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The Luverne Cardinals baseball team finished its season as the Section 3AA runner-up for the third year in a row.
Paynesville punched its ticket to the Class AA Minnesota State Baseball Tournament with a 4-0 victory over Luverne in the section championship game Thursday (June 6) at Legion Field in Marshall.
Luverne reached the section title game with a dramatic walk-off 3-2 victory over Fairmont June 4.
The Cardinals end their season at 21-4.
Many of this year’s seniors have played varsity for three years and played in three consecutive section title games.
Luverne’s overall record is 65-15 over those three seasons.
“It’s been a nice run for these seniors,” LHS coach Mike Wenninger said.
“But it’s always disappointing not to win your last game,” he added. “One of these times it would be nice to win one (section championship).”
Paynesville 4, Luverne 0
Luverne faced Paynesville for the second time in five days at Legion Field in Marshall Thursday.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the opponent and location weren’t the only things that didn’t change.
The pitcher and results were the same as well.
Paynesville’s Grady Fuchs pitched all seven innings of both games and stymied the Cardinals.
In those 14 innings, Fuchs gave up no runs and only five hits to Luverne.
The Cardinals only managed one hit, a double by Ben Serie, in the title game.
Serie was the starting pitcher for Luverne. The senior pitched 2 1/3 innings, giving up four runs off of four hits. He struck out two and walked four Bulldog batters.
Jake Haugen pitched the final 4 2/3 innings for the Cardinals. He gave up no runs and three hits and struck out two.
Paynesville scored one run in the top of the first inning and three more in the third.
Box score AB R H BI
Nath 3 0 0 0
Crabtree 2 0 0 0
Serie 3 0 1 0
Lundgren 2 0 0 0
Haugen 3 0 0 0
Bartels 3 0 0 0
Reisch 1 0 0 0
Nekali 2 0 0 0
Cowell 1 0 0 0
Sterrett 2 0 0 0
Luverne 3, Fairmont 2
The Luverne baseball team earned a spot in the Section 3A championship game for the third year in a row with a victory over Fairmont Tuesday, June 4.
The Cardinals fended off elimination from the tournament with the 3-2 walk-off victory in the game played in Jackson.
Luverne senior Ben Serie’s RBI double to right field in the bottom of the seventh inning won the game for the Cardinals.
“I just wanted to find a gap on the right side of the field to score Mark (Sterrett) from second base,” Serie said.
“When I got the fastball I wanted, I just swung hard and the ball went where I wanted.”
The game-winning hit was one of two RBIs Serie had in the contest.
Fairmont scored first in the top of the first inning with two runs off of two hits.
“We talk a lot in baseball about showing resilience. We score first if we can, but if we don’t, we need to answer back,” said Luverne coach Mike Wenninger.
The Cardinals did answer back by tying the score with one run each in the bottom of the first and third innings.
“What I liked about this game is we were down early, and our defense and pitching kept us in it,” Wenninger said.
Derek Lundgren pitched the first 5 2/3 innings for the Cardinals, giving up two runs and four hits while striking out four Fairmont batters.
Jake Haugen replaced Lundgren on the mound giving up one hit and striking out two.
The game was tied entering the seventh, and final, inning.
Fairmont loaded the bases in the top of the inning with only one out. Haugen struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning without a run scored.
When Luverne came to bat at the bottom of the seventh, Mark Sterrett led off with a walk.
“Sterrett had a great at bat. He saw seven pitches to get that lead off walk,” Wenninger said.
Fairmont then intentionally walked Colby Crabtree before Serie came to the plate to deliver the game-winning RBI to right field that scored Sterrett.
“I was just happy to provide for the boys,” Serie said.
“Right when the ball fell, I looked over at the dugout and saw all the guys running out,” he added. “It was the best feeling seeing everyone so happy that we get the chance to play for a section championship.”
Offensively the Cardinals were led by Charlie Reisch who was three for three at the plate.
Serie, Isaiah Bartels and Sterrett each had two hits for Luverne.
Box score AB R H BI
Nath 2 1 1 0
Crabtree 2 0 0 0
Serie 4 0 2 2
Bartels 3 0 2 1
Haugen 2 0 0 0
Lundgren 3 0 0 0
Reisch 3 0 3 0
Nekali 3 0 0 0
Sterrett 2 2 2 0