The Luverne Cardinals went 4-0 this past week to extend their winning streak to six games and improve to 16-1 overall.
The Cardinals opened the week on Tuesday, May 11, with a 19-9 victory over the Worthington Trojans.
Luverne then swept a doubleheader against Redwood Valley in Redwood Falls on Thursday, May 13. The Cardinals won Game 1 of the doubleheader 10-0 and then completed the sweep with a 13-1 victory in Game 2.
The Cardinals wrapped up the week on Monday, May 17, with a 4-3 victory over Worthington in Luverne.
LHS 19, Worthington 9
The Cardinals used a 10-run first inning to squash any thoughts the Trojans may have had about pulling an upset on Tuesday, May 11.
After scoring 10 runs in the first inning, the Cardinals added one more run in the top of the third to take a 11-2 lead. The Trojans scored three runs in the bottom half of the inning to trim Luverne’s lead to 11-5.
Both teams scored one run in the fourth inning to make it a 12-6 ballgame.
The Trojans continued to chip away at Luverne’s lead by scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 12-8 game.
The Cardinals answered by scoring five runs in the top of the sixth to take a 17-8 lead.
Worthington was able to get one run back in the bottom half of the inning to make it 17-9.
Luverne scored a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh to make it a 19-9 ballgame.
Casey Sehr drove in a team-leading five runs for the Cardinals.
LHS 10 0 1 1 0 5 2 19 16 5
Worthington 0 2 3 1 2 1 0 9 12 5
Hitting: Cowell 2-4; Wenninger 1-2; Beyer 2-5; Sehr 2-4; Overgaard 3-5; Ripka 2-5; Connell 2-4; Anderson 2-4
Doubles: Cowell, Anderson, Overgaard, Ripka, Sehr, Beyer
RBI: Sehr 5; Beyer 2; Overgaard 2; Anderson 2; Cowell; Wenninger; Connell; Bosch
LHS 10, RV 0
Backed by a strong pitching performance from Cade Wenninger, the Cardinals blanked Redwood Valley 10-0 in Game 1 of their doubleheader on Thursday, May 13.
Wenninger pitched a complete-game shutout and recorded 10 strikeouts.
The visiting Cardinals scored five runs in the first inning. In the end that’s all the run support Wenninger would need.
Luverne scored three more runs in the top of the second to push its lead to 8-0.
The Cardinals scored one run in the third and one run in the fourth to make the final score 10-0.
Sehr hit a home run and led the team with four RBIs
LHS 5 3 1 1 0 10 16 1
RV 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1
Hitting: Cowell 2-3; Wenninger 3-3; Beyer 2-3; Sehr 2-4; Ripka 1-3; Connell 2-2; Bosch 3-3
Doubles: Wenninger
Home Runs: Sehr
RBI: Sehr 4; Bosch 2; Connell 2; Wenninger
LHS 13, RV 1
In Game 2 the Cardinals once again used a strong first inning to jump out to a comfortable lead.
The Cardinals scored seven runs in the bottom of the first inning after Redwood Valley scored one run in the top of the first.
The score remained 7-1 until the bottom of the fourth inning when Luverne scored six runs to take a 13-1 lead.
Wenninger hit a home run and drove in a pair of runs for Luverne.
RV 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 4
LHS 7 0 0 6 x 13 11 2
Hitting: Cowell 2- 3; Wenninger 1-3; Beyer 2-3; Sehr 2- 3; Overgaard 1-2; Ripka 1-3; Connell 2-3
Doubles: Cowell; Sehr 2; Overgaard
Home Runs: Wenninger
LHS 4, Worthington 3
The Luverne Cardinals edged Worthington 4-3 on Monday, May 17, in Luverne.
The Trojans scored a pair of runs in the top of the first.
Wenninger was the first base runner to reach base for the Cardinals in the bottom of the first after he was hit by a pitch.
With runners on the corners and one out, Sehr hit an RBI single right back up the middle that hit the pitcher.
The Cardinals had the bases loaded with two outs but were unable to score the tying run.
In the top of the second the Trojans scored one run to make it a 3-1 ballgame. Bailey Cowell, Luverne’s starting pitcher recorded three strikeouts in the inning.
The Cardinals scored one run in the bottom of the third to make it a 3-2 ballgame.
In the bottom of the fifth the Cardinals scored the tying run to make it a 3-3 game.
The Cardinals scored what proved to be the winning run in the bottom of the sixth to take a 4-3 lead.
Sehr drove in a pair of runs to lead the Cardinals.
Cowell pitched two innings and recorded five strikeouts.
With the win the Cardinals improved to 16-1.
Worthington 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 2
LHS 1 0 1 0 11 x 4 8 3
Hitting: Wenninger 1-2; Beyer 2-4; Sehr 2-3; Overgaard 1-3; Sneller 1-1; Anderson 1-3
Doubles: Wenninger
RBI: Sehr 2; Anderson