Lovell still mowing 'em down in Pirates baseball

Amateur baseball followers in southwest Minnesota have known for years that Windom’s Collin Lovell is a thoroughbred of a thrower.

They got another reminder on Sunday as Lovell threw a five-inning no-hitter as the Pirates defeated host Jackson 12-0 in a Town Ball season opener.

“Collin’s a special breed,” said Windom Pirates’ manager Nick Kulseth. “He’s fun to watch.”

The game was slated for seven innings because of weather concerns. The Pirates, who last year earned the 18th state-tournament trip in the history of the tradition-rich program, won by the 10-run rule after five.

Lovell, a Windom native and hard-throwing right-hander who starred as a closer a few years ago at Augustana (S.D.) University, struck out 11 and walked only one.

“He’s always right around the plate and hitting his locations with his fastball and slider,” Kulseth said. “It was misty and sprinkling the whole game, but it didn’t faze him ... When he is on he is really tough to hit.”

Alex Fink went 4-for-4 and scored four runs, while Kobe Lovell was 3-for-3 with a double and triple. Kyle Espenson also had three hits for Windom.

“We picked off where we left off last year,” said Kulseth, whose team scored five runs in the first inning. “It was fun to see.”

In other games last weekend involving First Nite and Gopher League teams it was:

Milroy Irish 12, Worthington 2

MILROY — Tyler Alcon and Jake Plaetz homered for the victorious Irish on Sunday.

“The game was close through the first five innings. We did some good things,” said Worthington Cubs’ manager Ryan Swanson. “We got runners on base and had a few good hits. And we made some good plays on defense.

“The first game is out of the way. Now we need to focus on getting in baseball shape.”

Logan Huisman worked the first three innings on the mound for the Cubs. He pitched well, allowing just three runs. Tate Gaul and Ryan Lee pitched in relief.

Swanson had a single and an RBI for Worthington. Also collecting hits for the Cubs were Lee, Tyler Linder, Triston Sauerbrei and Edgar Ibarra.

Adrian 7, Ruthton 4

LISMORE — Jake Stamer pitched especially well in relief, and Mike Preuss and Ian Stamer each had four hits as the Adrian A’s defeated the Ruthton Royals on Sunday.

The game was moved to the historic yard in Lismore because it was too wet to play in Adrian.

“It’s always nice playing up there, because the town just lives it,” said Preuss, the Adrian manager. “It was a great day for baseball and we wanted to play. It was great to be back on the diamond.”

Jake Stamer struck out nine and allowed just one run after relieving Adrian starter Jordan Bertrand in the third inning.

Adrian finished with 20 hits, with Bertrand and Nick Harder collecting three apiece.

Hadley 15, Fox Lake 9

HADLEY — Veteran sluggers Nick Bruning and Max Zwart had four hits apiece as the host Buttermakers defeated the Fox Lake Foxes on Sunday.

Zwart drove in four runs and Bruning scored five times. Eric Wieneke had three hits and Danny Blankenship blasted a two-run home run. Blankenship and Alex Petersen each had two hits in Hadley’s 17-hit attack.

Avery Weber picked up the pitching victory in relief.

Wyatt Geistfeld had four hits for Fox Lake. The Foxes had 16 hits, but they left 15 runners on base.

Springfield 10, Heron Lake 1

SPRINGFIELD — Right-hander Logan Knutson pitched four strong innings and fanned five, but the visiting Lakers lost as Springfield broke open a close game by scoring seven runs in the seventh inning.

Gabriel Robles hit a solo home run for Heron Lake.

Lamberton 7, Heron Lake 6

HERON LAKE — Josh Altermatt had three hits and three RBIs for the visiting Long Sox in a victory over Heron Lake on Sunday.

The Lakers led 5-4 after seven innings before the Long Sox rallied.

Angel Perez and Angel Molina each had two hits for Heron Lake. Jonathan Vega added a run-scoring single.

Fairmont 7, Mountain Lake 5

FAIRMONT — The host Martins edged Mountain Lake in a season opener on Sunday.

Fairmont won the Class C state championship in 2020 but was ruled ineligible for postseason play last summer by the Minnesota Amateur Baseball board.

Luverne, Pipestone postponed

PIPESTONE — Sunday’s game between the visiting Redbirds and host A’s was called off because of wet field conditions.

A makeup date has yet to be determined.

This week ...

Scheduled games on Sunday at 2 p.m. include Adrian at Windom, Fairmont at Hadley, Ruthton at Worthington, Jackson at Heron Lake and Mountain Lake at Fox Lake.

On Sunday at noon, Pipestone is at Heron Lake at noon. On Sunday at 5, Jackson is at Lakefield.