GWINN – There would be no hostages taken on July 21 when the Negaunee Oldtimers softball team pummeled the hometown Gwinn nine 20-0.

Negaunee used three innings to do all of their scoring, tallying six runs in the second and fifth innings and eight more in the sixth.

The victors collected 20 hits while winning pitcher Fred Allen picked up the shutout win, allowing just two hits. He walked four but had a stretch of retiring 11 consective batters.

In their first big rally in the second inning, Negaunee got a two-run single by Allen, an RBI double by Steve Parkkonen and run-scoring singles from Roland Koski, Reuven Romback and Mike “Tex” Nelson.

No other runs were scored until the fifth, when all 12 Negaunee batters made a plate appearance, highlighted by Fred VanLuven’s three-run homer over the left field fence. Koski added a two-run single and Romback an RBI hit with the score ballooning to 12-0.

Four errors combined with seven hits produced the last eight runs in the sixth. Nelson and Don Trudell had two-run singles while Andy Dellangelo and VanLuven added run-scoring hits.

Dellangelo, Romback and Nelson each finished with three hits, while Gerry Pirkola had a pair of doubles and Allen and Koski added two hits each.

Gwinn’s offense amounted to a Jim Ghiardi first-inning double and Martin Ghiardi single. Ghiardi, also the team’s manager, was playing in his 36th Oldtimers game at age 74. He played for Negaunee from 2004-07 before helping form the Gwinn team in 2008.

On the Gwinn pitching rubber, Martin Ghiardi started and pitched the first three innings while Dave Derwin followed in the fourth.

In a rivalry that dates to 2008, Negaunee leads the all-time series 6-4 with a return engagement scheduled for later this summer in Negaunee. Last year, the teams split with each team winning at the other’s field.

Negaunee also has a second game scheduled against Marquette on Saturday, Aug. 6, at the Marquette Township Lions Field after Negaunee won their initial meeting 19-3 on July 6 in Negaunee.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.