A familiar foe — the dreaded “big inning” — cast its dark shadow down upon the Mankato VFW Post 950 squad Wednesday at Wolverton Field.

Despite a late rally, Mankato lost 7-4 to Apple Valley after a five-run fourth inning wiped out an early three-run lead.

“We’ve given up the big inning here and there,” said Mankato co-head coach Ethan Anderson. “That’s been our nemesis all year.”

Mankato jumped out to a 3-0 lead after taking advantage of Apple Valley pitcher Joey Besong’s control problems. Mankato drew two walks before Tyler Swanson smacked a two-RBI single to left field to score Derek Quame and Joe Kopel.

Swanson, Mankato’s starting pitcher, pitched out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the second, but wasn’t as fortunate in the fourth inning.

Swanson walked three batters in the fourth, but a throwing error and a double by Apple Valley’s Tyler Briggs with two outs cost Mankato four runs.

“The walks hurt us,” Anderson said. “We would like to have our pitchers throwing 60, 70 percent strikes, instead of 50-50 like it was tonight.

Mankato’s defense struggled in the first four innings; at one point, they had more errors (4) than hits or runs (3).

Down 7-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Mankato nearly completed an improbable comeback. Swanson led off the inning with a single, Luke Ohme followed with a walk and Griffan Kozitza slapped a single to right to load the bases.

Zach Woodside cut the deficit to 7-4 after a sacrifice fly, and Ryan Willaert reached on an error to put the tying run at first base with two outs left.

Down to his last strike, Derek Quame drove the pitch deep into the right-center gap. Apple Valley center fielder Tyler Briggs frantically chased down the ball, preventing what could’ve resulted in a game-tying hit.

“We had a chance to win,” Anderson said. “If that ball lands, the tying runs scores.

“But that’s the mark of a quality team, realizing that there’s no score clock in the game of baseball. You still go to go out and get the last three outs. We kept playing right there until the end.”

As his squad gears up for the postseason later this month, Anderson has been pleased with the progress.

“The major thing here is making sure we compete and we did that,” he said. “We’re happy with the way we’re playing. Our goal is to be playing our best by the end of July. We’re not quite there yet, but we’re getting close.”