Todd Rose | Daily Press Rapid River’s Natalie Belanger lines up a shot against Ispheming Monday in Rapid River.

RAPID RIVER — Warm weather and two wins (8-5, 13-5) over the Ishpeming Hematites made for a great night for the Rapid River Rockets to celebrate their senior players Monday in Rapid River.

As it was Rapid’s final home game of the season, it was Senior Night at the field.

Following the doubleheader, the team’s five seniors — Emily Goodacre, Natalie Belanger, Cecilia Pilon, Myah Pearson and McKenzi Schram — were presented with gifts and read letters from their underclassmen teammates.

“I think everybody’s going out here in pretty good spirits,” Rockets coach George Kanyuh said. “Once again, the parents got to cheer on their daughters and watch a couple well-played games.”

Kanyuh said the games were a team effort.

“In the big scheme of things, all the players contributed a little something to both wins,” he said. “We’ve had at times this year where it’s just four or five girls doing a lot of the work. Now, at this point in the season, they’re all starting to do a little something, which is really great to see.”

In the second game, Natalie Belanger had 14 strikeouts, walked one, gave up five hits and one earned run.

Compared to the first game — where she fanned eight with zero walks and allowed nine hits and one earned run — Belanger pitched a better game. Somehow, Kanyuh said, Belanger seems to get better from the first game to the second.

“I don’t know how she does it,” he said. “But this has happened now about a half a dozen times where she will come out, strike out more, throw faster and do a better job than she did in the first game.”

Belanger had four hits and four RBIs in the game. Pilon also had four hits — two of which were doubles — with three RBIs.

Pearson and Carrigan Flath each had two hits for two RBIs.

Ishpeming coach Ben McGuire noted that the Hematites batting has improved.

“We’re hitting the ball a lot better,” McGuire said. “We struggled with hitting, and today we brought our bats and hit the ball a lot better.”

He added that while their pitching is decent, defensively Ishpeming is struggling from lack of experience.

“Defense is what is killing us right now,” he said. “We’re really young. I’ve got six kids that have never played varsity ball before. And last year, we didn’t have a season, so all my juniors have really only played one year.

“We’re getting a lot better, and we’re making progress. Our goal is always to be playing the best at the end of the year with the districts. We’re getting there but still got a ways to go.”

McGuire noted the performances of freshman Payton Manninen, who pitched the first game and has been hitting the ball well.

Ishpeming plays against Gwinn for a makeup game today while the Rockets travel to Sault Ste. Marie Wednesday to play the Blue Devils.