George Ferguson
Havre Daily News sports editor
gferguson@havredailynews.com
With a heatwave pouring into Havre, it is perfect baseball weather. And that means tonight's American Legion Northern District clash between the Havre Northstars and Havre Comets should be a barnburner.
In their first meeting of the 2006 season, the Northstars ripped the Comets, 10-4. But that didn't mean the Comets didn't play well. In fact, if the Comets could have found a way to drive in the runners they had on base, things might have been much different.
That is one of the many reasons tonight's second of four meetings between the Havre teams might be different.
The Comets come into tonight's matchup at Legion Field off of a split on the road with the Great Falls Sparkies. That put their overall record at 2-4 heading into tonight's conference matchup with the Northstars.
Over the weekend, the Comets got good run production, especially from Scott Vigliotti, Marshall Cartwright, Ryan Callahan and Andrew Lindquist. On the mound, Seth Jensen also picked up a win over the Sparkies, and pitching will certainly be a key to the Comets' success against the Northstars tonight, and in the rest of the meetings between the teams this season.
Meanwhile, the Northstars come into tonight's matchup riding high after an offensive explosion against the Sparkies in Havre on Saturday. Havre crushed the Sparkies 11-1 in the opening game of a doubleheader Sunday afternoon. Havre also thumped the Sparkies in game two, 8-4.
In two games against the Sparkies, the Northstars pounded out 20 hits, and they got multiple-hit games from eight different batters over the course of the two games. Bryan Heath had a monster outing for the Northstars, going 3-7 with 3 RBIs. Chase Castloo also went 4-7 during Sunday's doubleheader, and Anthony Wirtzberger picked up a pair of hits in each game against the Sparkies.
The Northstars pitching also improved against the Sparkies. In the first game of the doubleheader, the Northstars got a solid, complete game effort from Austin Small. And in the second contest, Sean Peterson recorded his second win of the season.
Pitching may be the key ingredient in tonight's clash between the Northstars and Comets. In the first meeting of the season, Comet's starter Andrew Lindquist was roughed up by the Northstars, with most of the damage coming in the first inning. If Comet's pitchers can avoid the same fate tonight, then the game should be much closer than the one last Wednesday.
Tonight's game also marks the end of a 13-game home stand for the Northstars. After tonight's game with the Comets, the Northstars will finally take to the road on Saturday when they square off against the Great Falls Stallions AA team in Great Falls.
The nine-inning game between the Havre Northstars and Havre Comets will get under way at 7 at Legion Field in Havre.
