Negaunee’s MacKenzie Karki scampers off first base during a high school softball doubleheader played against Houghton in Hancock on Monday. (Houghton Daily Mining Gazette photo by Jamie Glenn)

HANCOCK — The visiting Negaunee Miners topped Houghton 8-1 and 14-2 in a high school softball doubleheader played at the Hancock Driving Park on Monday.

The Gremlins had a more cohesive opening game, but errors in the bottom of the fifth inning caught up to the hosts.

“Overall, Negaunee is a pretty good team,” Gremlins manager Melissa Baker said. “The first game, we were in it, (but) we had two bad innings. Take away our errors and we were right with them.”

The Gremlins’ Quinn Donnelly hit a ground ball to short bringing Cassidy Becia home for a short-lived 1-0 lead in the first half-inning of the game.

The Miners’ MacKenzie Karki took advantage of an error by Houghton’s Abby Ronis and tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the first. Mykenna Kontio then hit a ground ball to first, bringing Abby Nelson home for a 2-1 Negaunee lead.

“I thought the first game we started off kind of slow,” Miners manager Randy Carlson said. “We weren’t hitting a lot of balls (very) hard. Josie (Connors) pitched a good game for them. Even the hits we were getting were not hard hits.”

Miners pitcher Skylar Hall had 22 first-pitch strikes and 13 strikeouts in the game. Katelyn Lammi, Hannah Voskuhl, Kontio, Jess Heroux and Payton Drew all touched home plate before the end of the game, having adjusted to the strike zone early in the matchup.

“The strike zone was something that both teams had to adjust to,” Carlson said. “I thought the umpire called a lot of high strikes, but he was consistent with both teams, so that forced a lot of adjustment, too. We usually talk to our girls about laying off things above their hands (so) it makes (players) adjust a little bit.”

Game 2 came to an end in five innings with Negaunee starting right away in the top of the first. Voskuhl made contact allowing Karki to score the first of three runs in the contest.

Drew, Cassidy Orr and Shaylee Menhennick all brought in runs in the top of the second, while in the third, Voskuhl and Lammi hit back-to-back homers for a 7-0 Miners lead.

“I was much happier the second game because we hit a lot of balls hard (and had) a very good performance,” Carlson said. “We have six games left. We’re working for districts. Ultimately that’s what it comes down to so we’re just trying to get better.

“Our pitching has been petty solid all year. Hitting has been the one thing that has been a little bit inconsistent so … it’s something that comes. You’ve got to score runs to win.”

Houghton’s Molly Bugni and Connors both scored in the bottom of the third, but it was too little too late.

“In the second game they just pounded the ball,” Baker said. “There wasn’t much that we could do about it. Josie (Connors) did a good job pitching. There were times that we got it together in the second game, but it just wasn’t enough.

“We are going to take lots of reps and just get more situations down.”

Kontio and Lammi both scored two more runs in the top of the fourth inning to push the Miners’ advantage to 11-2. Morgan Carlson and Voskuhl hit homers to close out the scoring.