By Stacy Olson
For the Star Herald
The Luverne High School softball team wrapped up another busy stretch of play with five games in the past week.
They beat Fairmont 11-3 in a home game Tuesday, May 10, and defeated Redwood Valley 13-3 and 17-7 in a doubleheader that started May 12 and finished May 14 due to weather.
Also on Saturday in Marshall, they made quick work of RTR 13-0 before falling to Marshall 3-1, their third loss of the season.
Luverne will play its last regular season game against Edgerton on Thursday, May 19, at Edgerton.
LHS 13, Redwood 3
The Cardinals traveled to Redwood Falls on Thursday, May 12, for a doubleheader that ended after the first game due to weather.
Carly Olson hit a two-RBI double to score two runs in the first inning.
Redwood scored one run on an LHS error. LHS led 2-1 after one inning.
Luverne scored five runs in the second inning. Ella Reisdorfer, Peyton Behr and Carly Olson all hit singles, and Anika Boll hit a double, which completed the scoring for LHS.
Redwood was able to plate a run in the second, trimming Luverne’s lead to 7-2, but Luverne scored six more runs in the third inning.
Billi Connell singled, Behr singled, Olson hit a double, and Boll singled.
Redwood was unable to manufacture any runs, putting Luverne’s lead at 13-3.
The fourth and fifth innings were scoreless by both teams. Macey Swenson and Jacey Smith each recorded hits, but no runs were scored.
Luverne finished the game in five innings, out-scoring Redwood 13-3.
Ella Reisdorfer got the win for Luverne. She threw four innings of one-hit, three-run ball, struck out five, and walked five.
Gracie Nath threw one inning of relief, allowing one hit and no runs. Nath struck out three and walked no one. The Cardinals started Game 2 but were shut down early due to a storm.
Box score AB R H RBI
B Connell 4 2 1 1
P Behr 3 3 2 1
M Swenson 1 1 1 0
C Olson 4 2 3 4
R Bork 1 1 0 1
B Smidt 2 1 0 2
A Boll 4 0 2 3
G Nath 3 0 0 0
T Serie 1 0 0 0
J Smith 2 1 1 0
E Reisdorfer 4 2 1 0
LHS 13, RTR 0
The Cardinals traveled to Marshall on Saturday, May 14, to play three games, including the second game of the Redwood doubleheader.
The Cardinals faced Russell-Tyler-Ruthton for the first game. The Cardinals took the lead in the first inning, outscoring RTR 2-0. Carly Olson hit an RBI double to put the Cardinals on the board.
The Cardinals advanced their lead to 5-0 after two innings. Peyton Behr hit a two-RBI double and Carly Olson had an RBI single.
Neither team was able to score in the third. Anika Boll hit a double, but it wasn't enough to plate a run.
In the fourth inning both Jacey Smith and Billi Connell reached base on singles. The Cardinals were unable to string enough together to score a run.
The fifth inning was also scoreless despite a single from Belle Smidt.
LHS was able to open up the game in the sixth inning, scoring three runs off a pair of singles from Peyton Behr and Reghan Bork and a double from Jacey Smith to take the Cardinals to an 8-0 lead.
The Cardinals plated five more runs in the seventh inning to win 13-0. Jacey Smith, Amira Cowell, Billi Connell and Peyton Behr all singled to get the inning going. Carly Olson hit a two-run homerun to finish the scoring for LHS.
Gracie Nath threw the shutout for LHS. Nath did not allow a run on four hits. She struck out 15 and walked two.
The Cardinals improved to 15 wins and two losses on their season.
Box score AB R H RBI
B Connell 5 3 2 2
P Behr 5 4 3 4
C Olson 5 1 3 4
R Bork 5 0 1 2
B Smidt 4 0 1 0
A Boll 4 0 1 0
T Serie 2 0 0 0
K Franken 1 0 0 0
M Swenson 1 0 0 0
J Smith 3 2 3 0
E Reisdorfer 3 1 0 0
A Cowell 1 2 1 0
Marshall 3, LHS 1
The Cardinals fell to Marshall in the second game Saturday in Marshall. The Cardinals played a tight game with the Tigers who scored late in the game to oust Luverne 3-1.
The Cardinals had a great game defensively. With the help of Billi Connell, they had a double play in each of the first four innings.
The Cardinals had five hits in seven innings. Carly Olson doubled in the first inning. Billi Connell singled in the third inning. Reghan Bork and Amira Cowell both singled in the fourth inning, scoring Luverne’s only run. Peyton Behr hit a double in the fifth for the last Cardinal hit of the game.
Marshall scored one run in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to give the Cardinals their third loss of the season.
Gracie Nath pitched all six innings for LHS. She allowed three runs on six hits, struck out one, and walked no one.
Box score AB R H RBI
B Connell 4 0 1 0
P Behr 4 0 1 0
C Olson 3 0 1 0
R Bork 3 1 1 0
B Smidt 2 0 0 0
A Boll 2 0 0 0
A Cowell 3 0 1 1
J Smith 3 0 0 0
E Reisdorfer 3 0 0 0
LHS 17, Redwood 7
On Saturday in Marshall, the Cardinal girls played the second game of a doubleheader they started with Redwood Thursday night when the game was called off after three innings due to weather.
Luverne led 3-0 after the first inning. Peyton Behr had the only hit of the inning. The Cardinals doubled the score in the second, scoring three more runs. Peyton Behr and Carly Olson both hit doubles to take the lead to 6-0.
The Cardinals plated two more runs in the third with singles of the bats of Jacey Smith and Billi Connell.
Redwood countered with seven runs off three hits and two Luverne errors to cut the LHS lead to 8-7.
LHS came back swinging in the fourth inning and scored eight runs to double their score to 16. Belle Smidt, Anika Boll and Ella Reisdorfer all hit singles to help LHS open up their lead to 16-7.
LHS held Redwood the last two innings. The Cardinals scored one run in the fifth with an RBI single from Billi Connell to end the game after five innings. The Cardinals won 17-7, improving their record to 16-3.
Gracie Nath started the game in Redwood, pitching two innings, allowing no runs and no hits, and striking out three.
Ella Reisdorfer resumed the game in Marshall, pitching one inning and allowing seven runs on one hit. Reisdorfer struck out two and walked two.
Amira Cowell made her varsity pitching debut. She threw two innings, allowing no runs and no hits. Cowell struck out two and walked one.
Box score AB R H RBI
B Connell 3 3 1 4
P Behr 4 2 2 1
C Olson 2 2 1 3
R Bork 1 2 0 1
B Smidt 4 1 2 2
A Boll 4 1 1 2
T Serie 2 1 0 0
M Swenson 1 0 0 0
J Smith 2 2 1 0
E Reisdorfer 2 1 1 0
A Cowell 2 2 1 0
LHS 11, Fairmont 3
The Luverne High School softball team hosted its last regular season home game on Tuesday, May 10, when the Cardinals honored their seniors for their dedication on and off the field.
The 2022 seniors include Billi Connell, Kendall Buss, Reghan Bork, Jacey Smith, Brenn Siebenahler and Macey Swenson.
The Cardinals took the game from Fairmont, outscoring the visitors 13-3 and improved their record to 13-2.
Fairmont scored one run in the first inning, but LHS scored three runs in the first to take the lead early. Billi Connell hit a double to start off the game. Peyton Behr and Reghan Bork also hit doubles in the first inning.
Fairmont was unable to score in the second inning. Luverne plated four runs with singles from Tori Serie, Billi Connell and Ella Reisdorfer, and Carly Olson hit a double to bring the score to 6-1.
Fairmont scored two runs in the third inning and Luverne scored one run, pushing LHS to a 7-3 lead. Jacey Smith singled and Billi Connell hit an RBI double.
Fairmont was unable to score again in the game.
Luverne added four more runs in the fourth inning. Carly Olson led off with a double, Reghan Bork hit a single, Belle Smidt hit a two-RBI double, and Peyton Behr singled to help LHS take the lead to 11-3.
In the fifth inning LHS closed out the game by the 10-run rule over the visitors with an RBI double off the bat of Connell.
Gracie Nath threw all five innings for Luverne to record the win. She allowed three runs on five hits, struck out 11 and walked two.
Box score AB R H RBI
B Connell 5 2 4 3
P Behr 3 3 2 1
C Olson 4 1 2 2
R Bork 4 1 1 2
B Smidt 3 1 1 2
M Swenson 0 0 0 0
A Boll 2 1 0 0
B Siebenahler 1 0 0 0
T Serie 4 1 0 0
J Smith 3 2 1 1
E Reisdorfer 4 1 3 1