A late collapse cost the Vermilion Ironhawks a playoff berth.
Needing just one win to secure the program’s first regional slot in at least a decade, the community college softball team was swept in a four-game set by Northern Division rival Rainy River.
After coming from behind to gain two victories April 22, the Voyageurs rallied twice in the seventh inning to sweep two games in Ely - scoring 11-9 and 8-5 victories.
After winning six-ofeight division games to get into playoff contention, the four defeats knocked the Ironhawks out and they finished 7-17 overall.
The second doubleheader with Rainy River was the Ironhawks’ only home appearance of the spring, and Rainy River erased a 9-3 deficit in the opening game, scoring two runs in the sixth inning and six more in the seventh to pull things out.
A couple of Vermilion errors aided the Rainy River comeback in the seventh, but the Voyageurs also belted out 16 hits against two Vermilion pitchers.
Catcher Makayla Mihajlovich homered and went four-for-five for the Ironhawks, while leadoff hitter Autumn Walker scored four times, had three hits and drove in two runs.
Kierra Waller finished with three hits and Ashley Liebl added two, with two runs batted in.
Starting pitcher Brooklyn Hager finished with 10 strikeouts.
The second game was a back-and-forth affair, with Rainy River overcoming 4-2 and 5-4 deficits, and scoring three times in the top of the seventh to pull things out.
An outfield error was costly to the Ironhawks in the final inning, and Vermilion went down in order in the bottom of the seventh after rapping out seven hits earlier in the contest.
Shortstop Adriana Pena had three hits and scored twice for the Ironhawks, and Walker singled and scored two runs.
Liebl drove in two runs and Waller wound up with two hits for the Ironhawks.
Hager gave up eight hits in the game and fanned three, with Walker working an inning of relief.
