By John RittenhouseThe Luverne VFW baseball team went 1-3 without placing at the New Ulm Tournament over the weekend.The Cardinals opened the tournament by dropping 11- and six-run decisions to Maple Grove and Mankato on Friday.After losing a three-run game to Hutchinson Saturday morning, Luverne ended its tournament appearance Saturday afternoon by defeating New Ulm Gold by seven runs in extra innings.Luverne ended the tournament with a 15-4 overall record.Luverne 9, NUG 2A seven-run outburst in the top of the ninth inning gave the Cardinals their lone win in the tournament Saturday in New Ulm.The teams played five scoreless innings before Luverne broke through to score nine runs in the top of the ninth.Micah Boomgaarden and Chris Fitzer delivered two-run singles to cap the rally. Zach Olson and Adam Ossefoort singled home one run each, and Andrew DeBoer contributed a sacrifice fly to the rally.Luverne opened the scoring by scoring twice in the first inning before Gold tied the game with single runs in the second and third frames.Tyler Reisch was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Jake Clark registered a sacrifice fly to account for Luverne’s first-inning runs.Clark went the distance on the mound, pitching nine innings of three-hit ball. He recorded eight strikeouts.Box score AB R H BIBoomgaarden 6 1 2 2Elbers 6 2 2 0Fitzer 4 1 1 2Reisch 5 1 4 1Clark 3 1 0 1Olson 6 1 1 1DeBoer 3 0 1 1Bruynes 3 1 0 0Skattum 1 0 1 0Ossefoort 5 1 1 1Hutchinson 3, Luverne 0The Cardinals opened play Saturday by dropping a three-run decision to Hutchinson in Essig.Caleb Bruynes pitched a solid game for the Cards, throwing six innings of four-hit, three-strikeout ball.Hutchinson, however, blanked the Cards. Luverne was limited to four hits. Derek Elbers, Fitzer, Reisch and DeBoer all singled for Luverne.The winners scored one run in the bottom of the first inning and two in the third.Box score AB R H BIBoomgaarden 4 0 0 0Elbers 3 0 1 0Fitzer 2 0 1 0Reisch 3 0 1 0Clark 3 0 0 0DeBoer 3 0 1 0Bruynes 2 0 0 0Hoff 1 0 0 0Olson 3 0 0 0Arndt 2 0 0 0Ossefoort 1 0 0 0Mankato 7, Luverne 1The Cardinals came up six runs short when they took on Mankato during the second game of the tournament Friday in Essig.Mankato opened a six-run lead (scoring single runs in the second and fourth innings and four in the sixth) in the first five and one-half innings of play and won the game by six.Luverne plated its lone run in the bottom of the sixth when Olson tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Elbers.Mankato plated a run in the top of the seventh to cap the scoring.Boomgaarden tossed the first five and one-third innings, taking the loss after surrendering six runs. Fitzer pitched one and two-thirds innings of one-run relief.Box score AB R H BIElbers 2 0 0 1Boomgaarden 3 0 0 0Fitzer 3 0 0 0Reisch 3 0 0 0DeBoer 3 0 1 0Clark 3 0 2 0Bruynes 3 0 0 0Ossefoort 2 0 0 0Skattum 1 0 0 0Hoff 1 0 0 0Olson 1 1 1 0MG 12, Luverne 1The Cardinals opened the tournament by losing an 11-run, five-inning decision to Maple Grove Friday in New Ulm.Luverne trailed 4-1 after scoring a run in the bottom of the third inning, but Maple Grove put together four-run rallies in the fourth and fifth innings to win the game by the 10-run rule.DeBoer pitched the first four innings and took the loss after surrendering 12 runs, five of which were earned. Ossefoort pitched one inning of scoreless relief.Reisch drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth inning to account for Luverne’s run.Box score AB R H BIElbers 3 0 1 0Boomgaarden 2 0 1 0Fitzer 1 0 1 0Skattum 0 0 0 0Reisch 2 0 0 1DeBoer 3 0 1 0Clark 2 0 1 0Bruynes 2 0 0 0Arndt 1 0 0 0Olson 1 0 0 0Ossefoort 1 0 0 0Hoff 2 1 1 0