The Luverne Tigers are doing something they haven’t done since 1965 – head into the third round of the AHSAA state playoffs in baseball.

“Coach Glenn Daniel told us about that,” LHS head coach Andre Parks said. “I’ve been here 7 years, and this is the most excitement I’ve seen over Luverne baseball.”

The Tigers defeated Headland in a doubleheader last Friday. In Game 1, the Tigers came away with a 3-1 win with Monterio May pitching all 7 innings.

“Monterio struck out 9 batters, but he gave up 8 hits, and that’s more hits than he’s used to giving up,” Parks said, “but he fought hard to get out of a tough situation.”

The Tigers were facing Ram runners on second and third bases in the last inning when May gave up a pop up to right field, allowing the Rams to score their only run. May fired back, however, and struck out the final two batters of the game, sealing the win for the Tigers.

The first game was 0-0 until the 5th inning when LHS scored its 3 runs. The leading hitter was Micah Wallace with two hits and one RBI.

In Game 2, the Tigers stole the show, pounding out a 13-0 victory over the Rams.

“Our bats came alive in the second game,” Parks said. “Corey Hale threw a complete game in five innings and struck out 11 batters and only gave up one hit—he was tremendous.”

Ryan Waters, Monterio May, Micah Wallace, Corey Hale, and Adam Foster had two hits each. Wallace had one homerun and six RBIs, which was a season high in RBIs for the team.

Evan Richardson, Matthew Sipper, Hunter Moody, and Chad Free added one hit each.

“The second inning was our big inning—we had 7 runs,” Parks said.

“We’re playing our best baseball right now and that’s good,” he said. “Winning the state championship is only six games away, and that’s not that far.”

The Tigers will host Bayside Academy this Friday in the third round. LHS stands at 24-5, and Bayside is 23-6 for the season.

“This is the team that put us out of the playoffs last year,” Parks said. “They don’t quit—they put a lot of pressure on you.”

Game times Friday at LHS begin at 4 p.m. with the second game set for 6 p.m.