Kingsford junior Caleb Erickson crosses home plate after senior Jack Kriegl emptied the bases with a double during the bottom of the fourth inning Thursday against Marquette at Gary Spigarelli Memorial Field. (Ron Deuter photo)

KINGSFORD – Extending their win streak to six games and scoring in double figures for a third straight contest, the surging Kingsford Flivvers pounded Marquette 13-2 in four and half innings Thursday afternoon at Gary Spigarelli Memorial Field.

“I thought we played our best game tonight,” Flivvers head coach Joe Kriegl said. “Pitching, defense, and we hit the ball. Timely hits. We’re just hitting the cover off the ball right now, which is nice to see.”

Kingsford smashed 10 hits, using a six-run second to open a 7-0 lead and putting the game well beyond reach with a five-run fourth. Senior Jack Kriegl and juniors Jack Spreen and Logan Grondin each collected two hits.

Kriegl drove in four runs including a bases-clearing double in the fourth and Spreen racked up three RBIs with a double. Kriegl’s double came after an odd sequence in which he roped one down the line in left and cleared the bases, only to have the home plate umpire declare after the play that the ball was foul. All runners went back to their respective bases, and then Kriegl left no doubt on his next chance, splitting the gap in left center with a screaming line drive for another bases-clearing rip.

Grondin lashed two doubles. Senior Jacob Deuter added a two-out RBI double down the line in left on an 0-2 count in the second inning, and junior Jonah Doenier went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

Not lost in the effort was a stellar performance on the bump by sophomore Domenic Frederickson. The right-hander improved to 2-0 allowing just three hits and no earned runs over four innings of work with a strikeout and one walk. The Kingsford defense had his back too, with handful of good plays to keep baserunners to a minimum.

“Dom was throwing strikes,” Kriegl said. “He was on. And our defense, Noah Trulock had some great plays there at first, scooping some throws out of the dirt. That was huge, and they were early in the game. If he doesn’t make those catches and they get runners on, that can change things in a hurry.”

During its current win streak, Kingsford has outscored its opponents 62-9. Kriegl says the difference now compared to the team’s 0-9 start to the season simply boils down to reps.

“We’re getting more experience,” he said. “We’re getting more comfortable. Our pitchers are performing well, throwing strikes. That’s the bottom line, throwing strikes, and letting our defense make plays when they put the ball in play. We’re not giving away as many free bases. Free bases are killers, especially in the high school game. You put a guy on early and chances are he’s going to score.”

Kingsford (6-9) is down in Gaylord this weekend for a pair of non-conference games before heading to face Iron Mountain Monday afternoon.

“We’re seeing some teams we haven’t played down in Gaylord,” Kriegl said. “They’ll be good teams. It’s nice to get our kids that exposure. The more games we can play, the better we will become. And if we can play like we’ve been playing, we’ll certainly have a chance.”

Kingsford’s JVs remained unbeaten Thursday, blanking the Sentinels 12-0 in three and half innings to improve to 9-0-1. Andrew Tomasoski paced an 11-hit attack with three knocks and two RBIs. Freshman Luke Rice and sophomore Alex Larson each had two hits, Larson connecting on an RBI double and driving in another run with a sacrifice fly. Freshman Ian Hensley added an RBI double, while freshman Gino Santoni and sophomore Carter Steber each drove in two runs. Freshman James VanDusen earned the win with three innings of one-hit ball with four strikeouts.