By John RittenhouseThe Luverne VFW baseball team won three of four games during the Sioux Falls Tournament over the weekend.Luverne posted victories over Sioux Falls West, Sturgis and Sioux Falls Empire Baseball Association Riders during the event. Pipestone kept the Cardinals from going undefeated.The Cards ended the tournament with a 23-6 record. Luverne hosts Fulda for a double-header tonight before opening the Sub-District Playoffs (site and times are yet to be determined) on Monday.Luverne 11, SFEBAR 2The Cardinals capped their tournament appearance by besting the Sioux Falls Empire Baseball Association Riders by nine runs Sunday.Micah Boomgaarden tossed a five-inning complete game and Jake Clark and Jeremy Hoff drove in two runs each to lead the Cards to victory.Luverne gained control of the game in the top of the first, when Hoff doubled home two runs, Tyler Reisch singled home another, Caleb Bruynes recorded a sacrifice fly and Zach Olson received an RBI for a squeeze bunt to give Luverne a 5-0 lead.The Riders countered with one run in the bottom of the first, but Luverne plated single runs in the second and fourth innings and added four more in the third to settle the issue.Boomgaarden helped his own cause by recording an RBI with a sacrifice fly in the second to make it 6-1.Clark doubled home two runs, Chris Fitzer singled home another and Devin Richters laid down a safety squeeze when the Cards scored four times in the third to gain a 10-1 lead.Olson reached base on an error and scored on an error in the fourth.Box score AB R H BIClark 2 3 2 2Arndt 1 0 0 0Boomgaarden 4 1 2 1Fitzer 1 1 1 1Ossefoort 1 0 0 0Reisch 3 1 1 1Den Hoed 1 0 0 0Olson 2 1 0 1Hoff 3 2 2 2Skattum 2 1 0 0Bruynes 1 1 0 1Richters 2 0 1 1Pipestone 14, Luverne 6Luverne fell from the tournament’s unbeaten ranks after dropping an eight-run decision to Pipestone Saturday.The Cards erased a 6-0 deficit by scoring six runs in the top of the third, but Pipestone scored eight runs in the third and fourth innings to ice the win.Hoff doubled home two runs in the third. Reisch added an RBI double to the rally, while Clark and Olson slapped run-scoring singles.Olson pitched the first three and two-thirds innings and was saddled with the loss. Bruynes and Adam Ossefoort pitched in relief.Box score AB R H BIClark 3 1 2 1Olson 4 0 1 1Fitzer 3 1 1 1Reisch 3 1 2 1Den Hoed 3 0 0 0Bruynes 1 0 0 0Ossefoort 3 1 0 0Arndt 3 1 1 0Hoff 3 1 2 2Luverne 14, Sturgis 4The Cards scored at least one run in all five innings of Saturday’s 10-run victory over Sturgis.Clark and Reisch led the charge for the Cards by driving in three runs each for a Luverne team that scored five runs in the first two innings of the game and never trailed in the contest.Run-scoring singles by Fitzer, Reisch and Bruynes made it 3-0 in the top of the first, and Reisch and Clark slapped RBI singles in the second for a 5-0 lead.Sturgis trimmed the difference to two runs (5-3) in the bottom of the second. Luverne, however, plated single runs in the third and fourth innings before exploding for seven runs in the fifth to win handily.Jacob Arndt doubled home a run in the third before Ossefoort received an RBI for a safety squeeze bunt in the fifth for Luverne.Luverne’s seven-run fifth inning featured a two-run double by Clark, a two-run single by Olson and a run-scoring single by Richters.Hoff pitched all five innings to earn the win.Box score AB R H BIClark 4 3 2 3Olson 4 1 1 2Fitzer 3 1 1 1Reisch 4 3 3 3Bruynes 3 0 1 1Den Hoed 3 1 1 0Ossefoort 3 1 1 1Arndt 2 2 1 1Richters 2 0 1 1Skattum 1 1 1 0Luverne 16, SFW 6The Cardinals opened the tournament by rolling to a 10-run win over Sioux Falls West Friday.After falling behind 3-0 after two innings of play, Luverne rallied to score 16 runs in the third fourth and fifth frames to settle the issue.With Bruynes delivering a three-run double to lead the way, Luverne scored four runs in the top of the third before adding three more in the fourth to gain a 7-3 advantage.Bruynes, who led the Cards with four RBIs, and Arndt slapped run-scoring singles in the fourth.After West scored twice in the bottom of the fourth to make the difference 7-5, Luverne iced the game with a nine-run rally in the fifth.Fitzer and Chris Den Hoed spurred the rally by slapping a three-run double and a three-run triple respectively. Reisch, Boomgaarden and Arndt added one RBI single each to the surge.Fitzer pitched three and two-thirds innings of relief to earn the win. Clark tossed the first one and one-third innings without gaining a decision.Box score AB R H BIClark 4 0 0 0Elbers 4 3 3 1Fitzer 1 3 1 3Reisch 4 2 2 1Olson 4 0 0 0Boomgaarden 3 2 2 1Bruynes 4 3 2 4Arndt 4 2 2 2Hoff 1 0 1 0Ossefoort 2 0 0 0Den Hoed 3 1 2 3
