Luverne American Legion baseball player Zach Wysong turned in two outstanding efforts during Area A Playoff games last week. Wysong drove in four runs with two doubles during an 8-7 loss to Pipestone July 16. He was the winning pitcher, slapped two hits and drove in one run during an 8-3 win over Okabena Friday.By John RittenhouseThe Luverne Amercican Legion baseball team placed second in the Area A Tournament after going 1-1 in games late last week.The Cardinals lost a bid to win the Area A title when Pipestone nipped Luverne by one run in extra innings at Redbird Field Wednesday, July 16.In a game for second and third place played in Luverne Friday, Luverne dumped Okabena by five runs to earn the second seed for Second District American Legion Baseball Tournament in Truman the next two weekends.Luverne, 7-9 overall, will play Wabasso in a first-round game of the double-elimination event 6:30 p.m. Friday.Luverne 8, Okabena 3The Cardinals locked up the second seed for the District Tournament by defeating Okabena by five runs at Redbird Field Friday.Zach Wysong went the distance on the mound to pick up the win, and he slapped two hits along with teammates Aaron Schmidt, Jesse Kuhlman and Adam Reisch to lead Luverne at the plate in the game.Wysong, who fanned 11 batters in the contest, pitched around some fielding miscues by his teammates to limit Okabena’s success early in the game. The visitors had the opportunity to put some big innings together early in the game, but all they could produce was two unearned runs.Okabena led 1-0 after plating one unearned run in the top of the first inning.Luverne countered with a two-run rally in the bottom of the first to gain a one-run edge.Schmidt singled and scored the first run on a wild pitch. Kuhlman singled and scored on a ground out by Reisch, who led the Cards with two RBIs, to give Luverne a 2-1 edge.Okabena tied the game at two with one unearned run in the top of the second before Luverne took the lead for good after scoring two runs in the bottom of the second.Devan Goembel walked and scored the first run of the second when Kuhlman lifted a sacrifice fly to center field. Jake Studer doubled and scored on a single by Reisch to make it 4-2.Okabena registered an earned run in the top of the fourth to trim the difference to one run at 4-3.Luverne, however, put the game away by scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth and one in the fifth.Adam Kurtz walked and scored the first run in the fourth on a single by Wysong, who scored later in the frame on a wild pitch. Joey Pick was hit by a pitch in the inning. Jordan Kopp, the courtesy runner for Pick, scored on an error to make it 7-3.Schmidt singled and scored on an error to cap the scoring in the fifth.Box score AB R H BISchmidt 4 2 2 0Kuhlman 3 1 2 1Reisch 4 0 2 2Kurtz 3 1 1 0Jo.Pick 2 0 1 1Wysong 4 1 2 1Fodness 4 0 1 0Goembel 3 1 1 0Kopp 1 1 0 0Studer 4 1 1 0Pipestone 8, Luverne 7Luverne lost an opportunity to win the Area A championship when it dropped a one-run home decision to Pipestone Wednesday, July 16.The Cardinals sported a 2-0 lead early in the game, but Pipestone rallied to force extra innings and outscored the hosts 6-5 in the eighth and ninth frames to lock up the tournament title.Luverne drew first blood when it pushed a pair of runs across the plate in the bottom of the second inning.Adam Reisch reached base on an error and Adam Kurtz walked to set the table for Zach Wysong, who delivered his first of two two-run doubles to give the Cards an early advantage.Pipestone plated single runs in the third and fourth innings to knot the score at two.The game remained tied until the teams scored a combined 11 runs in extra innings.Luverne answered a two-run rally by Pipestone in the top of the eighth inning by scoring a pair of counters in the bottom half of the frame.Jared Pick and Rob Fodness walked before both runners scored on a double by Wysong.Pipestone plated four runs in the top of the ninth to regain the momentum.The Cardinals answered with a three-run surge in the bottom of the ninth, but a strikeout with a runner on third base ended Luverne’s chances of extending the game.Mike Remme and Aaron Schmidt walked before scoring the first two runs in the ninth when Jesse Kuhlman doubled. Kuhlman scored the third run on a sacrifice fly by Jake Studer.Kuhlman pitched into the ninth inning without gaining a decision. Fodness took the loss after pitching one inning of relief.Box score AB R H BISchmidt 3 1 0 0Kuhlman 5 1 1 1Reisch 3 1 0 0Jr.Pick 0 1 0 0Kurtz 4 1 0 0Studer 3 0 0 1Fodness 3 1 0 0Wysong 4 0 2 4Goembel 3 0 0 0Kopp 1 0 0 0Remme 2 1 1 0
