By John Rittenhouse
The Hills Thunder capped a 3-13 regular season by splitting a pair of games at different sites Sunday.
Hills traveled to Heron Lake for a noon game that turned into a 12-2 victory.
The Thunder returned home to host Hadley late in the afternoon. The Buttermakers blanked Hills by a 2-0 tally.
Hills opened the Gopher League Playoffs in Pipestone last night. A win would give the Thunder a Friday night game. A loss would lead to a tilt on Sunday.
A seven-run fourth inning lifted Hills to its third win of the season in Heron Lake in Sunday's opener.
The Thunder never trailed in the game and were leading 4-2 heading into the fourth inning, when Hills put the contest out of reach for the hosts.
Two-run singles by Scott and Eric Harnack proved to be the key hits during the fourth-inning eruption. Wade Jellema, Chris Harnack and Jarud Lang all drew bases-loaded walks to fuel the rally.
When Chad Rauk reached base on an error before scoring on Chris Harnack's single in the fifth, Hills had a 12-2 lead that led to a 10-run-rule win after Heron Lake batted in the bottom of the fifth.
Rauk tripled and scored the gameÕs first run on an error in the top of the second. Eric Harnack added a two-run double as the inning progressed to make it a 3-0 game.
Heron Lake scored once in the bottom of the second, but Kurt Bly reached base on an error before scoring on an RBI single by Jellema in the top of the third to make it a 4-1 game.
The hosts scored their final run in the bottom of the third.
Lang pitched all five innings to pick up the win. He yielded nine hits and fanned four batters.
Eric Harnack and Rauk slapped two hits each at the plate.
The regular season ended with a 2-0 home loss to Hadley late Sunday afternoon.
The Buttermakers scored single runs in the first and seventh innings to get the win.
Matt Wingate pitched the first four innings and took the loss after surrendering one run, five hits and one walk. He recorded five strikeouts.
Rauk pitched the final three innings, allowing one run, two hits, one walk and striking out five batters.
Hills was limited to a pair of hits in the game. Scott Harnack doubled in the fourth. Bly singled in the fifth.