By Damion Martindale
The Havre Comets and the Malta Mustangs took the field for a seven-inning doubleheader Sunday afternoon at Legion Field.
In game one, the Comets started Doug Ireland at pitcher. Ireland came out throwing smoke past the Mustangs, striking out four of the first six batters he faced.
In the first inning, the Comets got on the board first with an RBI single by Ireland, followed by a sacrifice RBI by Kyle Lammerding.
That is all the help the pitching staff would need, as Ireland and Kyle Sheppard combined for the two-hit shutout.
Ireland gave up no hits and struck out four, while Sheppard gave up two hits and also struck out four in the 2-0 victory.
In game two, the Comets' bats came alive.
In the first inning, pitcher Danny Wirtzberger got himself into a jam by loading the bases, but closed out the Mustangs by striking out Ty Salsbery to end the inning.
Wirtzberger then led-off with a triple, and scored on a wild pitch by Mustang pitcher Jake Yates. The Comets were able to go through their entire line-up in the first inning, bringing up Wirtzberger again, who, with the bases loaded, hit another triple, driving in three runs.
After one inning of play the Comets built up a 7-0 lead.
After four innings the Mustangs allowed the Comets run away with the game, falling behind, 16-2.
Malta made a little comeback in the top of the fifth inning, capitalizing on Comet errors to score six runs and cut the lead to 16-8.
But, in the end, the Comets were just too much for the Mustangs, scoring two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, earning a 10-run rule victory, 18-8.
The Comets scored eighteen runs on 10 hits and had four errors. The Mustangs scored eight runs on four hits and had five errors.
The Havre Comets next game will be May 21 at Medicine Hat.
