Luverne VFW third baseman Wyatt Cote prepares to slide safely home while the Worthington catcher tries to scoop up the ball during Monday’s baseball game in Worthington. Cote scored Luverne’s lone run in a 5-1 loss to Worthington.By John RittenhouseThe Luverne VFW baseball team was unable to even its season series with Worthington when the teams squared off in Worthington Monday.The young Cardinals put up a better fight than when they took a 23-1 pounding from the Trojans in Luverne June 3, but Luverne came up on the short end of a 5-1 decision in the end.Jared Pick, who played a key role with Luverne’s state-bound high school team when the teams met in early June, kept the Cardinals in the game with a strong pitching effort Monday.Pick limited Worthington to a pair of hits, but it wasn’t enough to put the Cards in the win column.After Pick blanked Worthington in the first two innings, the hosts broke through to score three runs in the bottom of the third.Luverne countered by scoring once in the top of the fourth, but the Cards were unable to score the rest of the way.Luverne’s Wyatt Cote reached base when he was hit by a pitch to start the fourth inning. Cote advanced to second when John Tofteland laid down a sacrifice bunt before scoring on a double by Kelsey Petersen to make it 3-1.Worthington scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to ice the game.Luverne, which slips to 2-2 in the league with the loss, was led at the plate with a two-hit effort by Petersen.The 6-8 Cardinals host Marshall tonight before playing four games at the New Ulm Tournament over the weekend. Luverne plays in Slayton Monday.Box score AB R H BIGraphenteen 3 0 0 0Nath 3 0 1 0Pick 3 0 0 0Cote 2 1 1 0Tofteland 2 0 0 0Petersen 3 0 2 1Johnson 2 0 0 0Oeding 1 0 0 0Lundgren 3 0 1 0Deutsch 2 0 0 0Boler 1 0 1 0
