By John RittenhouseThe Luverne baseball team opened Section 3AA Tournament play by splitting games in Jackson Monday.The third-seeded Cardinals posted a four-run win over Redwood Valley in the tournament opener. No. 2 Jackson County Central beat the Cardinals by four runs in Game 2.Luverne, 13-9 overall, was scheduled to play Yellow Medicine East in an elimination game Tuesday in Montevideo, but the tilt was postponed until Wednesday, June 2, due to rain. A win over the Sting would send the Cardinals back to Montevideo tonight for another elimination game.JCC 9, Luverne 5The Cardinals lost their first section game in two years when they squared off against the Huskies during Monday’s second game in Jackson.Luverne sported 2-0 and 3-1 leads during the early stages of the contest, but JCC hit the long ball while outscoring the Cards 8-2 in the final three innings to post a four-run victory.Brendon Raggow belted a pair of homers for JCC, including a two-run shot during a five-run fourth inning that gave the Huskies their first lead. Travis Anderson also homered for the winners.Luverne took a 2-0 lead by scoring single runs in the first and second innings.Taylor Graphenteen singled and scored in the top of the first when Zach Wysong doubled.Rob Fodness singled in the second and scored when Brad Herman slapped an RBI single.JCC cut Luverne’s lead in half (2-1) when Raggow hit his first homer in the bottom of the third, but the Cards got the run back when Jared Pick walked and scored on Tim Boen’s sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth to make it 3-1.The Huskies moved in front 6-3 with their five-run fourth inning only to give up two runs to Luverne in the fifth.Adam Reisch reached base on an error and Wysong singled before Adam Kurtz belted a three-run triple to make it a 6-5 game.JCC scored one run in the bottom of the fifth and put the game away by scoring two runs in the sixth.Wysong pitched the first three and one-third innings and was saddled with the loss. He allowed seven hits, five runs (four were earned) and one walk.J.T. Bruynes recorded two outs and Herman tossed two innings in relief of Wysong.Box score AB R H BIGraphenteen 4 1 1 0Reisch 4 1 0 0Wysong 3 1 2 1Kurtz 3 0 1 2Remme 3 0 0 0Pick 2 1 0 0Fodness 3 1 2 0Boen 3 0 1 1Herman 3 0 2 1Luverne 8, RWV 4The Cardinals opened the tournament by securing a four-run victory over Redwood Valley in Jackson Monday.Luverne trailed 2-1 after four and one-half innings of play, but the Cards scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth on the way to outscoring RWV 7-2 in the final two innings to lock up the win.RWV had just gained a 2-1 lead by scoring one run in the top of the fifth before Luverne erupted for six runs in the bottom of the frame to gain its first lead at 7-2.Herman and Graphenteen singled and scored the first two runs of the sixth when Wysong tripled. After Kurtz walked, Mark Remme delivered a single to plate Wysong.Fodness drew a walk to load the bases as the inning progressed, and a walk to Boen forced home the fourth run of the inning. Herman doubled home two runs to end the rally.Wysong doubled and scored on an error to give the Cardinals an 8-2 lead in the bottom of sixth before RWV capped the scoring with a two-run seventh inning.Both teams scored single runs in the second inning.Remme doubled and scored on a triple by Jared Pick to account for Luverne’s run.Pick pitched the first six and two-thirds innings to record the win. He fanned 10 batters, walked five, allowed four hits and four runs (two were earned). Kurtz relieved Pick with two outs in the seventh and struck out the only batter he faced.Box score AB R H BIGraphenteen 3 1 1 0Reisch 4 0 2 0Wysong 3 2 1 2Kurtz 3 1 0 0Remme 4 2 3 1Pick 4 0 1 1Fodness 2 1 0 0Boen 2 0 0 1Herman 3 1 2 2
