Luverne 002 000 010 = 3-7-0
Windom 420 003 00x = 9-13-0
The Windom Pirates punched their ticket to the 2026 Class C Amateur State Baseball Tournament Sunday afternoon, defeating the Luverne Redbirds 9-3 at Island Park to win their Region 10C best-of-three semifinal series two games to one.
The Pirates took command early Sunday, scoring four times in the bottom of the first inning and two more times in the second for an early 6-0 lead.
After Luverne scored twice in the third, the Pirate pitching and defense held the Redbirds at bay. Meanwhile, Windom scored three key insurance runs in the sixth inning to put the game away.
In the first, Drew Rothenberger and Quintin Tietz hit RBI singles. Alex Borsgard plated a run with a sacrifice fly and Alex Fink scored on a wild pitch for a 4-0 lead.
Chase McDaniel added an RBI double and Rothenberger hit a run-scoring sacrifice fly to push the lead to 6-0 in the second.
In the sixth, McDaniel hit an RBI single, Hayden Tietz scored on a passed ball and McDaniel scored on a wild pitch.
McDaniel had three hits in the win to lead the offense.
Drew Rothenberger worked the first four innings for the victory, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out one. Kobe Lovell came on with the Redbirds threatening in the fifth and slammed the door for 3-⅔ innings, allowing two hits and striking out four.
With the win, the Pirates advance to the Region 10C championship series against the second-seeded Fairmont Martins. Game one of the series will be played at Island Park Wednesday, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Game two is Friday in Fairmont at 7:30 p.m. A third game, if necessary, will be played Sunday at 2 p.m. at Island Park.
Fourth-seeded Luverne will face sixth-seeded Jackson in a best-of-three series to determine the third team out of Region 10C to qualify for the state tournament.
Windom 012 202 08 = 15-18-1
Luverne 000 000 00 = 0-1-5
After dropping the opening game of their best-of-three Region 10C semifinal series, the Windom Pirates roared back Friday, routing Luverne 15-0 at Luverne to even the series.
The Pirates slowly built a commanding lead, scoring multiple runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings. Windom then put the game away with an eight-run eighth inning.
Meanwhile, Pirate pitcher Collin Lovell shut down the potent Luverne offense, holding the Redbirds to one hit over seven innings.
Windom got on the board in the second on a Hayden Tietz RBI double, then stretched the lead in the third as Alex Fink hit a two-run single.
In the fourth, Tietz hit an RBI single and later scored on a passed ball for a 5-0 lead.
Tietz added an RBI double and Jake Tauer hit an RBI single in the sixth, pushing the lead to 7-0.
In the eighth, Keenan Wenzel hit an RBI double, Quintin Tietz had a two-run double, Kobe Lovell hit an RBI single, Windom scored on an error and a wild pitch and drew two bases-loaded walks to seal the win.
Hayden Tietz had four hits in the win. Tauer added three hits.
Collin Lovell picked up the win, allowing just one hit and a walk while fanning seven.
Next games: Check for updates after each game.
Windom: vs. Fairmont, Aug. 12
