Blue Ponies rebound against Scotties

Havre High's Davee McLeod throws to first during Saturday's Havre Invitational game against Glasgow.

All season long, the Havre High softball program has been able to find ways to follow a handful of tough losses with a convincing win.

That proved to be true again over the weekend, when the Central A Blue Ponies answered two consecutive losses to the Lewistown Golden Eagles with a solid win over the Class B Glasgow Scotties.

After losing 13-2 in five innings on Thursday in Lewistown, the Ponies also suffered a 15-5 loss to the Eagles at home on Saturday. Saturday's loss came at the Havre Invite at the Sixth Avenue Memorial field in Havre, but so did the Ponies win over the Scotties to follow. HHS took on Glasgow in their second game at the Havre Invite on Saturday, but this time the Ponies walked away with the 10-2 non-conference win.

The win over the Scotties was much needed for the Ponies, but it also meant sending this year's senior class off with a bang, something seniors Michaela Boles, Clarissa Martin and Masha Barnekoff were grateful for.

"It felt really good to win," Boles said. "We played really well as a team, every one was getting along and it was just really fun to play. (After the two losses to Lewistown) we couldn't get mad, we couldn't get down on ourselves after an error and we had to keep looking ahead to the next play."

And while it took a few innings to build up their steam, the Ponies were able to grab a dominating win that ended after the 90-minute time limit.

"Glasgow is a pretty solid team," Havre High assistant coach Mark Majeres said. "And we just played incredibly better than we did in our last two games against Lewistown. We played poorly in those, but really played well in this game."

HHS found themselves tied 1-1 after the first inning with a solid Scotties' team. But the Ponies then scooted out to a 2-1 lead after the second. The Ponies continued to slowly slip away, leading 3-2 after four innings and 4-2 after five. It was the sixth and final inning where the Ponies were able to run away.

After holding a slight lead through five innings, the Ponies erupted in the sixth, stringing together six hits, and taking advantage of one Scottie error to grab the 10-2 win. In the inning Barnekoff had a single, Lexi Olson had a single, Paige Henderson grabbed an RBI on a fielders choice, Davee McLeod had an RBI single, Paige Henderson had an RBI single, Mary Lyons had an RBI single and Morgan Mazurkiewicz had a single. McLeod also scored on a wild pitch and Lyons scored on the error.

Overall, it was great game for the Ponies. They came up with 10 hits, committed just two errors on defense, and McLeod pitched six great innings. McLeod struck out five batters, but also got a lot help from the defense, especially in the outfield where the wind made routine fly balls tougher than Barnekoff, Boles and Olsen would have liked. Olsen made several big plays in right field, including tracking down three deep fly balls on the run, as well as throwing out a runner at second base, finishing the double play.

"We had some great catches in the outfield," Majeres said. "Lexi Olson in right field grabbed a couple balls that were really tailing hard away from her, and Michaela Boles had three or four catches in center and Masha (Barnekoff) had a couple in left. We just made all the plays that were hit to us and the was the biggest difference."

Olsen also helped lead the Ponies offense, going 2-of-3 with an RBI. Boucher also went 2-of-4 with an RBI, while Boles was 1-of-4, Henderson was 1-of-4, McLeod was 1-of-4 with an RBI, Lyons was 1-of-4 with 2RBIs, Mazurkiewicz was 1-of-4 and Barnekoff was 1-of-3.

After the two conference losses to Lewistown, and the non conference win over the Scotties, the Ponies now sit at 4-8 overall and 3-5 in the conference, still tied with Livingston for the No. 3 spot in the Central A.

HHS will get back on the road Friday and Saturday, as they take part in the Butte Central Invite in Butte.

Havre High's Clarissa Martin gets ready to hit during a Havre Invitational softball game against the Glasgow Scotties Saturday afternoon at the Sixth Avenue Memorial Field. The Ponies beat the Scotties in what was their final home game of the season. For more photos, see http://www.havredailynews.com.