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BARK RIVER -- The seventh inning was unkind to the Bark River-Harris Broncos on Parents' Night here Tuesday as they dropped 15-4 and 11-5 softball decisions to the Ishpeming Hematites.
Errors also didn't help their cause as Ishpeming pounced on five miscues while scoring nine times in the final frame of the opener.
Ishpeming led 7-5 after six innings of the second game before completing the sweep with four runs in the seventh.
"We're really young," said Ishpeming coach Ben McGuire. "Although, we started hitting the ball in the past couple weeks, and tonight, we got some timely hits. The girls are starting to believe in themselves a little. This is a momentum builder for the tournaments for sure."
Ishpeming (6-15) meets Munising in its Division 4 district opener Friday at 11 a.m. at Superior Central. The Cougars host Gwinn at 1. The championship game takes place at 3:30.
The Broncos (12-24) host Norway Friday at 2, with the winner facing Rapid River at 5.
"We try to preach throwing strikes, making routine plays and hitting the fastball," said BR-H coach Rob Arndt. "Tonight, we made too many errors. They're a well-coached team, and their team made some good plays. Everything is about confidence. We tell the girls other teams are also supposed to make plays."
BR-H committed 11 errors in the twinbill, including seven in the first game
With the opener tied at four in the sixth, the Hematites cashed in on a pair of miscues and took a 6-4 going into the seventh.
In the nightcap, the Hematites capitalized on an error, a walk, a hit batter, freshman Payton Manninen's two-run single to right-centerfield and Olivia Corp's RBi single to left in the seventh.
The contest was tied at 1-1 after two innings.
Ishpeming took a 2-1 lead on Manninen's single to center in the third. Corp's single along the rightfield line made it 4-1. Maddy McNab's double to center raised the count to 5-1, and Abby Koski added its sixth run on an error.
The Broncos responded with four runs in their half of the third.
Senior Allison Richer made it 6-2 on Faith Javurek's bunt single, and Lexi Berg's three-run homer to center brought them within 6-5.
Ishpeming took a 7-5 lead on an error in the sixth prior to securing the decision in the seventh.
The Hematites committed their lone error in the third.
Junior Hailey Hytinen earned the complete-game victory, striking out four, walking four and allowing seven hits. Manninen fanned 10 while taking the win in the opener.
"Our freshman (Manninen) gave up just a bunt single in the first game," said McGuire. "She's pitching pretty well right now. Sometimes the girls make young errors, and we had quite a few in the early innings. We have three seniors, and they don't play very much."
Olivia Erickson, who pitched the first three innings of the nightcap, absorbed the loss. She whiffed two, walked one and gave up six runs on seven hits.
The Broncos finished with seven hits. Javurek collected three, and Berg had two.
"We need to play error-free, and the girls are capable of doing that," said Arndt. "Hopefully, we bring our A-game Friday."
Manninen and Corp led the Hematites with three hits apiece. McNab added two hits in the nightcap and clubbed a three-run homer in the opener.