By John RittenhouseThe Luverne Redbirds ended a four-game slide by stringing together three road victories.Luverne bested Heron Lake by nine runs in Heron Lake Wednesday, July 6. The Redbirds nipped Spencer, Iowa, by one run Saturday before edging Windom by two runs Sunday.The Luverne amateurs sport a 9-9 record. The Redbirds end the regular season by playing road games in Hadley Friday (6:30 p.m.) and in Wilmont Sunday (2 p.m.).Luverne 5, Windom 3Pitchers Jesse Kuhlman and Mike Miller combined efforts to lead the Redbirds to a two-run win in Windom Sunday.Kuhlman tossed five innings of three-run, four-strikeout ball to notch the win. Miller fanned four batters in a two-inning stint as a relief pitcher. Miller, who didn’t surrender one hit, earned a save.Luverne led 2-0 when Rob Fodness doubled home a run and Adam Reisch added an RBI single in the second inning, and the score was 3-0 when Mike Boen recorded a sacrifice fly in the top of the third.Windom scored twice in the bottom of the third to make it a 3-2 game, and the teams exchanged runs in the fifth. Miller picked up an RBI with a double to account for Luverne’s fifth-inning run.With the score 4-3, Luverne earned an insurance run when Boen singled and scored on an error in the seventh.Box score AB R H BIStuder 2 1 0 0Shelton 1 0 0 0Jo.Pick 4 1 1 0M.Boen 3 1 1 1Miller 3 0 1 1Kurtz 4 0 1 0Jr.Pick 4 1 0 0Fodness 3 1 2 1Reisch 3 0 1 1T.Boen 3 0 2 0Luverne 10, Spencer 9A big sixth inning set the stage for Luverne’s one-run win in Spencer, Iowa, Saturday.Trailing 7-1 entering the sixth, the Redbirds scored seven runs to gain their first lead (8-7) of the contest.Barry Shelton and Jared Pick contributed two-run singles to the sixth inning rally. Kuhlman, Scott Pick and Joey Pick chipped in one RBI single each.Spencer regained the lead at 9-8 in the bottom of the sixth, but Luverne countered with a two-run single by Joey Pick in the top of the seventh to settle the issue.Jared Pick pitched two innings of relief to get the win. Adam Kurtz worked the first three and one-third innings on the mound. Fodness, who singled home Luverne’s first run of the game in the fourth inning, tossed one and one-third innings of relief.Box score AB R H BIJr.Pick 4 1 1 2Jo.Pick 5 1 3 3Wysong 3 0 0 0Kurtz 3 0 0 0Shelton 3 1 1 2Fodness 4 1 2 1Kuhlman 3 1 1 1Kreun 2 1 1 1S.Pick 2 2 1 1Luverne 11, HL 2The Redbirds rolled to a nine-run victory when they entertained Heron Lake Wednesday, July 6.Adam Kurtz drove in three runs, and Rob Fodness and Mike Miller combined efforts to throw four innings of shutout relief to lead the Redbirds during the game.HL led 1-0 before Luverne tied the game with an RBI double from Tony Sandbulte in the bottom of the second inning.The Lakers regained the lead at 2-1 in the top of the third, but the Redbirds outscored HL 10-0 the rest of the game by plating four runs in the third and fifth innings and adding two more counters in the eighth.Mike Boen delivered a two-run double, Mike Wenninger singled home a run and Kurtz picked up his first RBI of the game with a fielder’s choice in the fourth, when Luverne gained a 5-2 advantage with a four-run rally.Sandbulte, Boen and Jared Pick slapped RBI singles and James Fisher chipped in a sacrifice fly when Luverne extended its lead to 9-2 in the fifth inning.Kurtz capped the scoring with a two-run single in the eighth.Kyle Kreun tossed the first five innings to pick up the win. He allowed one earned run. Fodness pitched three innings of scoreless relief, and Miller blanked the Lakers in the ninth inning.Box score AB R H BIStuder 3 0 1 0Kuhlman 0 0 0 0Wysong 4 1 1 0Miller 4 2 1 0Wenninger 3 2 2 1Remme 1 0 1 0M.Boen 4 4 2 2Fisher 3 1 0 1Kurtz 4 0 1 3Sandbulte 3 1 2 2Reisch 1 0 0 0Jr.Pick 3 0 1 1Fodness 2 0 0 0
