(Ron Deuter photo) Kingsford senior second baseman Garrett Brown turns and fires to first to complete a double play in the final inning of a doubleheader against Houghton on Monday afternoon.

HOUGHTON — Sophomore hurler Jonah Doenier, backed by some solid defense, fired a 3-hit shutout to help Kingsford to a 4-0 varsity baseball victory and a doubleheader sweep over Houghton Monday at cold and blustery Houghton High School.

The Flivvers (14-8) rolled 11-3 in the opener of the two six-inning contests and have now strung together five straight wins.

“It was just a lot of little things today,” Flivvers head coach Joe Kriegl said. “We jumped on them early in the first game. That helped. Get them a little frustrated. I just think we played some decent baseball, you know, not throwing the ball around making errors killing ourselves like we’ve done in some games.”

Doenier struck out three and walked two in earning the win in the second game. He worked out of a few key spots late in the game that left Gremlins runners stranded in each of the final three innings — including getting a double-play ball after allowing a lead-off single in the bottom of the sixth. The grounder went to senior third baseman Andres Finley who threw over to senior Garrett Brown at second who turned and fired a strike to first.

Another defensive highlight came in the bottom of the fourth. With one on and one out, senior center fielder Nolan Hendrickson charged a shallow liner and was able to gun down the runner at first.

“I thought Jonah did a good job pitching in the second game and we had some nice plays, so that’s good,” Kriegl said.

Kingsford scored once in the second, twice in the third and again in the fourth to build its cushion. An error in the infield on a ball hit by Hendrickson allowed sophomore Logan Grondin to score the first run. Grondin had singled to lead off the second.

It was Grondin coming through in the third with a rocket to the corner in left field for a two-run, two-out double. That scored junior Jack Kriegl, who also doubled to the corner in left for his second hit of the game, and Finley who reached on a single. Brown brought in the fourth run in the fourth with an infield hit to the left side and an overthrow to first. That scored senior Gavin Grondin, who had two singles in the game.

The Flivvers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning of the first game, thanks in part to a couple of Houghton errors. Kriegl and Grondin had hits in the inning. A two-out line-drive single to left by Brown scored another in the fourth, and then Brown ended up coming home on a wild pitch.

Kingsford added three more in the fifth. Grondin reached on a fielder’s choice and scored from third after singles by junior Jacob Deuter and Hendrickson. Deuter later scored on a wild pitch, and Hendrickson raced home from third with a steal of home with the squeeze on.

Two more runs scored in the sixth. Kriegl singled in one with a liner to left center capping a 2-for-4 effort with four stolen bases and two runs, and senior Joey Weber hit a sacrifice fly to right for another run.

Brown earned the decision on the mound, going four scoreless innings and allowing just two hits while striking out five and walking just two. Kriegl and Weber worked relief.

Houghton scored all three of its runs in the fifth, getting an RBI single by senior Jackson VonDoloski and two bases-loaded walks.

“We need to play these doubleheaders,” Kriegl said. “Both games are important because it’s getting close to the postseason. We’ve got districts coming up and if we’re going to do anything in the districts, you have to win two games. Playing two games is important.”

Kingsford plays its final league game this afternoon, looking to wrap up the Great Northern Conference title with a contest against Menominee.