By John RittenhouseHardwick State Bank completed an undefeated season in Luverne Community Education Major League baseball play by winning the annual league tournament Wednesday, July 27.After posting seven straight wins to win the regular season title, Hardwick State Bank tacked on two wins in tournament play to its victory total to finish the campaign with a 9-0 record.Hardwick State Bank opened the tournament by defeating KQAD 11-1 during the semifinals Wednesday, July 20.The victory sent the tournament’s No. 1 seed to the title tilt, where Hardwick State Bank met McClure Electric two days after the scheduled July 25th championship. Rain on the 25th pushed the championship game back two days.McClure Electric, the tournament’s third seed, pulled off a minor upset by nipping second-seeded Latham Insurance 6-4 in the semifinals.It looked like McClure Electric might record a bigger upset when it led 8-5 after three and one-half innings of play during the championship game, but Hardwick State Bank rallied to outscore the challengers 9-3 over the final two innings to prevail by a 14-11 tally.With the score knotted at two after one inning of play, McClure Electric used a two-run double from Dylan Skattum and RBI singles from Adam Gruis and Trevor Johnson to open a 6-2 advantage in the top of the second.Hardwick State Bank trimmed the difference to one run (6-5) by scoring once in the bottom of the second and twice in the bottom of the third, but McClure Electric answered with a two-run surge in the top of the fourth to extend the lead to three runs at 8-5.The rest of the game belonged to Hardwick State Bank.A two-run double by Andrew Kannas served as the highlight of a four-run rally in the bottom of the fourth, which ended with eventual champions sporting a 9-8 edge.Nathan Thompson slapped a two-run single during a five-run assault in the bottom of the fifth, giving Hardwick State Bank a 14-8 advantage.McClure Electric made things interesting by scoring three runs in the top of the sixth to trail 14-11. The challengers had the bases loaded with two outs in the inning, but Hardwick State Bank recorded the final out to prevail by three.
