Slow start dooms Troy Dixie Boys 14u team in elimination loss to Luverne 

Stout Luverne pitching held Troy hitless for the first five-and-one-third innings to knock the host team out of the District Tournament.

Luverne held off a late Troy rally to take a 3-2 decision, and advance to the semi-finals.

“All I have ever asked of these boys is to not quit,” said Troy head coach Jonathan Earles. “And they didn’t quit tonight. We just started to slow. That’s just the way the game works sometimes.”

Luverne picked up two runs in the first inning, and one more in the third, taking advantage of erratic Troy pitching.

Troy allowed four of the first five batters of the game to reach base, with three getting free passes on walks.

Luverne’s third run, and what turned out to be the game-winning run, came on a sacrifice fly in the third.

Troy couldn’t put a scratch in the hit column until the sixth inning. Tristan Carter punched a shot in the hole between first and second that was knocked down by the Luverne first baseman. However, Carter beat the throw for an infield single.

Noah Phillips scored later in the inning for Troy’s first run of the game.

In the seventh, Daniel Phillips led off the inning with a hit-by-pitch, and scored on a two-out RBI single from Jackson Earles.

Noah Phillips followed Earles’ single with one his own, but was left on the base path as Luverne got Carter to ground out to end the late scoring threat.

Troy finished the night with just hits, but struck out only three times as well.

“We made good contact all night,” Earles said. “It just went right at them. Baseball is like that every now and then. Sometimes the ball never finds a glove, and sometimes it never finds a hole.”

Jackson Earles led Troy at the plate going 1-for1 with a single and RBI.

Despite the loss, Jonathan Earles said the tournament was a fun experience.

“I have coached softball since my daughter was 8 years old,” Earles said. “I never thought coaching could be more fun than that, but this group of guys knows how to have fun and play ball. They, and I, have really enjoyed it and just wish we could keep it going a little longer.”