home at the Boneyard. On the same day, the Purple Hornets will welcome Ironwood to their field.