The Luverne High School baseball team won two big Section 3AA games at home Saturday, May 27.
The Cardinals beat Pipestone 13-3 in their first game and blanked St. James 10-0 in the second game.
Luverne was scheduled to travel to Marshall Tuesday, May 30, to take on Paynesville Area in section play.
LHS 13, Pipestone 3
In Section 3AA baseball tournament play, Luverne hosted Pipestone at Redbird Field Saturday, May 27.
The Cardinals grabbed the lead late in the game to defeat the Arrows 13-3 in six innings.
In the bottom of the third inning senior Zach DeBoer got Luverne on the board, scoring on an error by the Arrows first basemen.
Pipestone took the lead 3-1 in the top of the fourth, only to see it fall in the bottom with LHS scoring seven runs.
The Cardinals regained the lead 8-3 with a blast over the fence by junior Conner Connell whose home run drove in junior Jacob Stroh from second base and sparked Luverne’s dominance at the plate.
Other Cardinals scoring in the fourth were junior Will Serie, junior Elliot Domagala, DeBoer and sophomore Alex Schlosser.
LHS added five more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to secure a 13-3 win over Pipestone.
Luverne had 10 hits, stole eight bases and covered 14 bases in the game.
Stroh took the mound for the Cardinals, pitching three innings without a hit. He allowed three runs while striking out three batters.
Sehr came in to relieve him, pitching three innings, allowing three hits and no runs, and struck out four batters.
LHS vs. Pipestone
BOX Score
PPST 0 0 0 3 0 0 x 3
LHS 0 0 1 7 0 5 x 13
Batting
Luverne AB R H RBI
Sehr 2 1 1 1
Sneller 3 1 1 0
Stroh 2 2 2 1
Connell 3 2 2 3
Serie 3 2 0 1
Domagala 4 2 2 2
Miller 2 0 0 0
Kroski 2 0 1 1
DeBoer 2 2 0 0
Schlosser 3 1 1 1
Left on base: 4
2B: Kroski
HR: Connell
TB: Connell 5, Domagala 2, Kroski 2, Schlosser, Sehr, Sneller, Stroh 2
SB: Connell, DeBoer, Domagala, Sehr 2, Serie, Stroh 2
Pitching
Luverne IP H R ER SO
Stroh 3 0 3 0 3
Sehr 3 3 0 0 4
Win: Sehr
Pitches-Strikes: Stroh 51-35, Sehr 44-32
LHS 10, St. James 0
In the Cardinals’ second Section 3AA game May 27, they blanked St. James 10-0 at home.
St. James beat Redwood Valley 4-3 in the second game of the day at Redbird Field, winning the right to face the Cardinals and continue advancing in the tournament.
Luverne started the game, taking a 9-0 lead over the Saints after two innings.
LHS added one more run in the fourth and ended the game in the top of the fifth stopping St. James from scoring a single run.
The game wasn’t without controversy. In the second inning LHS base runner Domagala tagged up on a caught pop fly in center field and collided with the Saints catcher in front of home plate.
The Saints catcher did not possess the ball on the play at any time.
To make matters worse, a heads up play by Schlosser, led him to follow Domagala to home plate scoring right after the collision.
After lengthy discussion, grumbling and fan comments, Domagala was verified safe and the contact was not flagrant in nature.
DeBoer pitched five innings, allowing two hits and no runs while striking out six batters.
LHS vs. St. James
BOX Score
St.J 0 0 0 0 0 x x 0
LHS 4 5 0 1 x x x 10
Batting
Luverne AB R H RBI
Sehr 3 1 1 0
Sneller 4 1 1 0
Stroh 1 2 1 1
Connell 3 0 1 0
Serie 3 2 0 0
Domagala 2 3 1 0
Schlosser 2 1 2 1
DeBoer 3 0 3 5
Ahrendt 3 0 0 0
Left on base: 7
2B: DeBoer, Schlosser, Stroh
TB: Connell, DeBoer 4, Domagala, Schlosser 3, Sehr, Sneller, Stroh 2
SB: Sehr, Sneller, Stroh
Pitching
Luverne IP H R ER SO
DeBoer 5 2 0 0 6
Win: DeBoer
Pitches-Strikes: DeBoer 61-41