CHASKA — Hibbing came within two outs of advancing, but Northwest Orioles rallied for five runs in the top of the ninth for a 10-7 win Saturday afternoon in the first round of state Class A tournament play.
The offensive fireworks started in the fourth inning. The Orioles scored three in the top of the inning on singles by Cooper Skov, Jacob Contreras and Tyler Field. Hibbing got a pair back in the bottom of the inning, then took the lead with four in the bottom of the sixth, when they sent eight men to the plate. The big blow in the inning was a three-run homer by Dakota Kruse.
Northwest closed the gap to 6-5 with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh.
Hibbing scored a run without a hit in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases on three walks before Mike Belich’s sacrifice fly made it 7-5.
Three Hibbing pitchers combined to walk four straight Northwest Orioles batters in the ninth. The go-ahead run scored on a sacrifice by Gavin Phenow before Kole Krier tacked on a pair of insurance runs with a single.
