The Raider Baseball team's dreams of making it to the state tournament were crushed last week by the number four seed Eastview Lightning in the win-or-go-home game on June 4th. Hastings had their 13-game winning streak broken by the Eagan Wildcats on June 3rd, moving the Raiders to the elimination bracket of the double-elimination tournament.
Matt Sherry started on the bump for Hastings, and he pitched his best game of the season, which should have been more than enough to give the Raiders a chance at continuing on. On the flip side, Eastview’s pitchers were lights out, keeping the bats of the Raiders relatively silent for most of the game.
Offensively, Hastings once again could not capitalize on the baserunners that did get on, while Eastview did. Hastings had the early 1-0 lead in the top of the first and kept the Lightning to one run with two outs in the second. A blooper of a single was hit up the middle, and the Raiders were not able to hold on to the ball for the out, resulting in an error to keep the inning alive. They then added four more runs for a five-inning second. The game went downhill from there.
The costly mistake crept into the Raiders' heads, and desperation began taking over, down 5-1. They scored one additional run in the middle innings, but Eastview kept their foot on the gas, and their hitters seemed to be able to put the ball just out of the reach of the Raiders' defense time and time again. Headed into the top of the seventh, the score was 10-2. Hastings put a few on bases, then all of a sudden it was 10-5, and the Raiders were looking like the comeback kids again. They had runners on and no outs, and all of a sudden, they had two outs.
Just like the game before, the youngest player on the starting roster, Carter Lundstrom, was in the high-stress, potential final out at-bat. Two days in a row make you feel bad for a 16-year-old to be in such a position; it must be nerve-wracking, especially for a young adult. Lundstrom fought hard to keep the Raiders' season alive, but Eastview earned the out, and the Raiders' season was over with a 10-5 loss.
Eastview went on to beat Eagan twice in a row, 2-1 for the first game and 14-5 in the second, and they earned the Class 3AAAA championship title.
Now, many of the boys are looking forward to their summer games as part of the Legion team, where many of them will play one final season together. Last year on the Legion circuit, the boys made it to the state playoffs.
Several of the Raiders are also part of the amateur baseball league, the Classic Cannon Valley League, playing for the Hastings Hawks or Miesville Mudhens. Alex Hendrickson and Evan Nelson are playing for the Hens, Jack Seleski, and Blake Vandehoef are playing for the Hawks, alongside many former Raiders, including recent graduates Mitch Iliff and Gavin Odman.