The Luverne Tigers have won the Class 3A Area 3 championship and are now heading into the state playoffs.

The Tigers started their winning streak on Saturday, April 4, when they played the Straughn Tigers and won 12-4.

“We moved up from 7th to 5th in the state, and Straughn is now ranked 6th in the state,” LHS head baseball coach Andre Parks said.

The winning pitcher on the mound was Monterio May. May struck out 8 batters and gave up only 5 hits.

“We scored 6 runs in the fourth inning; Evan Richardson hit a three-run homerun, Monterio May hit a two-run homerun, and in his first two at-bats Micah Wallace hit a two-run homerun and a solo homerun,” Parks said.

“We hit the ball as well as we’ve hit all year in that game,” he said.

The area championship game last Thursday, April 9, was played in the Charles Sport Field against Straughn, with Luverne walking away with a 4-1 win.

“We didn’t hit the ball as well in that game, but Monterio May did an outstanding job pitching,” Parks said.

May struck out nine batters, and only gave up one run.

Matthew Sipper had two hits, Ryan Waters had two hits, and Monterio May had two hits.

“This game clinched the Area 3 championship for us,” Parks said.

This Friday, April 17, the Luverne Tigers will host Dale County in the first round of the AHSAA state playoffs, with games beginning at 4 p.m. The second game will start immediately following the first. A third game will be played on Saturday at noon, if needed.

The Tigers are currently 18-5; the school record is 20 wins from the 2007 season, something that Parks hopes to break this year.

Also, Junior Monterio May was chosen to play in the North-South Baseball All-Star Game in Huntsville July 13.

“Monterio is the first player from Luverne to be chosen to participate in this, and we’re really proud of him,” Parks said.