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It was four more wins for the Luverne Redbirds amateur baseball team this week.
The team ran its record to 19-2 overall and 16-2 in Gopher-First Nite league play.
The Redbirds, with a winning streak of thirteen games, defeated the Ruthton Royals and Marshall A’s on the road before coming out on top of the Adrian A’s and Heron Lake Lakers at Redbird Field.
“We haven’t lost since June 8, and it’s been a really fun stretch,” said Luverne player-manager Brooks Maurer.
“We’ve gotten contributions from all different players,” Maurer said. “We’ve maybe had 13 different line-up combinations during the 13-game stretch.”
“I think that really speaks to the depth of our team and how many good players Luverne produces,” the Redbirds manager said.
Luverne was scheduled to host Worthington Wednesday (July 13) and will complete the regular season in Jackson on Sunday.
Luverne 6, Ruthton 1
The Ruthton Royals came to Luverne Wednesday, July 6, to face the Redbirds.
The home team won its tenth consecutive game by defeating the Royal 6-1.
Ben Serie was dominant on the mound for the Birds. The righthander gave up only one hit, no runs and no walks while striking out twelve in eight innings of work.
Skyler Wenninger came in to pitch the final inning for Luverne. He gave up one run, two walks and struck out two.
The Birds started off the scoring in the bottom of the first inning by plating three runs.
Derek Lundgren led off with a double to left field. Three batters later, Serie singled and advanced Lundgren to third.
When Declan Beers hit a fly ball to center and advanced to second, Lundgren and Serie scored.
Beers then scored on a line drive single by Newt Johnson.
Phil Paquette added a run for Luverne in the second inning off an RBI single by Skyler Wenninger.
In the third inning, a fielder’s choice by Gaige Nath scored Jake Haugen and advanced Cade Wenninger to third base.
Lundgren, the next batter, belted a double to left field that scored Cade Wenninger.
The Redbird lead remained 6-0 until the top of the ninth inning.
With the bases loaded with Ruthton runners, the fourth Royals batter was hit by a pitch to score Ruthton’s first and only run of the game.
Lundgren, Skyler Wenninger and Cade Wenninger led the Redbird offense with two hits each. Beers had two RBIs in the game.
Ruthton 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Luverne 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 x 6
AB R H BI
D Lundgren 4 1 2 1
P Paquette 4 0 1 0
E Beyer 1 0 0 0
S Wenninger 4 0 2 1
C Sehr 1 0 0 0
B Serie 5 1 1 0
D Beers 4 1 1 2
N Johnson 2 0 1 1
C Zeutenhorst 1 0 0 0
J Haugen 3 1 1 0
C Crabtree 1 0 1 0
C Wenninger 4 1 2 0
G Nath 2 1 0 1
C Reisch 1 0 0 0
Luverne 15, Marshall 2
The Marshall A’s had a slim 1-0 lead over the Luverne Redbirds after five innings at American Legion Field in Marshall Friday night.
Then the Birds came to bat in the top of the sixth and erupted for 12 runs. In all, Luverne had 18 at bats in the decisive inning.
Cade Wenninger, who pitched an outstanding seven-inning complete game giving up only two hits and two runs and striking out nine, began the offensive fireworks in the sixth stanza with a two-RBI single that scored Serie and Beers.
Wenninger then scored when Charlie Reisch hit an RBI single to center field.
Two batters later, a triple to center by Paquette scored Reisch before Serie hit a hard ground ball that scored Paquette.
A triple by Beers then scored Serie and a single line drive by Haugen sent Beers across home plate.
Two batters later, Ethan Beyer hit a two-RBI double that scored Haugen and Cade Wenninger, who scored for the second time in the inning.
The twelfth and final Redbird run of the inning came two batters later when Nath earned a bases-loaded walk that scored Beyer.
The Birds scored three more runs in the top of the seventh to secure the ten-run rule victory.
Beers was three for four at the plate with two runs and an RBI.
Reisch was also three for four, with three RBIs and one run scored.
Cade Wenninger tallied two hits, scored twice and added three RBIs to help secure his win on the mound.
Beyer also had two hits, two runs and two RBIs.
Wenninger was quick to credit his teammates for the impressive victory.
“We are all players who have known each other for years now,” Wenninger said. “We know how to build off each other, and a night like that shows just how we do it.”
Luverne 0 0 0 0 0 12 3 x x 15
Marshall 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 x x 2
AB R H BI
D Lundgren 5 1 0 0
G Nath 3 1 0 1
P Paquette 5 1 1 3
B Serie 1 2 0 0
Casey Sehr 1 1 1 0
D Beers 4 2 3 1
M Sterrett 0 1 0 0
J Haugen 3 1 1 1
B Maurer 1 0 0 0
C Wenninger 4 2 2 3
E Beyer 4 2 2 2
C Reisch 4 1 3 3
Luverne 11, Adrian 1
The Redbirds defeated the Adrian A’s 11-1 in five innings Saturday night in Luverne.
Adrian took an early lead in the game by scoring its only run of the game in the top of the second inning.
Luverne answered with three runs in the bottom of the third to take a lead they would retain the remainder of the contest.
Beers, Haugen and Cade Wenninger all scored runs in the third after reaching base on singles.
Serie plated a run in the third inning before Beyer and Casey Sehr scored off a two-RBI double by Paquette in the fourth stanza.
Haugen started the offense for the Birds in the fifth inning with a single. Cade Wenninger then hit an RBI-triple that scored Haugen.
Cade Wenninger scored by tagging up after a fly out to center by Sehr.
The Redbirds then loaded the bases with a single by Lundgren and Nath and Codie Zeutenhorst being hit by pitches.
When the next batter, Serie, was hit by the pitch, Lundgren scored and the bases remained loaded.
Beers then drew a walk, which scored Nath.
Haugen hit a ground ball to center that scored Zeutenhorst and ended the game 11-1 due to the ten-run rule.
Haugen led the offense for Luverne, going three for four at the plate with two runs and two RBIs.
Beers and Cade Wenninger added two hits each and Wenninger also scored twice.
Paquette, Beers and Sehr also tallied two RBIs for the Redbirds.
Haugen pitched the complete five innings. He gave up one run on seven hits and struck out eight Adrian batters.
Adrian 0 1 0 0 0 x x x x 1
Luverne 0 3 1 2 5 x x x x 11
AB R H BI
D Lundgren 4 1 1 0
G Nath 3 1 1 0
P Paquette 3 0 1 2
C Zeutenhorst 0 1 0 0
B Serie 3 1 1 1
D Beers 3 1 2 2
J Haugen 4 2 3 2
C Wenninger 3 2 2 1
E Beyer 2 1 1 0
C Sehr 2 1 0 2
Luverne 13, Heron Lake 3
Luverne won its third game in three days, and its 19th of the season, with a 13-3 victory over the Heron Lake Lakers Sunday afternoon at Redbird Field.
The Redbirds won all three games with the ten-run rule.
Against the Lakers, the Birds scored first in the bottom of the first inning.
With Beers at bat, Lundgren, who had reached base on a walk, scored on a wild pitch before Beers hit an RBI triple that scored Paquette.
After adding another run in the third, Luverne held a 3-1 lead until the Birds exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Nath was hit by a pitch before Paquette and Serie earned walks. When Beers hit a double to center field, Nath and Paquette scored.
Cade Wenninger batted next and hit a double of his own to center field to score Serie and Beers. Zeutenhorst then singled to score Wenninger.
The Lakers got two outs before Lundgren hit a homerun to left field that also scored Zeutenhorst.
Heron Lake scored single runs in the top of the sixth and seventh stanzas. Luverne added a run in the bottom of the seventh when a Skyler Wenninger single scored Lundgren’s third run of the game.
In the bottom of the eight inning, Luverne’s Mark Sterrett opened the inning with a solo home run to left field.
One batter later, Cade Wenninger reached base on a single. Zeutenhorst then hit a walk-off single to center that scored Wenninger to win the game 13-3 due to the ten-run rule.
Lundgren was on the mound for six innings. He gave up two runs from six hits and struck out eight.
Zeutenhorst pitched in relief for the last two innings. He gave up three hits and one run and struck out two.
Heron Lake 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 x 3
Luverne 2 0 1 0 7 0 1 2 x 13
AB R H BI
D Lundgren 4 3 2 2
G Nath 3 2 1 0
S Wenninger 1 0 1 1
P Paquette 1 2 0 0
C Sehr 2 0 0 0
B Serie 3 1 1 1
M Sterrett 1 1 1 1
D Beers 3 1 3 3
B Maurer 1 0 0 0
C Wenninger 4 2 2 2
C Zeutenhorst 5 1 3 2
C Reisch 4 0 0 0
E Beyer 2 0 0 0
J Haugen 1 0 0 0