North Stars fall at Glacier Twins, twice

The Havre North Stars American Legion baseball club wrapped up Northern District play early last week in Canada. But the North Stars couldn’t turn their attention to the postseason until they played a pair of non-conference games against the powerful Glacier Twins.

Havre was in Whitefish Friday and Saturday for a pair of games against the Northwest A power Twins, and the North Stars dropped both contests. Havre suffered a tough 10-1 loss Friday night, then lost a barnburner, 11-10 Saturday afternoon.

In the first outing, Glacier was dominant at the plate, as well as from the pitcher’s mound. The Twins hounded Havre pitchers Chris Vukasin, Dylan Carpenter and Tyrell Pierce to the tune of 13 hits and 10 runs. The Twins did their damage early, scoring six runs in the first two innings.

Meanwhile, Havre was stymied at the plate. The North Stars totaled just four hits, with one each from Travis Roth, David Denny, Michael Loftus and Dylan Carpenter. Loftus drove in Carpenter in the fourth inning for Havre’s lone run of the game.

Things were much closer Saturday however. In a slugfest which saw Ryne Antley belt a second-inning home-run, the North Stars thrashed the Twins for 16 hits, but couldn’t hold a late lead. In the nine-inning contest, Havre scored one run in the second, third and fourth innings, then went ahead 5-4 in the top of the fifth. But a five-run sixth inning by the Twins saw the North Stars fall behind 9-6. The North Stars didn’t give up and tied the game at 10-10 in the top of the ninth inning, but the Twins plated a run in their half of the ninth to walk away with the win. Antley suffered the tough-luck loss for the North Stars, while Jeff Miller started and Gavin Gunderson pitched two innings of relief as well.

Antley’s day at the plate included his first career HR, as well as a 3-for-5 performance and two RBIs. Roth went 2-for-5 as well, while Spencer Ross had one hit and two RBIs, Jake Sedahl was 2-for-5 with an RBI and Gunderson had an amazing 5-for-5 performance with three runs scored and two driven in. Carpenter added two hits and Miller had one. Roth, Antley and Sedahl all had doubles as Havre’s offense looked to gain some momentum for this week’s Northern A District Tournament.

Havre, which finished the regular season with a record of 18-24, will now prepare for that district tourney, which runs Wednesday through Sunday in Fort MacLeod, Alberta. The North Stars play their first game at 10 a.m. Thursday.

Glacier 10, North Stars 1

Havre 000 100 0 – 1 4 3

Glacier 240 210 1 – 10 13 2

WP – Smith, LP – Chris Vukasin

Havre Batting – Travis Roth 1-2, Spencer Ross 0-3, Jake Sedahl 0-3, David Denny 1-2, Chance Pitkanen 0-1, Jeff Miller 0-3, Chris Vukasin 0-1, Dylan Carpenter 1-2, Ryne Antley 0-2, Michael Loftus 1-3 (RBI), Gavin Gunderson 0-2.

Glacier 11, North Stars 10

Havre 011 121 103 - 10 16 4

Glacier 301 005 101 - 11 12 3

WP - Ramlow, LP - Ryne Antley

Havre Batting - Travis Roth 2-5 (RBI), Spencer Ross 1-4 (2 RBI), Jake Sedahl 2-5 (RBI), David Denny 0-5, Jeff Miller 1-2, Chance Pitkanen 0-2, Ryne Antley 3-5 (2 RBI), Chris Vukasin 0-2, Michael Loftus 0-1, Tyrell Pierce 0-1, Dylan Carpenter 2-5, Gavin Gunderson 5-5 (2 RBI).