By John RittenhouseThe Luverne VFW baseball team wrapped up an 18-9 regular season by rolling to a 15-run win in Adrian Monday.The Cardinals split a league double-header in Slayton on Thursday.Luverne opens the VFW playoffs on Monday. The site and opponent for the opening game was not known as of Wednesday, July 12.Luverne 17, Adrian 2The Cardinals finished league play on a high note by cruising to a 15-run win in Adrian Monday.Phil Paquette drove in four runs at the plate and Chris Den Hoed tossed a complete game to deliver the Cards their 18th win of the season.The game was scoreless through two innings, but Luverne assumed control of the contest with an eight-run rally in the top of the third and a six-run surge in the fourth.Den Hoed and Tanner Skattum stroked two-run singles in the third. Zach Olson and Zach Clark contributed RBI singles to the rally, and Paquette and Adam Ossefoort chipped in RBI doubles.Paquette singled home two runs and Anthony Graphenteen and Clark drew bases-loaded walks to highlight a six-run fourth inning.After Adrian plated two runs (one was earned) in the bottom of the fourth, Luverne capped the scoring when Jeremy Hoff singled home a run and Paquette registered a sacrifice fly in the fifth.Den Hoed limited Adrian to five hits in five innings.Box score AB R H BIHoff 4 2 2 1Den Hoed 3 1 2 2Paquette 4 1 2 4Olson 4 2 3 1Christensen 1 0 0 0Dinger 3 2 1 0Skattum 2 2 1 2D.Van Santen 1 0 0 0Ossefoort 2 1 1 1Hemme 0 1 0 0Graphenteen 1 1 0 1Altman 0 1 0 0Clark 2 2 2 2T.Van Santen 0 0 0 0Luverne 6, Slayton 1The Cardinals opened Thursday’s double-header in Slayton by recording a five-run win.Den Hoed tossed a five-inning complete game and Phil Paquette drove in a pair of runs to lead Luverne to victory.Den Hoed limited Slayton to three hits and one unearned run in the contest. He fanned two batters.After being blanked in the first inning, Luverne scored at least one run in the next four frames to win handily.Skattum walked and opened the scoring in the top of the second when he trotted home on a wild pitch.Hoff walked and Den Hoed reached base on an error in the third inning. Paquette stroked a run-scoring double and Olson slapped an RBI single to make it a 3-0 game before Slayton recorded its unearned run in the bottom of the third.Derek Van Santen singled and scored when Paquette singled in the fourth inning as Luverne extended its lead to 4-1.Olson doubled and Ossefort reached base on an error in the fifth inning. Both runners scored on a throwing error.Box score AB R H BIHoff 1 1 0 0Den Hoed 3 0 0 0Paquette 3 1 3 2Dinger 3 0 0 0Olson 3 1 2 1Ossefoort 3 1 0 0Skattum 3 1 0 0D.Van Santen 3 1 1 0Graphenteen 3 0 0 0Slayton 6, Luverne 3The hosts used a six-run rally in the third inning to snap Luverne’s seven-game winning streak during the second game in Slayton.The teams battled to a scoreless draw through two innings before Slayton broke through with a six-run rally, which included the five unearned runs, in the top of the third.Luverne countered with three runs in the bottom of the third, but it wasn’t enough to get back into the game.Van Santen singled and Zach Clark reached base on an error to ignite Luverne’s rally.Tim Connell doubled home Van Santen and Clark before scoring the final run when Hoff singled.Hoff took the loss after tossing five innings of four-hit, six-strikeout ball.Box score AB R H BIHoff 2 0 1 1Olson 2 0 1 0Paquette 2 0 1 0Dinger 2 0 1 0D.Van Santen 1 1 1 0Skattum 1 0 1 0Clark 1 1 0 0Connell 2 1 1 2Ossefoort 1 0 0 0Den Hoed 1 0 0 0Graphenteen 1 0 0 0