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The Luverne baseball team came up short in the state tournament run, losing to Fairmont in the Section Championship Thursday, June 8, in Windom.
Fairmont beat Luverne 6-4 in the first game, forcing a second game to determine the section champion.
In the section playoffs, Luverne and Fairmont each won one game against each other, forcing another game June 8 to break the 1-1 tie.
In the second game, Fairmont handed the Cardinals a disappointing 3-2 loss to advance to state competition.
The Cardinals finished the year with a record of 20-6 and an 11-1 record in the Big South Conference.
Fairmont 6, LHS 4
Luverne traveled to Windom Thursday, June 8, for the Section 3A Championship against Fairmont, falling 6-4 in extra innings.
The Cardinals closed the first inning scoring four runs and taking the lead 4-0 over Fairmont.
Junior Will Serie doubled on a fly ball, scoring sophomore Carter Sehr, senior Riley Sneller and junior Jacob Stroh.
Junior Elliot Domagala followed with a double to drive in Serie.
And that is where Luverne’s scoring ended.
Fairmont scored one run in the top of the second and tied the game at four in the seventh inning, scoring three runs on one error, a single and a groundout.
In the top of the 10th inning Fairmont added two more runs, taking a 6-4 lead.
LHS was unable to produce any runs in the bottom of the inning and took a 6-4 loss.
Senior Zach DeBoer opened the game pitching for Luverne, going 2 1/3 innings, allowing one run on one hit, striking out two batters.
Junior Conner Connell came in to relieve DeBoer, pitching 6 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits, striking out 10 batters.
Sehr then came into the game, pitching 1 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on two hits, striking out one batter.
BOX Score
FRMN 0 1 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 2
LHS 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Batting
Luverne AB R H RBI
Sehr 4 1 1 0
Sneller 2 1 0 0
Stroh 4 1 0 0
Connell 5 0 1 0
Serie 5 1 3 3
Domagala 5 0 1 1
Schlosser 4 0 1 0
DeBoer 4 0 0 0
Buss 2 0 0 0
Miller 1 0 0 0
Left On Base: 8
2B: Domagala, Serie
TB: Connell, Domagala 2, Schlosser, Sehr, Serie 4
Pitching
Luverne IP H R ER SO
DeBoer 2.1 1 1 0 2
Connell 6.1 5 3 1 10
Sehr 1.1 2 2 2 1
Loss: DeBoer
Pitches-Strikes: DeBoer 50-29, Connell 116-72, Sehr 22-9
Fairmont 3, LHS 2
In a forced second game, Fairmont was able to walk off Luverne in a 3-2 win to advance to the Section 3A State Tournament.
The Cardinals scored their two runs in the top of the first inning.
Serie singled to right field, driving in Sehr from third base, and Domagala singled to left field, scoring Connell.
Fairmont cut the lead to one in the fifth inning and one run in the seventh inning to tie the Cardinals 2-2.
In the eighth inning, Fairmont reached first base on an error, bunted for an out, advancing a runner to second.
With one out and a runner on third base, Fairmont was able to score on an error and win the game 3-2.
Jacob Stroh started on the mound for Luverne, pitching six innings, allowing two runs on three hits, striking out three batters.
DeBoer came in to relieve Stroh in the seventh inning, pitching 1 1/3 innings, allowing one run on two hits, striking out one batter.
BOX Score
LHS 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
FRMN 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1
Batting
Luverne AB R H RBI
Sehr 3 1 1 0
Sneller 4 0 1 0
Stroh 4 0 1 0
Connell 3 1 1 0
Serie 3 0 1 1
Domagala 4 0 1 1
Schlosser 3 0 1 0
DeBoer 2 0 0 0
Ahrendt 2 0 0 0
Miller 1 0 0 0
Left On Base: 7
TB: Connell, Domagala, Schlosser, Sehr, Serie, Stroh
Pitching
Luverne IP H R ER SO
Stroh 6 3 2 1 3
DeBoer 1.1 2 1 0 1
Loss: DeBoer
Pitches-Strikes: Stroh 96-56, DeBoer 24-17