By John RittenhouseThe Luverne American Legion baseball team went 2-2 and placed third at the Jackson Tournament Saturday and Sunday.The Cardinals opened the event with a nine-run win over Welcome Saturday before dropping a one-run decision to Jackson’s Junior Legion team.Jackson’s top team bested Luverne by six runs in Sunday’s first game. Luverne capped the tournament by besting Jackson’s Junior Legion team by three runs in the finale.Luverne ended the tournament with a 7-2 record.Luverne 6, JJL 3A five-run fifth inning gave the Cardinals a three-run win over Jackson’s Junior Legion team during Sunday’s third-place game.The game was tied at one heading into the top of the fifth, when Luverne took advantage of some JJL errors to put together a big inning.Tim Boen supplied the key hit during the rally when he slapped a three-run double. Mark Remme singled home a run in the frame, and Jared Pick walked and scored on an error.Jackson scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth to trail 6-3, but it couldn’t catch the Cardinals in the sixth (all of the games in the tournament were six-inning contests).Luverne opened the scoring when Pick led the game off with a solo homer. Jackson knotted the score at one in the bottom of the second.Adam Kurtz worked all five innings on the mound to get the win. He fanned 10 batters during a three-hit, 10-walk outing.Box score AB R H BIPick 3 2 1 1Reisch 4 1 1 0Wysong 3 1 1 0Goembel 0 0 0 0Kurtz 3 1 0 0Remme 3 1 2 1Boen 2 0 1 3Bruynes 3 0 0 0Johnson 0 0 0 0Graphenteen 2 0 0 0Fodness 1 0 0 0Jackson 9, Luverne 3Jackson’s No. 1 team saddled the Cardinals with their second loss of the tournament when the teams squared off Sunday afternoon.The hosts opened a 4-0 advantage after three innings of play and never lost the lead to Luverne.The Cardinals did trim the difference to 4-2 when Pick, Zach Wysong and Kurtz ripped consecutive doubles in the top of the fourth inning.Jackson, however, put the game away by scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth and two in the fifth to open a 9-2 cushion.Wysong tripled and scored Luverne’s final run in the sixth inning when Remme singled.Pick tossed all five innings and received the loss. Five of the nine runs he surrendered were unearned.Box score AB R H BIGraphenteen 2 0 0 0Goembel 1 0 0 0Pick 3 1 1 0Wysong 3 2 2 1Kurtz 3 0 1 1Remme 3 0 1 1Reisch 2 0 0 0Johnson 1 0 0 0Boen 2 0 0 0Bruynes 2 0 0 0Fodness 1 0 0 0JJL 5, Luverne 4Jackson’s Junior Legion saddled the Cardinals with their first setback of the season during Saturday’s second tournament game.Luverne erased a 3-0 deficit by scoring four runs in the top of the third inning to gain a brief lead, but JJL scored twice in the bottom of the fourth and blanked the Cardinals the rest of the way to prevail by one run.J.T. Bruynes, Rob Fodness and Taylor Graphenteen drew walks to start Luverne’s four-run rally in the fourth.Pick belted a two-run double, and Graphenteen tied the game at three when Wysong reached base on an error. Kurtz gave the Cards a 4-3 lead with an RBI single as the inning progressed.Bruynes pitched the first four innings and took the loss. He recorded six strikeouts, and was charged with five runs (two were earned). Wysong pitched one scoreless inning of relief.Box score AB R H BIGraphenteen 1 1 0 0Pick 3 1 2 2Wysong 3 0 0 1Kurtz 2 0 1 1Remme 2 0 0 0Reisch 2 0 0 0Boen 2 0 0 0Bruynes 1 1 0 0Fodness 1 1 0 0Luverne 10, Welcome 1The Cardinals opened the tournament by coasting to a nine-run victory over Welcome Saturday afternoon.Luverne scored seven runs in the first two innings and never lost control of the game the rest of the way.Boen delivered the key blow during a six-run first inning when he slashed a two-run single.Bruynes singled home a run, Remme was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Reisch drew a bases-loaded walk to fuel the rally.Pick walked and scored on a single by Reisch to make it a 7-0 game in the second, but Welcome plated a run in the top of the third to trim the difference to six (7-1).Luverne led 9-1 when Kurtz walked and scored on an error and Reisch slapped an RBI single in the fourth inning.Wysong singled and scored the game’s final run in the fifth.Wysong pitched all six innings to notch the win. He fanned 13 batters and surrendered one unearned run in the contest.Box score AB R H BIGraphenteen 4 0 0 0Pick 2 2 0 0Wysong 3 3 2 0Kurtz 0 2 0 0Remme 2 1 0 1Goembel 0 0 0 0Reisch 3 1 2 3Boen 2 1 1 2Bruynes 1 0 1 1Johnson 1 0 0 0Fodness 2 0 0 0
