By John RittenhouseThe Luverne Cardinal baseball team captured its second consecutive championship of the South Third District VFW Tournament by posting a pair of wins late last week.The Cardinals rolled to a 10-run win over Slayton during Thursday’s opener at Redbird Field.Luverne met Pipestone in Saturday’s championship game in Worthington.Playing the game without six regulars due to scheduling conflicts, the Cardinals rallied from a 4-0 deficit to pull out a 6-5 victory."We didn’t have a lot of our guys there, but it worked out good for us," said Luverne coach Mike Wenninger."With nine players, we didn’t have any substitutes. It worked out pretty good."The 27-6 Cardinals will compete at the Third District VFW Baseball Tournament in Worthington Saturday and Sunday.Luverne 6, Pipestone 5A clutch rally and a stunning play at the plate gave the Cardinals their second straight Southern Division title in Worthington Saturday.After falling behind 4-0 when Pipestone scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning and one in the third, Luverne moved in front 6-4 by scoring six times in the fourth and fifth frames.The score remained the same until the bottom of the seventh, when the first two Pipestone batters reached base safely.Luverne pitcher Caleb Bruynes nearly escaped the jam by fanning the next two batters he faced, but Pipestone’s clean-up hitter lifted a fly ball that found the outfield grass between Luverne’s second baseman and right fielder. Luverne second baseman Chris Fitzer retrieved the ball from short right field, but the Pipestone runner on second base scored his team’s fifth run by that time.When the runner who was on first base prior to the hit tried to tie the game, Fitzer threw a perfect strike (on the fly) to catcher Zach Olson, who applied the game-ending tag at home plate."The hit landed in a triangle between our second baseman, centerfielder and right fielder, allowing the first run to score" Wenninger explained. "Chris picked up the ball in short right field and threw a perfect strike to home, nailing the second guy trying to score. It was a quick play, but the guy definitely was out."Although it was a great defensive play that clinched the victory for Luverne, it took some timely hitting by the Cardinals to place themselves in a position to win the game.Luverne moved in front to stay (5-4) when it exploded for five runs in the top of the fourth inning.Jake Clark drew a walk and scored the first run when Olson doubled. Following a walk to Fitzer, Tyler Reisch singled home a run to make it 4-2. Back-to-back walks drawn by Jeremy Hoff and Bruynes accounted for the third run of the frame, and Chris Den Hoed capped the rally with a two-run single.The Cards scored their sixth run of the game in the fifth inning. Clark walked, advanced to third on a double by Olson. A sacrifice fly by Fitzer plated Clark with what proved to be the game-winning run.Bruynes worked all seven innings of the hill to get the win. He fanned seven batters during a six-hit, one-walk effort.Box score AB R H BIClark 1 2 0 0Olson 4 1 2 1Fitzer 2 1 0 1Reisch 3 1 2 1Hoff 2 1 0 0Bruynes 2 0 0 1Den Hoed 3 0 1 2Arndt 3 0 0 0Skattum 3 0 0 0Luverne 11, Slayton 1The Cardinals opened the tournament Thursday by posting a five-inning win over Slayton at Redbird Field.Reisch and Hoff drove in a combined five runs and Micah Boomgaarden tossed a complete game during a 10-run victory.After Slayton gained a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Reisch ripped a two-run double in the bottom of the first before scoring on an error to give the Cards a 3-1 lead they would never relinquish.Luverne proceeded to score at least one run in the next four innings to win the game by the 10-run rule.Boomgaarden, who pitched five innings to get the win, helped his own cause by singling and scoring on a sacrifice fly by Reisch in the second. Derek Elbers reached base on an error and scored on an error in the same inning, expanding Luverne’s lead to four runs at 5-1.Clark drew a bases-loaded walk in the third inning and Hoff slapped a run-scoring single in the fourth to make it a 7-1 game.Olson and Hoff delivered run-scoring singles to highlight a four-run fifth inning, which ended the game due to the 10-run rule.Boomgaarden fanned five batters and walked two during the contest.Box score AB R H BIClark 2 2 1 1Elbers 3 3 0 0Reisch 2 2 2 3DeBoer 3 0 0 0Skattum 1 0 0 0Olson 3 2 0 1Hoff 4 0 2 2Bruynes 1 0 1 0Arndt 3 0 0 0Boomgaarden 2 2 0 0