The Luverne Redbirds played four games this past week and went 4-0 to bring their overall record to 5-1.
The amateur baseball team opened the week with a 10-0 victory over Tracy on Wednesday, May 19, in Luverne.
On Friday, May 21, the Redbirds traveled to Pipestone and defeated the A’s 5-2.
The Redbirds defeated the Ruthton Royals 9-6 and Mountain Lake 9-0 on Sunday, May 23, in Luverne.
Redbirds 10, Engineers 0
Luverne and Tracy were tied at 0-0 when the Redbirds came up to bat in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Luverne’s Phil Paquette broke that tie when he hit an RBI double to score Ben Serie.
The Redbirds added one more run in the bottom of the fifth to take a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth inning the Redbirds tacked on two more runs to build a 4-0 lead.
The Redbirds scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh and three more in the bottom of the eighth to win the game 10-0.
Isaiah Bartels picked up the win for the Redbirds by pitching four innings and recorded six strikeouts.
Jake Haugen went 4-4 at the plate with a double and three runs batted in.
Tracy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Luverne 0 0 0 0 2 2 3 3 10
Hitting: Nath 1-5; Serie 2-4; Paquette 1-3; Haugen 4-4, Meyer 1-5
Redbirds 5, A’s 2
The Redbirds scored four runs in the final three innings to pick up a come-from-behind victory over the A’s on Friday, May 21.
Codie Zeutenhorst hit an RBI single to score Newt Johnson in the first inning to give the Redbirds an early 1-0 lead.
The A’s answered back by scoring a run in the bottom of the first and the bottom of the second to claim a 2-1 lead.
The Redbirds scored a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 3-2 lead.
In the top of the ninth the Redbirds added a pair of insurance runs to make it a 5-2 ballgame.
Serie picked up the save for the Redbirds by closing the door on the A’s in the bottom of the ninth.
Paquette went 3-4 at the plate with a triple and one RBI.
Luverne 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 5
Pipestone 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Batting: Beers 2-5; Serie 2-4; Paquette 3-4; Zeutenhorst 1-5; Haugen 1-5; Meyer 2-4; Bartels 1-4
Doubles: Beers
Triples: Paquette
Redbirds 9, Royals 6
The Redbirds used another late rally to defeat the Ruthton Royals 9-6 on Sunday, May 23.
With the Royals holding a 5-2 lead, the Redbirds scored a combined seven runs in the fifth and sixth innings to pick up a 9-6 victory.
The Royals scored five runs in the top of the first inning to jump out to an early lead.
Luverne was able to get one run back in the bottom of the first inning to make it a 5-1 Royals lead.
Ruthton added one run in the top of the fourth to push their lead to 6-1.
The Redbirds got that run back in the bottom of the fourth to once again make it a four-run deficit.
In the bottom of the fifth, Codie Zeutenhorst hit a pinch-hit grand slam. The grand slam was part of a five-run fifth inning for the Redbirds that helped them take a 7-6 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth inning Paquette hit a solo home run.
Ruthton 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 6
Luverne 1 0 0 1 5 2 x 9
Batting: Beers 1-4; Serie 1-3; Paquette 1-3; Wenninger 2-3; Norman 1-1; Crabtree 1-3; Zeutenhorst 1-1; Nath 1-3
Doubles: Beers; Crabtree
Home runs: Paquette
Luverne 9, Mountain Lake 0
The Redbirds limited Mountain Lake to one hit on Sunday, May 23. With the Mountain Lake bats silenced, the Redbirds cruised to a 9-0 victory.
With the score 0-0, the Redbirds scored five runs in the bottom of the third to take a 5-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Redbirds tacked on four more runs to make the final score 9-0.
Paquette finished the game 2-3 at the plate with a home run.
By going 4-0 the Redbirds improved to 5-1 overall.
The Redbirds will be back at Redbird Field on Friday, May 28, against Marshall.
Mountain Lake 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Redbirds 0 0 5 0 4 0 x 9
Batting: Nath 1-5; Paquette 2-3; Johnson 1-1; Wenninger 1-3; Beers 1-3; Zeutenhorst 1-4; Haugen 1-4; Meyer 1-3
Doubles: Johnson
Home Runs: Paquette