The Luverne amateur baseball team played two games in Castlewood, South Dakota, Saturday and won both contests.
The Redbirds defeated the Castlewood Monarchs 9-5 before coming out on top of the Castlewood Ravens 9-0.
The local team has played its first three games in South Dakota because coronavirus-related restrictions on baseball games being played had not yet been lifted in Minnesota.
The Minnesota Baseball Association (MBA), which governs amateur teams in the state, allowed teams to begin playing games in Minnesota June 12 if the teams follow virus-related guidelines and the entities that own or control the ballpark allow play.
Luverne’s Redbird Field is owned by the city of Luverne. City officials have given the green light for games to begin, with some restrictions.
The Redbirds play their first home game Wednesday, June 17, and will host Ruthton at Redbird Field on Wednesday, June 24.
Redbirds 9, Ravens 0
Luverne completed the sweep of the two Castlewood teams when they defeated the Ravens 9-0 Saturday.
Jake Haugen pitched all seven innings for Luverne. He struck out nine batters and gave up four hits and no walks.
“Jake pitched really, really well,” said Redbirds player-manager Brooks Mauer.
The Redbirds scored three runs in the fourth inning and five more in the sixth.
“It was a pretty small field, but there was a strong wind blowing in so any ball hit in the air didn’t get real far,” Mauer said.
Luverne was led by Declan Beers and Skyler Wenninger at the plate. Both batters had three hits in the game.
Wenninger scored three runs and added two RBIs.
Box score AB H R BI
Serie 4 1 0 1
Beers 3 3 1 1
Paquette 2 0 1 0
Colby Crabtree 1 0 0 0
Wenninger 4 3 3 2
Reisdorfer 3 2 1 1
Norman 3 0 1 1
Mauer 1 0 0 0
Haugen 2 0 0 0
Brown 1 0 0 0
Lundgren 3 2 1 2
Connor Crabtree 2 0 1 0
Redbirds 9, Monarchs 5
The Redbirds opened a double-header in Castlewood, South Dakota, Saturday with a 9-5 win over the Castlewood Monarchs.
Each team took turns scoring runs in the early innings until Luverne scored five runs in the fifth inning to take the lead that they kept the remainder of the game.
Phil Paquette led the offense for the Redbirds with three hits, including two doubles. He also scored two runs and earned three RBIs.
Ben Serie, Declan Beers, and Wenninger also scored two runs each for the victors. Wenninger also added three RBIs.
Derek Lundgren pitched all seven innings for the Redbirds. Lundgren gave up only two hits and six walks while striking out nine batters.
Box score AB H R BI
Serie 2 0 2 0
Beers 4 1 2 0
Paquette 4 3 2 3
Norman 1 0 0 0
Wenninger 3 1 2 3
Reisdorfer 5 2 0 1
Lundgren 3 1 0 1
Haugen 3 0 1 0
Brown 4 0 0 0
Crabtree 1 0 0 0
Mauer 1 1 0 0