NEGAUNEE — The Negaunee High School softball team kept the train rolling on Monday with a doubleheader sweep of Gwinn to clinch a share of the Mid-Peninsula Conference regular-season title.

The Miners improved to 19-7 on the season after 8-1 and 15-0 victories over the Modeltowners.

NHS head coach Randy Carlson said his team’s offense came alive in the second game after not getting hard contact in the opener.

“We were a bit sluggish the first game,” he said. “We didn’t have too many balls hit hard and weren’t getting contact. The second game was much better.”

In Game 1, the Modeltowners scored a run in the top of the first to to make it 1-0. Negaunee followed that up in the bottom half of the inning with three runs of their own and scored five more over the next three innings to break it open.

Junior pitcher Abby Nelson went the full seven innings and held Gwinn to just two hits. Nelson fanned 12 batters.

Freshman Katelyn Lammi and junior Payton Drew had two RBIs each for the Miners in Game 1. Senior Heidi Eden and junior Kimber Shelafoe each had a hit for Gwinn.

Game 2 didn’t take as long, as the Miners busted out the bats for 12 second-inning runs to pull ahead 14-0 after two.

Senior Malorie Munson took the mound for Negaunee going the distance and striking out five with no walks and just one hit allowed.

Senior Natalie Bartle had a home run for the Miners and 2 RBIs while juniors Hannah Voskuhl, MacKenzie Karki and Nelson each added RBIs. Audrey Morford had Gwinn’s hit.

Negaunee goes to Westwood at 4 p.m. today while Gwinn hosts Ishpeming at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

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Ishpeming 13-1, Kingsford 10-11

At Kingsford, visiting Ishpeming (9-9) pulled off a split with a 13-10 win in the opener before the bats went silent in an 11-1 defeat.

Hematites head coach Ben McGuire said strong defense and hard-hitting offense led to the Game 1 victory.

“We hit the ball well in the first game,” he said. “The second game we only had four hits and didn’t hit the ball hard. Defensively we were let down in the second game.”

Ishpeming scored six runs over the first two innings in Game 1 and eventually held a 12-1 lead. The Flivvers made things interesting in the bottom of the fifth, scoring eight times to pull within 12-9. Pitcher Emma Bleau held down the fort the rest of the way, however.

Bleau went the full seven innings in Game 1 and struck out 10 with eight walks. Bleau also went 2 for 3 at the plate with 4 RBIs, while Tia Mattila was 3 for 4 with 5 RBIs. Madison Pruett and Kayla Kaukola each had an RBI for the Hematites as well.

Kingsford pitcher Emily Curtis held the Hematites to just four hits in Game 2 and the Flivers raced out to a 7-0 lead after three. The Hematites added one in the fourth, but that was all the offense they had for the rest of the day.

Pruett had a double and a run scored in Game 2 while Curtis had two hits and two runs scored for Kingsford.

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Westwood 6-4, Iron Mountain 1-20

At National Mine, Westwood head coach Heather Salmi said she was pleased with her team’s defensive efforts in the doubleheader, a 6-1 opening victory and 20-4 setback in the nightcap.

“Defensively we played really well and I’m looking forward to seeing what this group of young ladies can do the rest of the season,” she said. “We were still in the game going into the seventh inning in Game 2 and Iron Mountain had a six-hit seventh to put it out of reach.”

Sophomore Karlie Patron took the mound for the Patriots in Game 1 and went the full seven innings, fanning five. Patron also added two hits and two RBIs, while freshman Ellie Miller clobbered a two-run home run to increase the Westwood lead.

Patron and junior Raija Stille each had two hits in Game 2 while sophomore Saadiqah Gardner, senior Liz Farley and Miller all added a hit apiece.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Writer Ryan Spitza. Email him at sports@miningjournal.net.