Norway’s Haley Clifford, left, receives the throw as Iron Mountain’s Saylor Swartout steals second base on Monday, April 30, 2018, in Iron Mountain, Mich. (Adam Niemi/Iron Mountain Daily News)

IRON MOUNTAIN — Norway fended off Iron Mountain in a close first game and ran away in the second game to complete the sweep on Monday.

The Knights took the second game 14-0 after holding off the Mountaineers 5-4 in the first leg of the doubleheader.

Norway used its speed on the base paths to pressure Iron Mountain’s defense in both games.

It worked.

Errors led to scoring for the Knights, especially in the second game when the Mountaineers made six errors leading to nine unearned runs.

At a 4-4, Iron Mountain loaded the bases in the fifth inning of the first game but failed to score. Norway scored in the top of the seventh on a single by Mariah Gyselinck. Iron Mountain again loaded the bases with one out and failed to score.

“First game, bases loaded twice, can’t get a run in, it’s frustrating,” Iron Mountain head coach Dean Lefebvre said. “Second game, six errors. I challenged the girls to be mentally strong enough to handle two games. They can’t handle two games right now. They kind of blank out. It’s frustrating as a coach to deal with that.

“And we have a lot of softball this week. We got Westwood tomorrow. We go to Negaunee on Wednesday and Ishpeming on Friday.”

The Mountaineers stranded a combined 17 runners on base.

As for Norway, the Knights continue to hit the ball hard. Ada VanHolla had three hits on the day with two doubles, two RBIs and four runs. Kayte Casanova also had three hits with a double, five RBIs and two runs.

Norway was aggressive on the basepaths, forcing Iron Mountain into quick throws and at times, mistakes.

“In the second game the girls came out and attacked the ball. Defense was solid all day,” Norway head coach Bob Bal said. “I was really impressed with the baserunning. Girls were pushing to get the extra base and taking the extra throw. Sometimes it gets you. Today I was impressed with Haley (Clifford). For being a newcomer she was flying around the bases. That makes infielders think because she’s fast and they gotta do things a little bit quicker than normal.”

In the second game, Allie Sheski was at third base when she was chased back to the base after a pitch by Iron Mountain catcher Reighan Johnson. Johnson, who chased Sheski halfway up the baseline, flipped the ball to pitcher Claire Mongrain. Sheski darted to home plate with nobody covering. Plays like that kept Norway in control.

“Allie’s a great baserunner and I told her to try to get into a pickle. I didn’t know she was going to the second part of that play if nobody’s covering the plate. You can’t coach that,” Bal said. “I probably got maybe one other kid on the team that would be that smart. I told her to let them throw it over your head and she did the other part. That’s instinct. She’s been playing for three years starting so she understands the game quite well.”

Lilly VanLoon pitched the first game for Iron Mountain. She surrendered give runs (three earned) on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

Mariah Gyselinck pitched for Norway, giving up four runs (two earned) on seven hits with five walks and four strikeouts.

Sheski pitched the second game for the Knights and and gave up six hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

Mongrain gave up 14 runs (five earned) on eight hits with six walks and one strikeout.

Jorden Stoner and Saylor Swartout had RBI singles in the first game. Mongrain was 2 for 3 and Mackenzie Swanson was 2 for 4 in the first game. Stoner was 2 for 3 in the second game.

Lefebvre said the pitching was good but the problem was defensive lapses.

“Lilly pitches consistently. Claire, as a freshman, she has some good pitches and then gets out of whack a little bit. She’s strong enough to get back into it,” Lefebvre said. “It’s simple errors. When you play programs that are aggressive, you give them an inch and they’ll take home plate and that’s what we’re doing. This isn’t Little League. I failed as a coach to get these girls to realize they can’t goof off. That one play at home, where the first baseman should’ve went and covered home plate, she said yeah I knew it, but they were standing there watching the play.”