Luverne's Adam Kurtz leaps in the air in an attempt to avoid being tagged out at home plate during Friday's Area A American Legion Baseball Playoff game played in Edgerton. Kurtz was ruled out at the plate, but Luverne won the game.
By John Rittenhouse
The Luverne American Legion baseball team earned a berth in the Area A Playoff championship game by posting two wins to open the event.
The Cardinals rolled to a 12-run win in Edgerton Friday before besting Slayton by 10 runs at Redbird Field Tuesday.
Luverne, 10-13 overall, played Pipestone for the title in Pipestone last night. A win would give the Cards the No. 1 seed for the District Tournament. A loss would place Luverne in district-qualifying game at Redbird Field Friday night.
Luverne 11, Slayton 1
Jesse Kuhlman tossed a five-inning, no-hitter during Tuesday's home tilt against Slayton.
Kuhlman fanned nine batters in the contest. The lone run he surrendered came in the top of the fourth, when Slayton used three walks and a sacrifice fly to avoid being shutout.
Luverne had a 10-0 lead by the time Slayton scored.
Tony Sandbulte singled and scored in the bottom of the first on a passed ball.
Jake Studer, who drove in five runs with two triples in the game, hit a three-bagger with the bases-loaded in the second inning to make it a 4-0 game.
Studer tripled home two runs, Sandbulte and Adam Reisch slapped RBI singles and Aaron Schmidt chipped in a sacrifice fly during a six-run third inning to make the different 10-0.
After Slayton scored in the top of the fourth, Luverne received an RBI single from Eric Edstrom in the bottom of the frame before Kuhlman blanked the visitors in the fifth to end the game by the 10-run rule.
Box score AB R H BI
Frey 3 2 0 0
Studer 3 2 2 5
Sandbulte 4 1 2 2
Edstrom 4 0 1 1
Pick 3 1 1 0
Schmidt 2 0 0 1
Kurtz 3 2 2 0
Reisch 4 2 2 1
Goebel 2 1 0 0
Luverne 14,
Edgerton 2
The Cardinals opened the playoffs by coasting to a 12-run victory in Edgerton Friday.
Joey Pick drove in three runs at the plate and teammates Adam Kurtz, Schmidt and Reisch all had two RBI during the lopsided win.
Luverne scored three runs in the top of the first inning and never lost the lead the rest of the night.
Schmidt singled home a run and two more counters scored on an error in the first.
Edgerton made it a 3-1 game in the second inning, but the Cards received an RBI single from Pick and Reisch received an RBI for a fielder's choice in the third to make the difference 5-1.
After Edgerton closed the gap to 5-2 in the fourth inning, Luverne scored nine runs in the sixth and seventh frames to put the game away.
Kurtz singled home a pair of runs and Reisch and Schmidt slapped RBI singles to highlight a five-run fifth inning.
Pick singled home two runs, Studer singled home another and one run scored on an error when Luverne capped the scoring with a four-run seventh inning.
Studer fanned six batters and allowed two runs during a five-inning stint as the starting pitcher. He picked up the win. Tom Frey pitched two innings of scoreless relief.
Box score AB R H BI
Frey 6 0 0 0
Studer 4 2 4 1
Sandbulte 6 2 0 0
Edstrom 3 3 1 0
Kurtz 3 2 1 2
DeWispelaere 0 0 0 0
Schmidt 4 1 3 2
Goembel 0 1 0 0
Pick 4 2 2 3
Reisch 4 1 1 2
Goebel 3 0 0 0