Luverne Senior Legion continues sub-state baseball playoffs

The Luverne Senior American Legion baseball team finished 2-1 during sub-state tournament play last weekend in St. James.
Luverne defeated Windom 4-3 on Thursday and Springfield 6-1 Friday before falling to Jackson 8-7 Saturday.
Luverne, now 13-6 on the season, will play Friday night in St. James against either Russell-Tyler-Ruthton or St. James in the second weekend of the sub-state tournament.
A win on Friday would mean Luverne will face Jackson on Saturday.
Jackson has not yet lost in the tournament, so Luverne would need to defeat them twice to win the sub-state championship.
“We get another fresh week and will have all of our pitching options again,” Luverne coach Codie Zeutenhorst said.
As hosts of this year’s Division II Senior American Legion Baseball State Tournament, Luverne will play in the state tournament regardless of their finish in the sub-state tournament.
The champion of Luverne’s sub-state, or second place team if Luverne wins, will also qualify for the state tournament.
 
Luverne 4, Windom 3
Luverne opened play in the sub-state tournament Thursday in St. James with a 4-3 win over Windom.
Luverne hit the ball well during the game with eight hits.
Ethan Beyer (one hit and one run), Braydon Ripka (two hits, one run and one RBI), Kaden Anderson (two hits, one run and one RBI) and Connor Overgaard (one hit and one RBI) all hit doubles in the game.
Carter Sehr also scored a run and Elliot Domagala added an RBI.
Anderson pitched 6 2/3 innings before the pitch count rule ended his time on the mound.
Anderson had a no-hitter for 6 1/3 innings before giving up three hits and two runs in the seventh stanza.
“It definitely got interesting,” Zeutenhorst said.
Anderson struck out eight and walked two during his time on the mound.
Casey Sehr came in to relieve Anderson. He struck out the final batter to preserve the 4-3 win.
 
Luverne          0 0 2 0 0 1 1     4
Windom          0 0 0 1 0 0 2   10
 
                          AB    R    H     BI
B Ripka              4     1     2     1
E Beyer              3     1     1     0
K Anderson       4     1     2     1
Casey Sehr        4     0     1     0
W Serie              1     0     0     0
E Domagala       3     0     0     1
C Overgaard      4     0     1     1
J Stroh               3     0     0     0
A Halverson       1     0     0     0
Carter Sehr        2     1     1     0
 
Luverne 6, Springfield 1
In the second game of the sub-state tournament, Luverne defeated Springfield 6-1 in St. James Friday.
Luverne scored three runs in each of the third and fourth innings.
Springfield plated one run in the top of the sixth but was unable to score in the top of the seventh to extend the game or earn the win.
Will Serie started the scoring in the third inning with a two-RBI single.
Anderson hit an RBI double in the fourth inning.
Beyer was two for four at the plate with two runs and two RBIs.
Casey Sehr also had two hits in the game.
Beyer pitched the complete game. He gave up one run with only two hits and struck out eight.
 
Springfield      0 0 0 0 0 1 0      1
Luverne           0 0 3 3 0 0 x      6
 
                      AB    R     H    BI
B Ripka            3     0     0     0
E Beyer            4     2     2     2
K Anderson     4     0     1     1
Casey Sehr      4     1     2     1
W Serie            4     0     1     2
E Domagala     3     0     1     0
C Overgaard    1     1     1     0
P Kroski           2     1     1     0
Carter Sehr      1     1     0     0
 
Jackson 8, Luverne 7
Luverne lost its first game of the sub-state tournament Saturday, falling to Jackson 8-7 in St. James.
“You never want to finish the weekend with a loss,” said Zeutenhorst.
“But overall our pitching was strong and we got lots of balls in play and scored some good runs,” he said.
Offensively, Luverne was led by Casey Sehr.
Sehr was four for four at the plate, scored one run and totaled four RBIs, including a two-RBI double in the fifth inning.
“I was seeing the ball well and it kept finding holes for me,” Casey Sehr said.
“I like playing in St. James and I’ve hit well there before, so I just tried to keep it going.”
Beyer was two for three in the game and scored three runs.
Riley Sneller tallied two RBIs.
Zach DeBoer pitched four innings. He offered four hits and four runs while walking three and striking out three.
Casey Sehr came to the mound for the final two innings. He gave up five hits and four runs and struck out three.
Luverne led the game 3-2 after three innings before Jackson scored twice in the fourth inning to take a 4-3 lead.
Luverne regained the lead in the top of the fifth by scoring three runs before Jackson took the lead back by plating four more runs in the bottom of the inning.
Trailing 8-6 going into the sixth frame, Luverne’s Overgaard blasted a solo home run to lead off the inning and bring the game to within one run.
When Luverne was unable to advance a runner in scoring position on second base during the top of the seventh inning, the game ended 8-7.
“Jackson played well enough to win,” Zeutenhorst said. “We did, too, but just not quite enough.”
“It’s disappointing,” he said, “an emotional rollercoaster. But that’s baseball.”
 
Luverne         2 0 1 0 3 1 0       7
Jackson        1 0 1 2 4 0 x       8
 
                      AB    R     H    BI
B Ripka            3     1     0     0
E Beyer            3     3     2     0
K Anderson     3     0     0     0
Casey Sehr      4     1     4     4
R Sneller          3     0     0     2
W Serie            3     0     0     0
C Overgaard    3     1     1     0
E Domagala     3     0     0     0
Carter Sehr      3     1     1     0