Ron Deuter photo Kingsford senior Garrett Brown dives into home with a run for Kingsford in the fourth inning Thursday at Oconto Falls. Brown had one hit and scored two runs in the Flivvers’ 7-4 loss.

OCONTO FALLS, Wis. — Consistent command of the strike zone eluded Kingsford Thursday evening, as the Flivvers dropped a 7-4 decision to Oconto Falls in a non-conference varsity baseball game at Memorial Field.

The Flivvers’ pitching staff plunked six hitters and walked three more, creating a hole they were unable to overcome in slipping to 0-2 to start the season.

“One of our things this season is ‘no free 90s’ and we gave up way too many tonight, and we know,” Kingsford head coach Joe Kriegl said. “Hats off to Oconto Falls. That’s a good team. That’s the kind of games that we want to be playing. And we’re not trying to throw our best pitchers. We’re trying to get some time and experience for guys that we’re going to need pitching down the stretch.”

Kingsford fell behind 3-0 to the Panthers in the second inning. Control issues helped load the bases. A hit batsman scored the first run. A wild pitch brought in another before Cole Bozile drove in another with a sacrifice fly to center.

The Flivvers responded with a pair of runs in the third. Senior Gavin Grondin opened the frame with a single and made his way to third with stolen bases before scoring on a bad throw to second as the Panthers were attempting to gun down senior Garrett Brown stealing. Brown had reached via a walk. Senior Andres Finley later drove in Brown with a sacrifice fly to right.

A three-run fourth pushed the Panthers’ lead to 6-2. The Flivvers retired the first two hitters in the inning, but back-to-back walks after that opened the door. A dropped fly in shallow right and a throwing error helped the Panthers’ push the runs across.

An RBI single by senior Nic Novara in the fifth plated Kingsford’s third run, a bouncer up the middle that scored Brown who led off the inning with a single. Sophomore Bradlee Bottesi added an RBI hit in the sixth to bring home senior Joey Weber, who led off with a walk. It looked like a promising start to a rally with Bottesi on first with just one away and the Flivvers about to flip to the top of the order, but he ended up getting doubled up when Grondin launched a long fly to the fence in right that was caught.

Kingsford had two on with two out in their final at-bat in the top of the seventh. Junior Jacob Deuter ripped a line drive but right at the glove of the Oconto Falls third baseman to end the game.

The Flivvers’ totaled five hits in the game, all singles. Finley also had a single for Kingsford.

“We just need at-bats,” Kriegl said. “We’ve been inside. We’re trying to simulate it, but there’s nothing like seeing it off the mound. We had some bad innings today, and it’s tough to come back against a good team like Oconto Falls especially with the amount of free bases we gave up. But that’s why we’re down here playing better competition because in the end it’s going to make us better.”

Junior Jack Kriegl started on the mound, giving way to Weber with one gone in the second. Finley came on with two away in the fourth and went the rest of the way.

The Flivvers open the conference schedule Monday, hosting Negaunee for their home opener. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.

“Negaunee is going to be good on Monday,” Kriegl said. “We just need to take care of the little things, seeing what we need to fix and work on. We’ll fix it and see what happens. Overall I’m pleased. We have a lot of games coming up, and I know we’ll get it figured out.”

The Kingsford junior varsity squad posted a 16-6 win Thursday, with head coach Ben Olsen’s squad now off to a 2-0 start.