By John RittenhouseHills-Beaver Creek High School athlete Zach Wysong played in a championship baseball game Wednesday night.Wysong, the starting shortstop for the Luverne American Legion team, took the field for the Cardinals when they hosted Pipestone for the Area A Playoff title game last night.Luverne earned a berth in the championship game by defeating Adrian 2-1 in Luverne Tuesday.Wysong played a key role in the victory by slapping a pair of hits and scoring the tying run during a late-game rally.Adrian led 1-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.Wysong was Luverne’s leadoff hitter in the seventh, and he responded to the challenge by slapping a single to right field.The Luverne shortstop advanced to third base after an Adrian fielding error and a hit batsman loaded the bases for the Cardinals.Wysong scored when Jesse Kuhlman singled to left field, and Luverne won the game when Adam Reisch delivered a game-winning hit moments later.Wysong doubled earlier in the game before being thrown out at third base trying to stretch the hit into a triple.Be defeating Adrian, Luverne already clinched a berth in Second District American Legion Baseball Tournament that will be played in Truman July 24-Aug. 2. The top three teams in Area A advance to the District event.A win over Pipestone last night would give the 6-8 Cardinals the Area A title. A loss would send Luverne to a game for second and third place at Redbird Field in Luverne 8 p.m. Friday.
