PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP: Luverne finishes perfect season with 12-3 win

LUVERNE — Getting a sparkling pitching performance by Josh Boomgaarden over the middle innings and having a trio of players — including Boomgaarden — go 3-for-4 at the plate, Luverne’s baseball team finished up an undefeated season (20-0) Tuesday with a 12-3 victory over Murray County Central.

Boomgaarden pitched a perfect two and two-thirds innings, retiring all eight Rebels batters he faced, striking out six of them. At the plate, Boomgaarden drove in a run, while hitting two singles and a double.

The Cardinals, who broke the contest open in the second (five runs) and third innings (four runs), also received 3-for-4 performances from both Phil Paquette and Zach Olson, who each had a home run and four RBI.

Paquette ripped a solo homer in the first inning and Olson blasted a two-run shot over the fence in the third.

Brent Dinger was 2-for-3 and had an RBI sacrifice fly for the Cardinals, who are the state’s top-ranked Class AA team.

Landon Gacke pitched the first three innings and picked up the win for Luverne, before Boomgaarden took over.

Taylor Van Santen pitched part of the fifth inning before Boomgaarden returned to the mound. Olson retired MCC in order (with one strikeout) in the seventh inning.

Alex Petersen (3-for-4) cracked three doubles for MCC and drove in all three Rebel runs, including a two-run two-bagger in the fifth frame.

Chris Halbur had a double in the second inning for MCC’s only other hit.

Justin Reinsma was tagged with the loss, pitching four and one-third innings. He struck two and walked two, while giving up eight hits and eight runs.

The fifth-seeded Rebels (11-8) open Section 3A tournament play at Adrian Saturday, tangling with fourth-seeded Springfield.

The Cardinals are seeded No. 1 in Section 3AA and will host eighth-seeded St. James at 10 a.m. Saturday.

R H E

MCC 001 020 0 — 3 4 2

LHS 154 020 X — 12 14 0

Windom 12, SWU 4

HERON LAKE — Windom rapped 14 hits and took advantage of nine walks, as the Eagles posted an eight-run non-conference victory over host Southwestern United.

Sam Fischenich came on in relief of freshman left-hander Drake Borsgard with nobody out in the third inning and the Eagles holding a 6-4 lead.

Fischenich threw 53 pitches in five scoreless innings, giving up just three hits and two walks, while striking out two.

“Sam pitched well and our guys made the defensive plays behind him,” Eagles head coach Brad Schlomann said. “That was really the key. After having an error on our first play in the field, we never had another one. Our kids made all the routine plays and Sam kept throwing strikes.”

At the plate, the senior trio of Fischenich (4-for-4, triple, three RBI), Charlie Dunnick (2-for-3, double, three RBI) and Ryan Gilbertson (3-for-5, one RBI) all had big days for the Eagles (10-10), who play Tracy-Milroy-Balaton at Milroy Saturday in the Section 3A double-elimination tournament.

Ben Scheevel, Tyler Obermoller and Octavio Jimenez were all 2-for-4 for the Wildcats, who had won nine of their last 11 games entering the contest.

After spotting the Eagles a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, SWU came back with a trio of runs in the bottom of the frame.

Derek Stenzel’s single was followed by an RBI triple by Kirk McBreen.

Mike Stenzel’s groundout plated McBreen, and then Scheevel and Obermoller smacked back-to-back doubles, giving the Wildcats a 3-2 lead.

Windom came back with a three-run second, highlighted by Dunnick’s two-run double.

The Eagles plated another run in the top of the third, claiming a 6-3 advantage.

Scheevel led off the bottom of the inning with a towering blast over the right-center field fence — his fourth home run of the season — and Obermoller followed with his second double of the game.

That’s when Schlomann brought in Fischenich, who retired 11 straight Wildcat hitters until freshman Luke Henkels stroked a single in the sixth inning.

“We needed a more patient approach at the plate,” said SWU head coach Tim Owen. “Fischenich kept us off stride and we were not able to get many runners on base.”

Garet Rogers, Sean Haberman, Obermoller and Ben Cunningham all pitched for the Wildcats, who had a four-game winning streak snapped. Cunni,gham tossed a scoreless seventh inning, giving up one hit, but not walking anyone.

SWU hosts Edgerton in a Section 3A pigtail game today.

R H E

WHS 231 321 0 — 12 14 1

SWU 301 000 0 — 4 9 3

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