Hibbing upends Raiders

The Central Lakes College Raiders squandered a 7-3 lead against the Hibbing Cardinals and ended up losing 10-9 in nine innings in a North Division game at Mills Field on Monday.

CLC defeated the Cardinals 11-3 in the first game of a doubleheader Sunday but the second game was suspended by rain until Monday. The Cardinals trailed 7-3 after three innings Sunday.

The Raiders were up 8-5 going into the seventh inning, but made too many mistakes and didn't get the breaks they needed to hang on.

Raider Mike Innes swung the hot bat for CLC, going 4-for-5 at the plate. Reggie Litke went 3-5 for the Raiders.

"We let this one get away," said Raiders coach Warren Mertens. "We made too many baserunning and fielding errors and didn't get the breaks we needed. When Derek Owen hits a line shot in left-center in extra innings with runners in scoring position and the outfielder makes a great catch, you know things aren't going your way."

The Raiders are now 17-3 in the Northern Division and 19-5 overall.

Hibbing 300 101 311 -- 10 18 4

Central Lakes 160 100 010 -- 9 13 5

CLC -- Matt Parker, Darren Prom (5) and Adam Marthaler, Derek Owen (5). LP -- Prom. HR -- H, Hanson. Conference -- CLC 17-3. Overall -- CLC 19-5. Next game -- CLC at Fergus Falls 1 p.m. today.