The Luverne High School softball team stretched its winning streak to 10-0 last week with a pair of wins against Jackson County Central at home on Tuesday, May 3.
St. James, however, proved to be too much for the Cardinals who dropped two games to the hosts, 4-2 and 9-6, on Thursday, May 5.
The LHS girls made quick work of Adrian, 16-1, the next day in Ellsworth before beating the Trojans 5-3 in Worthington Monday night.
The 12-2 Cardinals were scheduled to face Fairmont at home Tuesday. They’ll travel to Redwood Falls on May 12 and Marshall on May 14.
LHS 7, JCC 6
Billi Connell started off Game 1 against Jackson on May 3 in Luverne with a solo homerun, and the Cardinals plated three more runs in the third inning with a single off the bat of Peyton Behr, three walks and a sacrifice bunt from Anika Boll.
The Cardinals led 4-0 after three innings, before JCC scored one run in the fourth inning.
Luverne answered by scoring one run with a triple from Ella Reisdorfer, pushing the Cardinals up 5-1 after four innings.
JCC plated two runs in the fifth off three hits, and the Cardinals were unable to score, shrinking their lead to 5-3.
JCC scored another run in the sixth but the Cardinals were also able to score one, taking their lead to 6-4. In the seventh inning Jackson took the lead in the top half scoring two.
The Cardinals were able to plate the winning run with a walk-off single from Tori Serie, beating Jackson County Central 7-6.
Gracie Nath threw all seven innings for LHS. She allowed six runs on eight hits, struck out 12, and walked one.
Box score AB R H RBI
B Connell 2 1 1 1
P Behr 3 1 1 0
C Olson 3 1 0 0
R Bork 2 2 0 0
B Smidt 2 0 0 0
A Boll 3 0 0 1
T Serie 4 0 1 1
J Smith 3 0 0 0
E Reisdorfer 2 2 1 0
LHS 16, JCC 6
The Cardinals were outscored 4-0 in the first inning, when Peyton Behr had the only hit for Luverne while JCC plated four runs off four hits and a Luverne error.
Luverne was able to recover three runs in the second inning with a double from Anika Boll and two JCC errors. Luverne cut JCC’s lead to 4-3.
The Cardinals scored three in the third with a hit from Boll and two more JCC errors to take the lead 6-4 and scored five more runs in the fourth to lead 11-4. Jackson was scoreless in the third and fourth innings.
Ella Reisdorfer started the fifth inning with a double, Connell hit a two-run homerun, and Carly Olson hit an RBI single.
Luverne wasn’t done yet. The seventh inning started off with a pair of LHS walks, an RBI single from Connell, an RBI double from Behr and an RBI double from Olson to pad the Cardinals’ score 16-4.
Jackson was able to score two more runs in the seventh, but the game had ended 16-6 after five innings.
Reisdorfer started on the mound for LHS, facing five batters and allowing four hits and four runs while walking one.
Nath got the win for LHS, pitching the five innings after replacing Reisdorfer in the first. Nath allowed three hits and two runs, struck out three, and walked one.
Box score AB R H RBI
B Connell 4 2 2 3
P Behr 3 2 2 1
C Olson 3 3 2 2
R Bork 3 2 0 0
B Smidt 2 1 0 0
B Siebenhaler 1 0 0 0
A Boll 4 2 2 2
T Serie 3 1 0 1
J Smith 2 1 0 0
E Reisdorfer 2 2 1 1
St. James 4, LHS 2
The Cardinals took their first loss of the season on May 5 when they traveled to St. James.
Luverne had no hits and no runs in the first two innings of Game 1 when St. James scored one in the first and held the 1-0 lead through the second inning.
The Cardinals scored two runs in the third to take the lead 2-1 with singles from Ella Reisdorfer, Billi Connell and Carly Olson, but that would prove to be the last of Luverne’s points for Game 1.
St. James scored two more runs in the fifth inning and another in the sixth to win the game 4-2.
Gracie Nath threw all six innings for the Cardinals, taking the loss. She allowed four runs on eight hits, striking out six and walking four.
Box score AB R H RBI
B Connell 1 1 1 1
P Behr 3 0 0 0
C Olson 3 0 1 1
R Bork 2 0 0 0
B Smidt 3 0 0 0
A Boll 3 0 0 0
T Serie 3 0 0 0
J Smith 3 0 0 0
E Reisdorfer 3 1 1 0
St. James 9, LHS 6
St. James came out swinging in Game 2, scoring three runs in the first inning. Luverne sent three batters to the plate with no results.
In the second inning both teams put up zeros, but in the third inning, Luverne cut the lead to 1-3 with a pair of singles from Connell and Behr.
Reghan Bork had the only hit in the fourth inning. St. James scored two runs in the fourth on a pair of LHS errors to advance their lead to 1-5.
The Cardinals had a strong fifth inning with a single from Ella Reisdorfer , a single from Billi Connell, and a two-RBI double off the bat of Carly Olson to tie the game at 5.
LHS shut down St. James in the fifth and sixth innings.
Luverne scored one run in the sixth to take the lead 6-5. Billi Connell hit an RBI double.
St. James took the lead back in the top of the seventh, scoring four runs. Luverne failed to score any runs in the seventh and dropped the game 9-6.
Gracie Nath took the loss for the Cardinals, pitching all seven innings. She allowed nine runs on 11 hits, struck out four, and walked four.
Box score AB R H RBI
B Connell 4 2 3 1
P Behr 3 1 1 2
C Olson 3 0 1 2
R Bork 4 0 1 0
B Smidt 4 0 0 0
A Boll 3 0 0 0
T Serie 3 0 0 0
J Smith 3 0 2 0
E Reisdorfer 3 1 1 0
LHS 16, Adrian 1
Luverne took the field in Ellsworth on Friday, May 6, against the Adrian Area Dragons.
The Cardinals scored seven runs in the first inning. Carly Olson hit an RBI double, Belle Smidt hit a two-RBI single, and Olson hit an RBI single. Adrian scored no runs in the first.
Luverne was unable to score in the second inning. Anika Boll hit a single but no runs were scored.
Adrian was able to plate one in the second, cutting the Cardinal lead to 7-1.
Billi Connell hit a homerun in the third inning to put the Cardinals up 8-1.
Carly Olson hit an RBI double to take the score to 9-1 after three innings.
Luverne kept the hits going in the fourth with a double off the bat of Jacey Smith and a single from Peyton Behr, adding two more runs and taking the Cardinals’ lead to 11-1 after four innings.
The Cardinals loaded the bases in the fifth, and Billi Connell hit a grand slam to clear them, taking the lead to 15-1.
A couple of walks and an Adrian error advanced the Cardinal lead to 16-1 after 5 innings. Adrian was unable to plate any more runs and the game ended after five innings.
Ella Reisdorfer threw four innings to take the win. She allowed one run on three hits, struck out six and walked four.
Carly Olson threw the last inning of the game. She allowed no runs on one hit and walked one batter.
Box score AB R H RBI
B Connell 3 3 2 6
P Behr 4 2 1 0
C Olson 4 1 3 3
R Bork 2 2 0 0
B Smidt 4 1 1 2
A Boll 2 2 1 0
G Nath 0 1 0 0
T Serie 3 1 0 1
M Swenson 0 1 0 0
J Smith 3 2 1 1
E Reisdorfer 3 0 0 1
B Siebenhaler 1 0 0 0
LHS 5, WHS 3
The Cardinals beat the Trojans 5-3 in extra innings Monday in Worthington, improving their overall record to 12-2.
Luverne was unable to score any runs in the first three innings.
Worthington had the lead going into the fourth inning 2-0. Luverne was able to tie it at 2 in the fourth with singles from Peyton Behr and Belle Smidt.
The fifth inning was scoreless by both teams.
The Cardinals scored one run in the sixth inning.
Billi Connell hit a triple and scored on a pass ball. Worthington was able to tie it back up in the bottom of the six at 3-3.
The seventh and eighth innings were scoreless for both teams.
The Cardinals were able to score two runs in the ninth inning with a single from Carly Olson and an in-the-park homerun off the bat of Anika Boll. The Cardinals shut down the Trojans in the bottom of the ninth to get the win.
Gracie Nath threw all nine innings for the Cardinals. She allowed three runs on five hits, walked three and struck out six.
Box score AB R H RBI
B Connell 4 2 1 0
P Behr 4 1 1 0
C Olson 4 0 1 0
R Bork 3 0 0 0
B Smidt 4 0 1 2
A Boll 4 1 1 2
T Serie 4 0 0 0
J Smith 3 0 0 0
E Reisdorfer 3 0 0 0