Northstars finish 2-3 at Taleff Tournament

Ryan Divish

Havre Daily News Sports Editor

[email protected]

The Havre Northstars introduction to wooden bats was a cold one at best. However, the Northstars warmed up to hitting with the lumber, finishing 2-3 at the Tom Taleff Memorial Tournament over the weekend in Great Falls.

Havre opened the tourney Friday evening with a 2-0 loss to the Great Falls Electrics. The Northstars managed just one hit - a single by Eric Fanning, souring a solid pitching performance by Sean Peterson.

The Electrics scratched across a run in the first inning on a Northstar error. Great Falls added another run in the sixth as Justin King reached was hit by a pitch and later scored on a Jared Jacobsen single.

Havre's lone hit came in the second inning as Fanning laced a single to left, but was stranded. The Northstars had runners on all game, thanks to five walks from Electrics' starter Tyler Fayden, but couldn't get a hit to score them.

"We just didn't hit the ball," said Northstars head coach Mickey Williams. "It doesn't matter if it's wood bats or not, we need to have more than one hit to win games."

Peterson pitched all seven innings, allowing just four hits and an earned run, while striking out three and walking none.

"Sean pitched a good game, good enough for us to win," Williams said. "But we made a costly error in the field and only get one hit, that won't get wins."

On Saturday, the Northstars bats remained dormant as they managed just two hits in a 1-0 loss to the Edmonton Cardinals.

Fanning and Patch Wirtzberger came up with Havre's only hits. Wirtzberger led off the fourth inning with a single and stole second base to get in scoring position. However, Edmonton starter Lucas Bodnar struck out Peterson and Ben Erickson and then got Austin Small to fly out to center.

Small was the tough-luck loser for the Northstars on the mound, going the distance and allowing just three hits in the game.

Havre's bats finally heated up on Sunday and in a big way. The Northstars opened the day with an 8-6 win over the Calgary Cubs as they banged out 11 hits and took advantage of three Calgary errors. Down 1-0, Havre got on the board in the bottom of the first as Wirtzberger single and stole second an third and later scored on a passed ball.

Calgary pushed the lead to 4-1 in the fourth inning, capitalizing on a pair of Havre errors. The Northstars answered in the bottom half of the inning as Erickson and Peterson led off with back-to-back singles. Erickson later scored on Calgary error, while Eric Fanning plated Peterson with a fielder's choice.

Havre finally took the lead in the next inning, scoring five runs as Chase Castloo delivered a bases-loaded double, scoring three runs. Scott Ladenburg added an RBI single in the inning.

Castloo picked up the win on the mound, pitching all seven innings and overcoming seven walks and seven hits with the help of five strikeouts.

Offensively, Havre was led by Wirtzberger and Small, who had three hits each.

Later on Sunday, the Northstars' bats continued to singe with a 12-1 over the Great Falls Stallions' AA squad. Havre broke open 2-1 game in the top of the fourth inning, scoring nine runs. Castloo had two RBI singles in the inning, John Christian added a two-run double, while Wirtzberger and Jeff Tibbals had run scoring singles. Peterson and Small also drew bases-loaded walks in the inning.

With the big inning, Tibbals cruised to the five-inning win on the mound, holding the Stallions scoreless over the final two innings. He allowed just five hits and struck out four in the win.

Castloo had three hits and two runs batted in for Havre. Fanning added two hits, while Small drove in three runs.

"I don't know what changed from the first two days, but we started getting hits with runners in scoring position," Williams said. "I think we started getting more comfortable with the wood bats."

That comfort level disappeared in Monday's consolation game as Edmonton cooled the Havre bats with a 6-1 win. The Northstars managed just three hits - singles from Wirtzberger, Peterson and Josh Lowe. Havre's lone run came in the second inning as Peterson led off with a single, stole second and third and scored on a passed ball. Edmonton roughed up Northstars starter John Christian for 11 hits and six runs in the game.

"We went back to the way we were hitting earlier in the tournament," Williams said. "I don't know what changed."

Havre will be in action on Friday when it hosts the Lethbridge Miners in a Northern District doubleheader.

Electrics 2, Northstars 0

Havre Northstars 000 000 0 - 0 1 1

Great Falls Electrics 100 001 X - 2 4 1

Sean Peterson and Patch Wirtzberger; Tyler Fayden and Jared Jacobsen.

WP - Jacobsen; LP - Peterson.

NORTHSTARS HITTING - Sean Peterson 0-4, Jeff Tibbals 0-1; Patch Wirtzberger 0-3; Austin Small 0-3; Ben Erickson 0-2; Scott Ladenburg 0-1; Richard Jarvis 0-2; Eric Fanning 1-3; Josh Lowe 0-3.

ELECTRICS HITTING - Ryan Egan 1-3; Levi Johnson 0-3; Justin King 0-2; Kevin Corwin 1-3; Jared Jacobsen 1-3 (RBI); Shaun Tatarka 1-3; Eric Chaon 0-2; Tray Wassman 0-2.

2B - none

3B - none

HR - none

Cardinals 1, Northstars 0

Havre Northstars 000 000 0 - 0 2 0

Edmonton Cardinals 000 100 X - 1 3 1

Austin Small and Josh Morse; Lucas Bodnar and Matt Deacon

WP - Bodnar; LP - Small.

CARDINALS HITTING - Michael Cala 0-3; Matt Dacon 2-3; Robert Hogue 1-2; Steven Hogue 1-3; Chase Gallagher 1-2; Matt Chorney 0-2; Kevin Scott 0-2; Matt Cammell 0-1; Kyle Fagnan 0-2.

NORTHSTARS HITTING - Jeff Tibbals 0-2; Patch Wirtzberger 1-2; Sean Peterson 0-3; Ben Erickson 0-3; Austin Small 0-3; Jess McLain 0-1; John Christian 0-1; Eric Fanning 1-3; Bryden Vukasin 0-2; Chase Castloo 0-1; Josh Morse 0-2.

2B - R. Hogue

3B - none

HR - none

Northstars 8, Cubs 6

Calgary Cubs 100 300 2 - 6 7 3

Havre Northstars 100 250 0 - 8 11 3

Chase Castloo and Patch Wirtzberger; Jared Luce (4), Jared Dickie (2) and Junior Nicholls.

WP - Castloo ; LP - Luce.

CUBS HITTING - David Reininger 1-5; Brendon Sutherland 2-3; Zane Anderson 2-5; Junior Nicholls 1-2; Trevor Myers 0-2; Matt Diteljan 0-2; Ryan Kennedy 0-4; Matt Lucas 1-2; Aaron Dunsmore 1-1; Tristan Sikora 0-1; Bryce Anderson 0-1; Chandler DaSilva 0-1.

NORTHSTARS HITTING - Jeff Tibbals 0-4; Patch Wirtzberger 3-4; Austin Small 3-4; Ben Erickson 1-4; Sean Peterson 1-2; Chase Castloo 1-3 (3 RBI); Eric Fanning 0-2 (RBI); Scott Ladenburg 1-3 (RBI).

2B - Castloo, Nicholls, Lucas, Dunsmore

3B - none

HR - none

Northstars 12, Stallions 1

Havre Northstars 011 91 - 12 11 0

Great Falls Stallions AA 100 00 - 1 5 4

Jeff Tibbals and Josh Morse; Murray (4), Forster (1) and Meredith

WP - Tibbals; LP - Murray.

STALLIONS HITTING - Forster 1-3; Murray 2-3; Thares 0-1; Kaaklecik 0-1; DeBolt 1-2 (RBI); Hatley 0-1; Hedstrom 1-2; Meredith 0-2; Schoonover 0-1; Kovatch 0-1.

NORTHSTARS HITTING - Jeff Tibbals 1-4 (RBI); Patch Wirtzberger 1-3 (RBI); Austin Small 1-3 (3 RBI); Ben Erickson 1-4; Sean Peterson 0-2 (RBI); John Christian 1-4 (2 RBI); Chase Castloo 3-3 (2 RBI); Eric Fanning 2-3 (RBI); Josh Morse 1-3.

2B - Christian, Small, Murray

3B - none

HR - none

Cardinals 6, Northstars 1

Havre Northstars 010 000 0 - 1 3 1

Edmonton Cardinals 010 221 0 - 6 11 0

John Christian and Patch Wirtzberger; unavailable.

WP - unavailable; LP - Christian.

NORTHSTARS HITTING - Jeff Tibbals 0-2; Eric Fanning 0-1; Patch Wirtzberger 1-3; Ben Erickson 0-3; Sean Peterson 1-3; Chase Castloo 0-2; Austin Small 0-1; Jess McLain 0-2; Josh Lowe 1-1; Scott Ladenburg 0-1; Richard Jarvis 0-2; Bryden Vukasin 0-2.

CARDINALS HITTING - not available

2B - none

3B - none

HR - none