HERMANSVILLE — The Manistique Emeralds reaped the benefits of a big second inning in a 15-6 baseball victory over Powers North Central in the second game of a season-opening doubleheader here Friday night.

North Central hung on to win the opener 18-16.

Manistique scored eight times in the second frame of the nightcap which was stopped after the third due to darkness.

Mack Pugh carried the big stick for the Emeralds by going 3-for-4.

He led off the contest with a double to rightfield, then added a pair of singles in the second frame, including one to center which drove in two runs.

“It was pretty good, only I got carried away in the end (in a strikeout),” he said. “This is the first time we’ve been on a field this year. This is a good way to start the year. We had a pretty good first game, too.”

In the nightcap, the Emeralds collected three of their seven hits in the second stanza.

Beside Pugh’s leadoff double, Jayce Goudreau added an RBI single to right and Brayden Lancour ripped a two-run single to right in a four-run first.

The Jets answered in their half of the first, taking advantage of four walks and a hit batsman to pull even at four.

After Manistique gained a 12-4 advantage in the second, North Central again cashed in on four walks and an error to shave its deficit to 12-6 in the bottom of the inning.

The Emeralds then sealed the verdict by scoring three times in the third.

Lancour added two hits and four RBIs.

Junior Kaden Malone got North Central’s lone hit on a bunt single in the second.

Landen Papple, who started the nightcap, struck out three, walked eight and allowed six runs.

Malone worked 1â…” frames, striking out three, walking two and giving up four runs on six hits. Ben Stage, who took over in the second, fanned two, walked five and allowed nine runs on three hits.

The Jets committed four errors and the Emeralds had one.

In the opener, the Jets built a seemingly comfortable 18-10 cushion by scoring a dozen runs in the fifth.

The Emeralds then made it interesting by scoring a half-dozen in the sixth.

“We’re pretty happy with it,” Manistique coach Greg Bombach said. “We did pretty well except in the fifth inning. Our pitchers haven’t seen a field for 10 months. I’m sure they’ll be getting better. We didn’t have a field to work on until we got here and it was in pretty good shape for this early in the year.”

Manistique took an 8-3 lead on a two-run single to right by Luke Benish in the fourth.

The Jets shaved their deficit to 8-6 on a fielding error in their half of the fourth before the Emeralds scored twice in the fifth for a four-run cushion.

Brady Trudgeon had two hits and drove in five runs for the Jets. Dante Sandoval added two hits and three RBIs and Brooks Castle had a pair of hits.

Jeff Lampin paced the Emeralds with three hits and Pugh had two.

Both teams, which committed three errors, return to Hermansville for another twinbill today at 4.