ROCHELLE — It was a perfect ending for a perfect team.

After taking down No. 3 seed Kiwanis Club in Game 1 of the 2017 Rochelle Little League Major League Boys Championship Series Monday evening, No. 1 seed VFW returned to Floyd J. Tilton Park on Tuesday and finished an 18-0 season with a 10-7 victory over Kiwanis Club in Game 2. VFW trailed 6-2 after four innings, but the boys rallied to score eight of the game’s last nine runs including three runs in the top of the seventh inning.

“It feels good,” said Carson Lewis, who singled twice and scored one run in VFW’s victory on Tuesday. “VFW wasn’t so good last year but we came in undefeated. We just kept hitting the ball and fielding it.”

Garrett Gensler started on the mound for VFW, and while he admitted he had a tough time finding the zone, he put his team up 1-0 in the top of the first inning with a home run. Gensler reached base a team-high four times in the game.

“I struggled a little bit but I had a great bullpen behind me,” Gensler said. “We had our ups and downs in the field, but our bats kept going and we made plays when we needed to make them.”

Kiwanis Club went down in order to end the first inning, but the No. 3 seed exploded for five runs in the second inning to take a 5-1 lead. Five players walked and scored in the frame including Brandon Moody, Wade Smith, Lucas Smardo, Ivon Lopez and Josh Lloyd.

Anlun Meyers crossed home plate in the top of the third inning, but singles by Moody and Smardo helped Kiwanis Club go up 6-2 in the bottom of the third. Erich Metzger and Tommy Tourdot notched hits for VFW in the top of the fourth inning, with Tourdot adding a game-altering triple in the fifth inning that tied the game at 6-6.

“We persevered and we showed a lot of heart,” Tourdot said. “It feels nice because last year we only won one game because it was given to us.”

While VFW was finding its groove on offense, Brandyn Metzger was putting down Kiwanis Club hitters on the pitcher’s mound. Metzger surrendered just one run in roughly four innings of relief.

“It felt really nice for Joe [Tourdot] to put me in that situation,” Metzger said. “It feels really nice to have a perfect record.”

Lewis’ single plated Tourdot to give VFW a 7-6 advantage, and with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Kiwanis Club found a way to even the score once again. Lopez and Lloyd each reached base to start the frame, and Grant Messer singled to move Lloyd to third base and keep his team alive. Lloyd then scored on a passed ball to make it a 7-7 game and force extra innings.

Looking to take command, VFW began its three-run seventh inning with a single by Colton O’Rorke. Meyers, Lewis and Nolan Fonfara each reached base, with Gensler also getting on base to keep the VFW offense going.

Leading 10-7, O’Rorke took the mound for VFW, and despite giving up a hit-by-pitch to Kiwanis Club’s Travis Russell and a single to Lopez, O’Rorke induced a grounder by Breydan Lowery that found its way into the glove of Lewis, who fired over to the first baseman Gensler to end the game.

“I’ve been in this league for four years and I’ve only won the championship once,” Noah Lara said. “We had a really good defense and we kept hitting the ball.”

The VFW roster includes Tommy Tourdot, Anlun Meyers, Brandyn Metzger, Grant Gensler, Carson Lewis, Garrett Gensler, Noah Lara, Colton O’Rorke, Hunter Bartel, Erich Metzger, Nolan Fonfara and Austin Davis. Joe Tourdot and Jeremy O’Rorke as well as volunteers Ray Lara and Jim Gensler coach the team.

Kiwanis Club features Travis Russell, Wade Smith, Lucas Smardo, Daniel Cervantes, Ivon Lopez, Braden Behrens, Josh Lloyd, Brandon Moody, Breydan Lowery and Grant Messer. Ben Eyster coaches the team.