Bulldogs baseball takes two from Gremlins

Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette
Hancock’s Benny Keranen pitches during the second game of a doubleheader against the Houghton Gremlins on Friday in Houghton.

HOUGHTON — Strong pitching and aggressive bats made for a winning combination on Friday for the Hancock Bulldogs. They swept their cross-town rivals, the Houghton Gremlins, with a 6-0 shutout and a 9-4 victory while at the Houghton diamond. The Bulldogs only lost once out of four games against the Gremlins this season.

The first game shutout came courtesy of Bulldogs’ pitcher Bryce Hanner. He went the distance allowing just one hit, striking out six and walking three.

“Bryce pitched a gem,” said his coach Travis Pietila. “He threw strikes, and that is what we need.”

Pietila added that to score twice in the opening frame was helpful as well.

“We usually struggle in the first inning but that did not happened today,” he stated.

The Bulldogs struck again with one run in the fourth and three more in the fifth off of Gremlin hurler Logan Niemi.

Swinging big bats in the second and third slots of the Bulldogs lineup were shortstop Benny Keranen and Ned Larson. Both were 3-4 at the plate. Their combined six hits were half of the team’s 12 in the opening game.

“We come to swing the bat,” said Pietila. “When you put the ball in play, good things happen.”

Good things continued to happen at the plate and the mound in the Bulldogs’ 14-9 win in the second game. They jumped out to a 8-3 lead after the first frame. The Bulldogs took advantage of errant pitching from Eli Hainualt who walked in three runs before getting the second out of the game. He was replaced by Hudson Markham who pitched two innings and Joel Durocher ended the game and took the loss.

While the Gremlins scored three runs in the bottom of the first, their best inning was the fourth where they scored six. Big bats came from Brycyn Nettell, Latham Salmi and Eli Heathman. However, despite 11-9 on the scoreboard, the Gremlins could not catch the Bulldogs as they went on to score three more runs before this one was over.

Keranen earned the win for the Bulldogs as he pitched a complete game striking out 12 and walking six.

“Too many mistakes,” said a frustrated coach Kevin Bostwick of Houghton. “We are looking at too many strike threes and making critical errors in the field and on the base paths. Hancock is a good team and when you make errors and don’t play your top game, they make you pay, and that’s what happened today.”

Up Next

The Bulldogs will welcome Ironwood to the Driving Park this afternoon for a doubleheader. Meanwhile the Gremlins will travel to Iron Mountain to face the Mountaineers this afternoon at 4 p.m.