Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Bark River’s Nick Javurek throws a curveball against Copper Country during a Gregg Johnson-Al Erickson Legion baseball tournament game Friday in Wells.

WELLS — Copper Country responded in a big way in the seventh inning here Friday as it handed Bark River a 15-7 American Legion baseball loss in the Gregg Johnson/Al Erickson Memorial tournament.

The Bucs (0-2) were trailing 9-7 after six frames before the Flames (4-1) broke it open.

“We were able to string some hits together,” said Copper County manager Wes Frahm. “Brandon (Norkol) leading off the seventh inning with a triple set the tone for that inning, and the other guys did their job. We also got a couple squeezes down. We executed those very well and scored on them. We can’t ask for more than that.”

After Norkol scored to give Copper Country a 10-7 lead, the Flames stretched their lead to five runs on back-to-back bunts by Keith Judici and Dylan Horning.

Copper Country also took advantage of two errors, two walks and a wild pitch in the seventh.

The contest was tied at six after four innings.

Copper Country regained the lead on Brandon Norkol’s double to right and made it 9-6 on Eli Oldt’s two-run single to right.

Bark River got a run back on Tyler Racicot’s single to right in its half of the fifth but was unable to gain the upper hand.

The Flames made two double plays in the contest.

Their first double play took place in the fourth when they threw out baserunners at home and third on the same play.

Then in the sixth, winning pitcher Nick Horning snagged a line shot by Noah Gorzinski, then caught a baserunner off first and relayed the ball to first-baseman Levi Frahm to complete that play.

“We certainly had opportunities,” said Bucs’ assistant coach Al Botwright. “We tied the game at one point but couldn’t get the lead. The two double plays really hurt us bad. I don’t think Noah could have hit the ball any harder. Their pitcher made a fantastic play. He had the presence of mind to turn and throw the ball to first.”

Copper Country scored four times in the first, including two runs on a single to left by Cam Cischke.

The Bucs responded with two runs in their half of the first before each team added a run in the second.

Copper Country took a 6-3 lead on Dylan Horning’s single to left before the Bucs scored twice in their half of the third and tied the contest by cashing in on two miscues in the fourth.

The teams combined for 10 errors, including six by Bark River.

Copper Country collected 15 hits, including four by Gabe Carlson. Dylan Horning, Cischke, Norkol and Oldt added two each.

The Bucs had 11 hits, led by Nick Javurek, Adrian Mercier and Gorzinski with two apiece.

Nick Horning struck out seven, walked four and allowed seven runs on nine hits through six frames. Judici fanned one and walked two in the seventh.

Javurek, the first of four Bucs’ hurlers, took the loss. He whiffed three, walked three and gave up nine runs on 12 hits.

“We had to keep pitchers under 25 to save them for the rest of the weekend,” said Botwright. “It’s hard to get any continuity that way.”