Photo by Chris Drummond Ruthton’s Christopher Dougherty bats against Luverne during their game on Wednesday. Ruthton fell to Luverne 19-0 in seven innings.

RUTHTON – The Ruthton Royals amateur baseball team had their home opener Wednesday evening against the Luverne Redbirds in a Gopher Conference matchup. It was all Cardinals from the start to the end, as Luverne earned a 19-0 victory in seven innings.

The Redbirds jumped out to a nine-run advantage chasing off the starting pitcher for the Royals in Jared Baartman, who lasted a third of an inning. Brent Wiering would replace Baartman and despite the Royals holding the Redbirds to no runs in the second inning, the Redbirds would score an additional six in the third inning pushing their lead to 15 and ultimately winning the contest 19-0 in dominating fashion.

No Ruthton stats were available at press time.

The Royals come back home on Sunday to face off against the Windom Pirates at 2 p.m. and the Redbirds are back in action on Sunday as well traveling to Mountain Lake to face off against the Lakers at 2 p.m.