After a Millard lead-off single in the sixth, courtesy runner Tyler Goodell stood a base away from tying the game with two outs. That’s when Thorne’s swinging bunt just stayed fair and forced a Bartholomew throw to first. Thorne beat out the single and with no one in position to cover home, Goodell scored in front of diving Warrior third basemen Heckenberg at the plate to score the decisive run on the night.

“We had a total meltdown against Van Buren earlier this year, down 1-0 after five innings and losing by 10. This time, the guys were ready to battle for the entire game,” Rachford said of his team’s ability to bear down with the game on the line. “That double play call to end their chances in the fifth gave us the confidence to scratch out a run in the sixth. The guys are playing awesome baseball right now. They are really pumped up.”

“I don’t think this was a wake-up call as much as it was a chance for our kids to learn moving forward,” Warriors head coach Scott said of what his team could take away from their first conference loss. “When we started throwing the ball around in the sixth, they scored the deciding run. We need to learn from this game that there are still things we need to clean up in our game.”

Both teams return to the action today. Cardinal heads to Sigourney for a varsity contest while Van Buren takes part in the Pekin Baseball Tournament today with action starting at 10 a.m.

Van Buren still has to travel to New London, who in turn still has to make-up a game at Cardinal. After last year winning out to rally for a conference crown, the Warriors (14-3, 10-1) hope the Comets (8-2, 6-2) aren’t about to turn the trick on Van Buren this year.

“You’ve really got to hand it to Cardinal. They’ve got a lot of the same qualities that we’ve been successful with over the past two years,” Scott said of the Comets. “They’ve got good pitching, they hit the ball really well. They do the things to win. They’re a team you’ve got to respect and watch out for.”

“I told the guys tonight if we come here to Van Buren, play a solid game and give yourselves a chance to win, anything could happen from here on out,” Rachford added. “They’ve got games left, we’ve got games left. We saw it last year. Anything can still happen.”

CARDINAL 5, VAN BUREN 4

Cardinal – 400 001 0 – 5 6 3

V. Buren – 030 010 0 – 4 4 2

Cardinal battery – Coty Ridgway (4 1/3IP, 3H, 4R, 2ER, 5K, 3BB) and A.J. McElderry (W, 2-2) (2 2/3IP, H, 2K, HBP), Tanner Thorne catching.

2B – Ridgway.

HR – Colton Millard.

Hits – Millard 2-4, Ridgway 1-2, Ryan Giltner 1-3, Thorne 1-3, Conner Schlegel 1-4.

RBI – Millard 3, Ridgeway, Thorne.