( Adam Niemi photo) Iron Mountain’s Blake Julian hits a home run against Negaunee during an MHSAA Division 3 District 65 championship on Friday in Houghton. It was the first home run hit at Houghton High School’s baseball field, built in 2019.

HOUGHTON — On a near-perfect afternoon on their home field at Houghton High School, the host Gremlins bowed out in the first semifinal of the Division 3 District 65 tournament Friday to the eventual tournament winners, the Iron Mountain Mountaineers, by a score of 2-0.

The Mountaineers took the momentum they built in that victory and carried it over into an 18-1 win over a very young Negaunee Miners squad to advance in the MHSAA playoffs.

The Mountaineers broke out in a big way just two batters into the bottom of the first when Blake Julian launched a pitch from the Miners’ Gerald Johnson over the left field fence to give his team an early 2-0 lead. Julian’s home run, his third of the year, was the first on Houghton’s field this season.

His father, Paul, who coaches the Mountaineers, was pleased to see his team get ahead quickly.

“When the boys jump on the bat like that, you know, the confidence is there and everybody’s gonna start hitting,” Paul Julian said. “These seniors, these juniors, sophomores, everyone can put the bat on the ball.”

Looking for more before the end of the first, Iron Mountain got after it quickly. Bryce Pietrantonio and Ian Anderson had back-to-back doubles to left field. Pietrantonio then scored on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Anderson did the same.

Looking to claw their way back in, the Miners did just that in the top of the second.

Hunter Haanpaa and Braiden Naskey were both issued walks to start the inning, leading Paul Julian to pull starting pitcher Jurgen Kleiman from the mound and insert Pietrantonio. Haanpaa got to third on a throwing error, but was later thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice.

Naskey later scored on a chopped single from Matthew Peters to cut the Mountaineers’ lead to 4-1.

Miners coach Jason Siik, whose team featured 10 freshmen, four sophomores and no seniors, was very encouraged by the fight his team showed after the rough start, especially on short rest after his team defeated Calumet 9-6 to get to the title game.

“It’s tough, because you don’t want to use age as an excuse,” said Siik. “From where we started the year, what a difference,” he said. “I didn’t think we’d be here. We started 0-12 or 0-13, and just kept getting better and better.”

Iron Mountain got that run back in the bottom of the second when Lucas Maxon singled to center field and later scored on a single by Pietrantonio to center.

In the top of the third, the Miners grounded out twice sandwiched around a fly out, which kept Iron Mountain in control of their own destiny heading into the bottom of the third when the bottom fell out for the young Miners’ squad. The Mountaineers pounded out 13 runs in the inning to put the game out of reach.

The inning started with a long hit to the center field fence by Dante Basanese. As he turned the corner at second, he could see that the Miners were struggling to get to the ball, which gave him time to make the turn at third and head for home, beating the throw for an inside-the-park home run.

From there, the Mountaineers took advantage of hitting to gaps and keeping the pressure on the Miners’ young pitching to rack up the rest of their runs.

Paul Julian is very happy with the depth of his lineup at this point in the season.

“You know, I love a lot of things about it,” he said. “There’s not one kid on the team that’s more special to me than the next. They’re all so special. This is just one of those years where you get this awesome team. I’m just stoked, man. These are great kids and we’re gonna keep going. The season isn’t over yet.”

Iron Mountain will return to Houghton on Wednesday for an MHSAA regional semifinal at 4 p.m. Eastern time versus Gladstone.