LUVERNE – The Fairmont Martins and the Luverne Redbirds competed this week for the Region 13C championship.
Both teams have already secured a spot in the Class C state tournament with their previous series wins last week, but there is still a lot at stake in this series. The winner will not only be the Region 13C champion, but will also receive a bye to the state tournament.
The series began dramatically when the Redbirds took a 6-5 win over Fairmont in the second half of the ninth inning in Game 1 at Redbird Field on Wednesday.
The Redbirds were shut out for six innings as Fairmont built a 5-0 lead. Luverne finally got back on its feet in the seventh inning, scoring four runs to cut the Martins’ lead to one run. A sacrifice groundout tied the game in the ninth inning, and then a single gave Luverne the winning run in walkoff fashion.
Fairmont standout Spencer Chirpich and Luverne star Ben Serie were the starting pitchers.
Chirpich held Luverne’s talented offense in check through the first six innings, allowing just three hits, but Serie struggled early in the first inning.
With two outs and a runner on first base, a single followed by two consecutive walks allowed the series to load the bases. A third consecutive walk then brought in Friamont’s first run. An error by the Redbirds helped Martins score two more runs before Jack Kosbab capped the team’s scoring in the inning with an RBI single for a 4-0 lead.
Skyler Jackson / The Globe
Fairmont’s fifth run of the game came later in the fifth inning. With two runners on base, Chirpich hit a groundout to the first baseman, allowing Kosbab to score.
After keeping the Redbirds offense under control throughout the game, Chirpich was finally able to get back on his feet in the second half of the seventh inning and started a comeback.
Ben Serie opened the inning with a single and then Newt Johnson brought him home with an RBI single. Elliot Domagala followed with a single, then Carter Sehr hit a triple to center to score two more Redbird runs. An RBI double by Jacob Stroh with two outs scored Luverne’s fourth run of the inning and made the score 5-4.
The Redbirds weren’t done yet, however, as they were still down by one point at the end of the ninth and had a chance to potentially tie it with a run.
A walk by Carter Sehr and then a single by Domagala opened the inning. With the tying run 90 feet away, Jake Haugen came in and hit a groundout to the first baseman, allowing Sehr to come home.
Casey Sehr, the team’s first batter and one of their best hitters, closed the game, hitting a single to right field to bring home pinch runner Braydon Ripka as the Redbirds stormed out of the dugout in celebration.
Skyler Jackson / The Globe
Casey and Carter Sehr each had two hits. Five other Redbirds had one hit, giving the team a total of 11 hits. Carter Sehr led the way with two RBIs and Ripka scored two runs.
Series pitched five innings with one strikeout and one earned run allowed. Haugen pitched the next two and two-thirds innings and began to shut down Fairmont’s offense, allowing only two hits with one strikeout. Jacob Stroh pitched the last and one-third innings.
For the Martins, Lincoln Becker led the way with four hits in five at-bats and scored one run. Kosbab collected three hits and Landen Meyerdirk two for a team total of 12 hits. In seven innings pitched, Chirpich struck out four times and allowed the four earned runs in the seventh inning. Matt Lyle pitched one and a third and allowed the tying and winning runs in the ninth inning.
Martins 400 010 000 – 5 12 0
Red Birds 000 000 402 – 6 11 2
