North Stars roll into the postseason

For a short time it looked as if the Havre North Stars American Legion baseball team was going to be swept in their final two-game home stand of the season.

But after giving up the lead and suffering a loss in game one, the North Stars bounced back in game two and captured a come-from-behind win of their own.

Friday night at Legion Field in Havre the North Stars went 1-1 against the Fort MacLeod Royals. In game one the Royals earned a 6-4 victory after eight innings of play. And in game two, the North Stars captured the 7-6 win, also in eight innings.

In game one of the doubleheader the North Stars jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one inning of play and quickly added to it, taking a 4-0 lead after two innings.

The North Stars scored the four runs on five hits, but would only get five more hits over the next six innings.

"After the first couple innings their pitcher controlled us," North Stars head coach Steve Fanning said. "We need to be smarter, we need to recognize when a kid has a changeup like that and change our plan at the plate. We can't go up and swing it the way we did before." The Royals, on the other hand, didn't get a hit against North Star pitcher Brandon Smith until the fourth inning.

The Royals also got a hit in the sixth when they cut the lead to 4-1. But the bats really came alive in the seventh inning when they used three hits to score three runs and in the eighth when they used four hits to score two runs and capture the extra innings win.

"It's not staying focused," Fanning said. "It's not keeping your head in the game when you know it's close. We had a few miscues that cost us big time. We didn't execute some bunts, we missed some signals and against a good team this late in the season, that's unacceptable." Smith suffered the loss on the mound after pitching eight innings.

Smith pitched the first three innings hit free, but ended up giving up nine on the night. He also walked five and struck out nine.

C. J. Evans led the offense, going 3-of-4 at the plate and earning one RBI.

Justin Jensen was 2-of-4, while Shane Kemmer, Kyle Miller, Smith, Mark Vukasin and Adam Briese also had one hit a piece. Smith also had one RBI as well.

In Friday's nightcap the North Stars turned the tables on the Royals and did some battling back of their own.

The Royals got out to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning. In the third they added another run to take a 3-0 lead.

The North Stars did gain some ground in the bottom of the third, scoring two runs on three hits, but the Royals went right back to work. In the fifth inning, the Royals extended their lead to 5-2. In the seventh they added yet another run to take a 6-2 lead over Havre.

But in the bottom of the seventh the North Stars came roaring back.

Jensen got things started with a leadoff single, while both Miller and Smith followed with walks. Evans then got the North Stars one run closer with an RBI single, cutting their deficit to 6-4.

Brayden Grimson earned another walk for Havre to load the bases with no outs, but Spencer Morkrid hit into a double play at home and first base for two quick outs and no runs scored.

Briese then came to the plate and pulled out some veteran heroics. With two outs and two runners in scoring position, Briese tied the ballgame at 6-6 with a two-run single.

Kemmer came in to the game in the top of the eighth to close out the game on the mound. He allowed one hit, but earned the three outs with no damage done.

And in the bottom of the eighth some veteran heroics came through one more time. Kemmer grounded out to start the inning and Jensen earned a walk. Miller then popped the ball up for the second out, but Smith got on board with a single.

But Evans stepped up to the plate and gave the North Stars a 7-6 win with a walk-off RBI single.

"That's great," Fanning said. "We were down four and we know we can come back on anybody, we've done it all year. And it's good to see how it happened, it's good to see our 18- and 19-year-olds come back and get a win in their last home game." Jensen went 3-of-4 with one RBI and Evans went 3-of-5 with two RBIs. Smith was also 2-of-4 with an RBI, while Grimson, Briese and Roman Surber all had one hit apiece.

Next in store for the North Stars will be the Northern District Tournament in Fort MacLeod on Thursday.