Luverne pitcher Jared Pick (21) looks for the ball after being involved in a close play at home plate during Saturday’s Section 3AA Tournament game against Red Rock Central-Westbrook-Walnut Grove in Luverne. The Cardinals beat the Falcons and Jackson County Central to open the double-elimination event.By John RittenhouseClutch hits in later stages of the games gave the Luverne Cardinals a pair of wins to open the Section 3AA Baseball Tournament Saturday in Luverne.The Cardinals battled back from a 2-1 deficit to nip Red Rock Central-Westbrook-Walnut Grove 3-2 in nine innings during the opener. Luverne trailed 3-2 after four and one-half innings of play against Jackson County Central before pulling out a 4-3 win in the nightcap.Luverne, which has won four straight games, took a 13-9 record into a winner’s bracket game against Lac qui Parle Valley in Granite Falls Wednesday. Play resumes Saturday at a site to be determined.Luverne 4, JCC 3Jake Studer’s RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning capped Luverne’s second tournament comeback at Redbird Field Saturday.Luverne trailed 3-2 after JCC plated a pair of runs in the top of the third inning before adding a single run in the fifth.The Cards answered the challenge by knotting the score in the bottom of the fifth before Studer chased home the game-winning run in the sixth.Studer singled to ignite Luverne’s rally in the fifth. Walks to Adam Kurtz and Mark Remme loaded the bases for Aaron Schmidt, who knotted the game at three with a RBI single.Zach Wysong was hit by a pitch and Joey Pick walked to start the sixth inning, but a sacrifice bunt attempt failed when Wysong was forced out at third base. Studer, however, came up big with a one-out single that chased home Pick with the game-winning run.Jesse Kuhlman, who pitched a complete game for LHS, doubled home a run before Wysong slapped a run-scoring single to give the Cards a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second.Kuhlman limited JCC to five hits and two earned runs in the game. He walked five batters and fanned six.Box score AB R H BIPick 2 1 0 0Uilk 4 0 0 0Studer 3 1 2 1Kurtz 2 0 0 0Remme 2 1 0 0Schmidt 2 1 2 1Reisch 3 0 0 0Kuhlman 3 0 1 1Wysong 2 0 1 1Luverne 3,RRC-W-WG 2Luverne nearly fell victim to a scrappy RRC-W-WG team during Saturday’s opener.The Falcons, who were winless for the season entering the game, stunned the Cards by taking a 2-1 lead by scoring a pair of runs in the top of the third inning.The upset bid remained in tact until Luverne battled back to knot the score at two in the bottom of the sixth before winning the game with a run-scoring single by Adam Reisch in the bottom of the ninth.Luverne pulled even with the Falcons in the bottom of the sixth. Remme was hit by a pitch, Schmidt singled and Wysong walked to load the bases. Pick then forced home the tying run when he drew a walk.The score remained tied at two until the ninth, when Luverne loaded the bases with a walk to Kurtz and Remme and Schmidt being struck by pitches. Reisch then settled the issue when he lined a single between RRC-W-WG’s left and center fielders.Luverne took a 1-0 lead when Pick doubled and scored on a single from Studer in the bottom of the first.Kurtz tossed three innings of shutout relief to pick up the win. He fanned three batters without allowing one walk or one hit. Jared Pick pitched the first six innings for the Cards, surrendering eight hits and one walk. He recorded seven strikeouts.Box score AB R H BIPick 3 1 2 1Uilk 4 0 1 0Studer 4 0 2 1Kurtz 4 1 2 0Remme 1 1 0 0Schmidt 4 0 2 0Reisch 5 0 1 1Kuhlman 4 0 2 0Wysong 2 0 0 0
