By John RittenhouseThe Luverne American Legion baseball team turned a productive weekend into a second-place finish at the Jackson Tournament.The Cardinals posted consecutive wins over Welcome, Minnesota Lake and Fairmont to earn a berth in the championship game, where they lost a one-run decision to Sacred Heart.Luverne ended the event with a 7-2 overall record.SH 6, Luverne 5The Cardinals came up one run short when they played Sacred Heart during Sunday’s championship game in Jackson.After tying the game at five when Jared Pick tripled and scored on a ground out by J.T. Bruynes in the bottom of the sixth, the Cards surrendered the eventual winning run in the top of the seventh before being blanked in the bottom half of the frame.SH opened the scoring with a three-run rally in the top of the first. Luverne countered with a two-run double by Marc Boelman and a squeeze bunt from Craig Oeding in the bottom of the first to tie the game at three.Luverne fell behind 5-3 before Steve Schepel slapped an RBI single in the fifth inning, setting up the game-tying RBI by Bruynes in the sixth.Boelman tossed four innings of six-hit, three-run ball as Luverne’s starting pitcher. Zach Wysong took the loss in relief, yielding two hits and three runs in three innings.Box score AB R H BIPick 3 2 1 0Bruynes 4 1 1 1Boelman 3 2 2 2Wysong 3 0 0 0Schepel 1 0 1 1Nath 4 0 1 0Oeding 4 0 0 1Petersen 2 0 0 0Elbers 2 0 0 0Goembel 2 0 0 0Luverne 12, Fairmont 2The Cardinals opened Sunday’s championship round by coasting to a 10-run, five-inning win over Fairmont in Jackson.After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first, Luverne battled back to outscore Fairmont 12-1 the rest of the way to win handily.The Cards took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the first with a two-run double by Wysong and a RBI single by Oeding.Fairmont scored once in the top of the second to trail 3-2 before Luverne plated nine unanswered runs (one in the second, five in the third and three in the fifth) to prevail by the 10-run rule.A solo homer by Pick accounted for Luverne’s second-inning run.Derek Elbers doubled home three runs, Seth Goembel slapped an RBI single and Oeding drew a bases-loaded walk when the Cards extended their lead to seven runs (9-2) in the third.Pick singled home a run before the game ended when Boelman delivered a two-run double in the fifth inning.Pick pitched all five innings to gain the win. He surrendered four hits and three walks.Box score AB R H BIPick 3 3 2 2Bruynes 4 1 1 0Boelman 4 1 1 2Wysong 3 1 1 2Nath 3 1 1 0Oeding 2 1 1 2Petersen 3 2 0 0Goembel 3 1 1 1Elbers 3 1 1 3Luverne 4, ML 3The Cardinals completed pool play by notching a one-run win over Minnesota Lake in Saturday’s second game.Bruynes tossed a six-inning complete game and his Cardinal teammates produced four runs in the bottom half of the third inning to highlight the victory.The teams played to a scoreless draw through two and one-half innings before Luverne’s Wysong doubled home one run, Ben Nath slapped a two-run single and Oeding added an RBI single in the bottom of the third to give the Cards a 4-0 lead.ML closed the gap to one run (4-3) by scoring three runs in the top of the fifth, but Bruynes rebounded to throw a scoreless sixth inning to ice the win.Bruynes yielded three hits and three walks during a six-inning pitching performance. He fanned five batters.Box score AB R H BIPick 3 0 0 0Bruynes 3 1 0 0Boelman 2 0 0 0Wysong 3 1 1 1Schepel 2 1 1 0Nath 3 1 1 2Lundgren 3 0 0 0Oeding 2 0 2 1Goembel 1 0 0 0Luverne 3, Welcome 0Nath pitched a one-hit shutout to carry the Cardinals to a three-run win during the tournament opener Saturday.The right-hander walked one batter and hit two hitters during his six-inning stint on the hill. Nath recorded 10 strikeouts.Luverne scored two runs in the second inning and one in the fifth to assume the margin of victory.Oeding singled and scored during a double-steal to open the scoring in the bottom of the second. Goembel added an RBI single before the inning was complete.Boelman singled and scored when Wysong doubled to account for Luverne’s fifth-inning run.Box score AB R H BIPick 4 0 0 0Bruynes 3 0 1 0Boelman 3 1 0 0Wysong 2 0 1 1Nath 3 0 0 0Lundgren 3 0 0 0Oeding 2 1 1 0Petersen 2 1 0 0Goembel 2 0 1 1