Rock County Sports

Three Luverne youth baseball players got the chance of a lifetime to play at Cooperstown Dreams Park in Milford, N.Y., this summer. Tyson Uithoven, Nolan Weber and Kyler Krzmarzick were chosen to be part of the Southwest Minnesota Blaze 12u team this season. The Southwest Minnesota Blaze is a youth amateur baseball organization in the region featuring travel teams like their 12u and 16u squads…

The Luverne summer soccer program fills a scheduling gap in activities for kids from preschool through seventh grade toward the end of summer. That’s why many families sign up, according to Michele Raddle who coordinates the program. “By the middle to end of July, many summer activities have wrapped up, and August can feel like that quiet time before school starts,” she said. “Soccer gives…

Rapid Speedway Rock Rapids, IA Aug. 7 Results Sportsmans #142 Eric Gaul, Luverne – placed 1st in the A Feature, finished second in Heat 1. #21 Larry Kracht, Magnolia – placed 7th in the A Feature, DNF in Heat 2. #17 Brandon Boeve, Beaver Creek – placed 11th in the A Feature, finished fifth in Heat 1. Overall points leaders to date 7th - Brandon Boeve – 974 9th - Eric Gaul – 783 12th -…

The Redbirds recorded two grand slams and two solo home runs against Hadley over the past week to advance to the Region 10c Championship Tournament. Luverne took down the Hadley Buttermakers in the best of three games beating the Buttermakers 8-0 July 29 in Luverne and 13-1 Aug. 1 in Hadley. In Game 1 Blake Sauer hit a grand slam in the second inning giving Luverne a 4-0 lead. In Game 2 Carter…

The 2026 Rock County Fair showcased several grandstand events and entertainment over the past week. On Wednesday, July 29, the Good Ol’ Plowboys featured several local and regional participants in a lawn mower pull. These were not your everyday off-the-shelf models. Rather, they were machines designed to tear through the dirt and not care about grass. There were five classes of pullers from…

Changes in how hunters buy licenses and validate and register harvests will be in place for all hunters in all seasons with the new electronic licensing system that the Minnesota DNR launched in June. There are three ways to buy a license (mobile app, online, or in-person from a license agent) and three ways to carry it (paper, PDF, or stored in the app). Customers can access the new system on…

The Redbirds finished their regular season going 1-1 in exhibition play at home. The Redbirds fell 14-0 to Sioux City on July 24 and beat Milroy 11-1 on July 26 at Redbird Field. Luverne accumulated a 12-7 season record and went 9-4 in Region 10c action. Luverne, the No. 4 seed, was scheduled to take on Hadley, the No. 5 seed, in Game 1 of Region 10c semifinal playoffs at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday,…

Luverne was knocked out of the Junior Legion Division II Southwest Sub-State Tournament falling 6-4 to Slayton Tuesday, July 21, in Ruthton. Slayton handed Luverne their second loss in the tournament closing their playoff baseball run. Luverne, the No. 2 west seed, fell 13-9 to St. Clair, the No. 3 east seed team, July 19 in first round sub-state play. Luverne came back and beat Adrian, the No…

The Luverne Senior Legion Baseball team finished its 2026 playoff run falling 7-4 to St. James Friday, July 24, in St. James. St. James took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and extended its lead to 5-2 after two innings. In the bottom of the first inning, St. James scored its first run on a single to center field sending a runner on third across home plate. St. James scored…

The Luverne Redbirds captured two home wins in the past week, beating the Brandon Belugas 9-8 in an exhibition game July 17 and taking down the Jackson Bull 3-2 July 19. Luverne, now at 11-6 for the season will host the Sioux City Futures July 24 and the Milroy Irish July 26 in the final two regular season games. Luverne is the No. 4 seed in Region 10C playoffs and will host the No. 5 seed…

Rapid Speedway Rock Rapids, IA No Races Sportsmen Overall points leaders to date 7th - Brandon Boeve – 754 9th - Eric Gaul – 588 12th - Johnathan Tiesler – 397 15th - Larry Kracht – 235   USRA Hobby Stock Overall points leaders to date 8th - Brock Harnack – 670 11th - Chase Overgaard – 608 22nd - Evan Schettler – 182 30th - Zach Bierman – 101 42nd - Silas Top – 62 45th - Spencer…

The Luverne Senior Legion Baseball team went 2-1 at home in warm and humid conditions over the past week. Luverne beat Dell Rapids 9-4 July 7 in the final regular season game. In the West Sub-Sub State playoffs Luverne beat Pipestone 16-0 July 10 and fell 6-4 to Windom July 11. The No. 1 seed Luverne let a 4-1 lead against Windom, the No. 3 seed, dwindled to a 6-4 loss finishing in the runner-…

The Luverne Junior Legion Red and White teams went 1-3 this past week at home. Luverne White fell twice to finish their post season push. Luverne fell 6-4 to Adrian July 12 and 20-10 to Edgerton July 13 in the sub-sub state playoffs. Luverne Red lost 8-5 to Dell Rapids in their final regular season game July 7 at home and beat Adrian 13-0 in the sub-sub section championship. Luverne Red…

Nearly 50 runners participated in the 2026 Nutcracker Half Marathon Saturday, July 11, in the Luverne City Park. “The very first two guys to show up at the park were from Georgia and Oklahoma,” organizer Dave Duffy said. “And another lady drove seven hours from Kansas just to walk.” Duffy said that the two runners have goals of doing a half marathon in each state. Most other participants were…

The Luverne Redbirds pulled off an extra inning win over Pipestone Wednesday, July 8, on the road. Tied 1-1 through nine regulation innings, Luverne rallied to collect three runs in the top of the 10th inning to go ahead 4-1. The Redbirds shut down the A’s in the bottom of the inning to take the win on their rivals’ diamond. Pipestone struck first scoring one run in the first inning, Luverne…

Rapid Speedway July 10 - Rock Rapids, IA Sportsmen #17 Brandon Boeve, Beaver Creek – placed 9th in A Feature, finished sixth in Heat 1. #21 Larry Kracht, Magnolia – DNF in A Feature, finished third in Heat 1. Overall points leaders to date 7th - Brandon Boeve – 754 9th - Eric Gaul – 588 12th - Johnathan Tiesler – 397 15th - Larry Kracht – 235   USRA Hobby Stock #40 Chase Overgaard,…