The Luverne Cardinals’ quest for a state tournament bid came to a grinding halt on Tuesday, June 8, in Marshall at the hands of Paynesville.
The Cardinals committed eight costly errors and fell to the Bulldogs 14-5.
Luverne opened the game by scoring two runs in the top of the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead.
Paynesville put up eight runs in the bottom of the second inning to claim an 8-2 lead.
The Bulldogs scored one more run in the bottom of the third inning to build a 9-2 lead. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Paynesville pushed across two more runs to build an 11-2 lead.
Luverne scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning to trim Paynesville’s lead to 11-5. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, those would be the final runs they scored in the 2021 season.
The Bulldogs answered back by scoring three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to push their lead back to nine runs at 14-5.
Cade Wenninger led the Cardinals with two hits, including a triple. Wenninger also drove in one run.
Braydon Ripka drove in a team-leading two RBIs.
With the loss the Cardinals finished the season with a 19-5 record.
It marked the third straight season that Paynesville ended Luverne’s season in the section playoffs.
The Cardinals will lose five seniors to graduation. It’s a group that includes Bailey Cowell, Wenninger, Ethan Beyer, Trevor Halverson and Riley Anderson.
LHS 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 5 6 8
Paynesville 0 8 1 2 3 0 x 14 9 1
Hitting: Cowell 1-3; Wenninger 2-3; Sehr 1-2; Overgaard 1-2; Ripka 1-3
Triples: Wenninger
RBI: Wenninger; Beyer; Overgaard; Ripka 2