By John RittenhouseThe Adrian Dragons captured their second consolation championship in four years at the Minnesota State High School Class A Baseball Tournament in Jordan and Chaska Thursday and Friday.Chisholm topped AHS by four runs in the tournament opener for both teams in Jordan Thursday.Adrian bounced back to beat Upsala-Swanville by two runs during a consolation game played in Jordan Thursday before placing fifth with a three-run victory over Menahga in Chaska Friday.The Dragons, who won their first consolation title in state tournament competition in 2002, end the year with a 17-11 record."We beat two nice teams, so we’ll take it," said Dragon coach Kevin Nowotny about the tournament experience."Any time you go to state and win two games, you’ve got to be happy."Adrian 8, Menahga 5An outstanding offensive performance by senior Levi Bullerman and a courageous pitching effort by Will Lutmer carried the Dragons to a three-run victory over the Braves in Chaska Friday.Bullerman finished the game one single short of a cycle during a 3-4 effort at the plate. Bullerman doubled, tripled and belted a grand-slam home run in his final high school game, driving in four of his team’s eight runs on the contest.Lutmer, who pitched five innings during Thursday’s games, tossed a complete game in the consolation championship. He pitched five scoreless innings between the second and sixth innings, and picked up his second win of the tournament.Adrian gained an early lead when Bullerman slapped a two-out double before scoring on a single by Brandon Diekmann in the top of the first, but Menahga moved in front 2-1 with sacrifice flies by Kyle Dormanen and Chris Torma in the bottom of the first.A six-run second inning, featuring Bullerman’s round-tripper, put the Dragons in the driver’s seat.Alex Suedkamp, Cody Kontz and Nick Weidert drew one-out walks to load the bases in the second. Bullerman followed with his homer to right field, giving the Dragons a 5-2 advantage."That was the big hit," Nowotny said. "It kind of popped Menahga’s balloon."The rally continued in the second as Diekmann and Glen Kruger singled after Bullerman’s blast. Diekmann scored on an error later in the frame. Kruger scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-2.Adrian recorded its final run in the fifth inning. Lutmer doubled before giving way to pinch-runner Clint Metz, who gave the Dragons an 8-2 cushion when he scored on Kontz’s sacrifice fly to left field.Lutmer was even more valuable to his team as a pitcher. He yielded five earned runs, eight hits and three walks during a seven-inning effort on the hill."He was tired, and I could tell he was weary in the dugout between innings," Nowotny said."But he didn’t want to come out of the game. I asked him if he was ready (to leave the game) a couple of times. He said, ‘Don’t take me out of this game.’ That’s what you want to hear as a coach."Lutmer did surrender RBI singles to Andrew Pederson, Brandon Roiko and Torma in the bottom of the seventh before bouncing back to complete the game."He was struggling, but he was still throwing strikes," Nowotny said.Box score AB R H BIKontz 2 1 0 1Weidert 3 1 0 0Bullerman 4 2 3 4B.Diekmann 3 1 2 1Kruger 3 1 1 0Tjepkes 3 0 1 0Hoffman 3 0 0 0Lutmer 4 0 1 0Metz 0 1 0 0Suedkamp 2 1 0 0A.Diekmann 0 0 0 0Archer 0 0 0 0Adrian 7, U-S 5Timing is an important part of baseball, and Adrian senior Brent Tjepkes couldn’t have picked a better time to collect his first hit of the state tournament during Thursday’s consolation game against Upsala-Swanville in Jordan.With the game tied at five in the top half of the seventh inning, the AHS center fielder ended what was a 0-7 day at the plate with a two-run double that gave the Dragons a 7-5 victory."Now we live to play another day," said Tjepkes, moments after his clutch hit gave the Dragons their margin of victory."It was a fastball away. I was looking for a fastball, and I just wanted to get a hit because I was slumping all day. It turned a bad day into a good one."The hit was a big one for AHS, which needed a boost after being blanked for four consecutive innings by the Patriots.With two outs in the top of the seventh, Adrian’s Brandon Diekmann was hit by a pitch and Glen Kruger capped a three-hit game with a single. The runners moved to second and third with a wild pitch, giving Tjepkes an opportunity he took advantage of by drilling a pitch that sailed over the right fielder’s head."I hit it well, and it was tailing (from left to right)," Tjepkes said.Tjepkes’ double capped Adrian’s third rally of the game that started with two outs in the inning.After the first two batters were retired in the top of the first, Adrian’s Levi Bullerman and Diekmann reached base after being plunked by pitches. Kruger then delivered a run-scoring double to give the Dragons a 1-0 lead.U-S tied the game with one unearned run in the bottom of the first, but the Dragons countered with a four-run rally in the second to gain a 5-1 advantage.Alex Suedkamp and Cody Kontz ignited the two-out rally in the second by drawing a walk and singling respectively. Nick Weidert doubled home one run, Bullerman singled home another and the final two runs scored on wild pitches.The Patriots trimmed the difference to one run (5-4) when John Fuchs cracked a two-run homer and Matt Swanson doubled home another run in the bottom of the second. U-S’s Brandon De Foe tied the game at five with a solo homer in the fourth.Along with Tjepkes, Adrian’s Will Lutmer gained some redemption during the course of the game against U-S.After being tagged with the loss during the first game of the day against Chisholm, Lutmer threw four innings of scoreless relief against the Patriots to get the win. He fanned two batters and surrendered three hits without walking a batter.Lutmer pitched in relief of Kontz, who yielded five earned runs in three-plus innings of work as the starting pitcher.Box scorre AB R H BIKontz 4 1 1 0Weidert 4 1 1 1Bullerman 3 2 2 1B.Diekmann 1 1 0 0Kruger 4 1 3 1Tjepkes 4 0 1 2Archer 4 0 0 0Lutmer 4 0 0 0Suedkamp 2 1 0 0A.Diekmann 0 0 0 0Chisholm 8, Adrian 4After experiencing a 57-year absence from state tournament play, the Blue Streaks seemed to be determined to make up for lost time when they squared off against the Dragons during Thursday’s quarterfinals in Jordan.Chisholm, playing in its first state tournament since 1948, exploded for eight runs in the first two innings to open an 8-1 lead that Adrian was unable to overcome the rest of the way."We knew they haven’t been here in a while," said AHS sophomore, Brandon Diekmann. "When they came out, their bats were loud and their pitcher was throwing smoke. They scored eight runs early, and we couldn’t come back."Adrian, a team which has played in three of the last four state tournaments, played like it was a confident club when it gained a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Cody Kontz reached base on an error before Levi Bullerman and Diekman drew one-out walks to load the bases. Glen Kruger sent a sharp single to center field to chase home Kontz.Bullerman tried to score from second on Kruger’s single, but he was gunned down at the plate by center fielder Alex Gornick, giving the Blue Streaks a boost of momentum heading into the bottom of the first.Chisholm’s Nick Kochevar tied the game at one with an RBI single before Joe Foley, who went the distance on the mound, clubbed a three-run homer to give the Blue Streaks a 4-1 lead.Chisholm added four more runs in the second with help from the Dragons. The first counter scored on an error, and two more runners crossed the plate on wild pitches. Kochevar capped the rally with an RBI single.Diekmann replaced starting pitcher Will Lutmer on the mound after the second inning and proceeded to toss four innings of shutout relief."I was pretty much focusing on throwing strikes," Diekmann said. "I had good velocity on my fastball, and the curve was working."Diekmann gave the Dragons a chance to stage a comeback in the late innings, but AHS couldn’t take advantage of its opportunities. Adrian did score two runs in the fourth inning and one in the seventh. The Dragons, however, stranded a total of 13 runners on base during the contest.Nick Weidert doubled home a run and Diekmann picked up a sacrifice fly in the fourth for AHS. Kontz, who led the Dragons with three hits, slapped an RBI single in the seventh.Chisholm’s Foley yielded four runs (one was earned), seven hits and nine walks in the game. He fanned eight batters.Lutmer took the loss, surrendering eight runs (four were earned), five hits and four walks in two innings. Diekmann fanned three batters, walked one and surrendered one hit in four innings.Box score AB R H BIKontz 5 2 3 1Weidert 5 0 1 1Bullerman 2 0 0 0B.Diekmann 2 0 1 1Kruger 2 0 2 1Lutmer 3 0 0 0Tjepkes 3 0 0 0Hoffman 1 0 0 0A.Diekmann 2 0 0 0Suedkamp 3 1 0 0Archer 0 0 0 0