Redbirds Claim Gopher League and #1 Seed

A big win this past Sunday against the Milroy Irish, a team who bested the Redbirds the first they played, secured the club’s second consecutive Gopher League championship.

The Gopher League is a part of the Minnesota Baseball Association’s Region 13C. The league, in order of regular season standings, consists of the Luverne Redbirds, Milroy Irish, Hadley Buttermakers, Pipestone A’s, and Worthington Cubs. Gopher League teams play a “One and One” with other teams in the league, meaning each team gets a home game against each other. This makes up most of the schedule.

The other half of Region 13C is called the First Nite league. The First Nite league, in order of regular season standings, consists of The Jackson Bulls, Fairmont Martins, Windom Pirates, Lakefield Horned Frogs, Fox Lake Foxes, and Heron Lake Lakers. Teams in the Gopher League, like the Redbirds, only play a First Nite league team once a year.

Once the regular season comes to end, the region ranks every team in both leagues from 1-11. Having the same amount of wins as the other league champs (Jackson), it came down to regular season matchup against the other. A 4-1 win on July 7th means the Redbirds get to take home the 1 seed for the rest of the playoffs.

Here is the seeding for the whole Region:

1	Luverne Redbirds	12-2
2	Jackson Bulls	12-3
3	Fairmont Martins	12-3
4	Milroy Irish	10-4
5	Windom Pirates	11-4
6	Hadley Buttermakers	7-7
7	Pipestone A's	4-10
8	Lakefield Horned Frogs	5-10
9	Fox Lake Foxes	4-11
10	Worthington Cubs	2-12
11	Heron Lake Lakers	2-13

The top 5 teams in this order will receive a first round bye while the bottom 6 will have a “Play-in” series. Once the first “Play-in” series is complete, the winners will be reseeded from 6-8 and the next round will begin on Wednesday, July 24th. The Redbirds can expect a home game on that Wednesday at Redbird Field against the newly seeded 8 seed.