By John Rittenhouse
The Hills Thunder was unable to break into the win column in amateur baseball when they entertained the Pipestone A's in Hills Sunday.
The Thunder played Pipestone to a draw at three through four innings of play, but the A's outscored Hills 8-0 over the final five innings to secure an 11-3 win.
The teams exchanged single runs in the first, second and fourth innings of a game that had the look of being a close contest at that point.
Pipestone, however, blanked Hills over the final five innings while plating two runs in the fourth inning and six in the ninth to win by eight.
Jarud Lange, who went the distance on the mound and took the loss for Hills, tied the game at one in the bottom of the first when he singled and scored on a single by Matt Funke.
Hills knotted the score at two in the bottom of the second when Chris Harnack reached base on a fielder's choice before scoring on a single by Eric Harnack.
Chris Harnack doubled in the fourth and tied the score at three when he raced home on a single by Lang.
Lang, who led the Thunder with three hits, yielded 13 hits and three walks during a nine-inning stint on the hill. He recorded seven strikeouts.
Funke and Chris Harnack slapped two hits each at the plate.
The 0-3 Thunder host Wilmont at 4 p.m. Saturday. A hog roast will take place during the game. Hills travels to Hadley Sunday for a 2 p.m. tilt.
