Jets fly past Mountaineers in home opener

(Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette photo) Nick Andrews swings away for a Jeffers hit on Thursday against Iron Mountain in Stanton.
STANTON — The Jeffers Jets baseball team was on the search this week for their first win of the season. They got what they were looking for twice on Thursday with a doubleheader sweep of Iron Mountain. They defeated the Mountaineers 9-5 in the first game and 15-9 in the second.
“We finally put together a complete game,” stated Jets (2-5) coach Luke Paul. “In our losses so far this season, we have been leading, but not able to finish the game. We hit the ball well today and made the plays we needed in the field.”
In the opener, the Mountaineers (2-8) got on the scoreboard first in the third with Aiden Ellis scoring on a Jacob Powell base hit.
However, that lead was short-lived as the Jets countered with seven of their own in the fourth. The Jeffers team went through the lineup with pitcher Cody Turner, Cullen Larson and Kasen Helminen all getting RBI hits.
While the Mountaineers scored four runs in the top of the sixth, the Jets had already added another two en route to the win.
Turner earned the win for the Jets, throwing four innings and allowing just one run on five hits. He struck out seven and walked none.
In the nightcap, the Jets jumped on the scoreboard with a big six-run first inning. After three innings, the Jets led 10-3.
While the Mountaineers added one in the fourth, five in the fifth and one more in the top of the sixth, it was not enough as the Jets tagged on five more runs to close the game out.
Jets hurler Lane Johnson earned the win going 2 2/3 innings and allowing three runs.
“The second game was the better of the two,” said Mountaineers coach Jeff McLean. “We hit the ball well. We need to be better on fundamentals and clean up our errors.”