Birds continue season this week

The Luverne Redbirds, the No. 2 seed in the Region 13C tournament, lost their Final Four series to the Hadley Buttermakers 2-1 (see related story).
The Redbirds will have one more chance to continue their season and qualify for the 2020 Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Tournament when they face the Milroy Irish in the best-of-three 13C Third Place series.
The series begins Wednesday, Aug. 12, at Redbird Field in Luverne. First pitch is at 7:30 p.m.
The second game will be played at Irish Yard, the country ballpark between Milroy and Vesta, Friday night at 7:30 p.m. If Game 3 is needed, the teams will meet Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. in Luverne.
The Milroy Irish, one of two amateur baseball teams in a town with a population of 251, entered the region tournament as the fourth seed.
The Irish defeated the Jackson Bulls in the first round 2-0 before being swept 2-0 by the No. 1 seed Fairmont Martins in the Final Four series last week.
Luverne enters the series with a 15-4 season record while the Irish stand at 18-5 on the year.
“It’s going to be a tough series,” said Luverne player-manager Brooks Maurer. “It always is with Milroy.”
The winner of the Redbirds-Irish series will join Fairmont and Hadley as representatives from Region 13C at the state tournament, which begins Aug. 21 in Springfield and Milroy.
The Redbirds and Irish played in the same third place series last year with Luverne winning the series 2-0 and advancing to the state tournament in 2019.
“I’m sure they will be looking for revenge,” Maurer said.
According to the Redbird manager, the Milroy series may look a lot like the series the Redbirds just completed.
“This series will be similar to Hadley; the Milroy team is scrappy and they play hard.”
 
13C Tournament Results
Final Four Series
Aug. 5 – Aug. 9
1. Fairmont vs. 4. Milroy Irish
Fairmont 8, Milroy 2
Fairmont 19, Milroy 11
 
2. Luverne vs. 6. Hadley
Hadley 4, Luverne 3
Luverne 8, Hadley 2
Hadley 6, Luverne 0
 
 
13C Tournament Schedule
Championship Series
1. Fairmont vs. 6. Hadley
 
Third-Place Round
2. Luverne vs. 4. Milroy