North Stars fall in season- opening doubleheader

The American Legion baseball season was supposed to begin a week ago for the Havre North Stars. However, weather always plays a factor in early season baseball.

So the North Stars instead traveled to Great Falls on Sunday for a pair of season-opening games against the Class AA Great Falls Chargers at Centene Stadium. The Chargers are typically one of the top Legion programs in Montana, and they showed why on Sunday, sweeping the North Stars in a pair of five-inning games.

Great Falls defeated Havre 19-3 in game one, in a game which last just five innings, then took the second game of the twin bill, 11-1, also in five innings.

And though Havre was out-manned in both games, as the North Stars are a young team, getting on the diamond was good.

"I thought our team chemistry was really good," Havre head coach Danny Wirtzberger said. "The first game out, you never know who's going to step up and be leaders. And I thought Thurman (Holdsclaw), Spencer (Ross) and David (Denny) all did a great job of playing well, but also teaching our young kids throughout the two games.

"I wasn't worried about the scores," Wirtzberger added. I really wasn't. Great Falls is really tough. And so we looked at this as extra practice. We saw live hitting and live pitching, and you know, I thought we didn't play that bad. I was actually really happy."

In the first outing, the Chargers did cross the plate 19 times, but they only collected 12 hits. Havre struggled on defense as the North Stars committed five errors. Tyrell Pierce started on the mound for Havre, but after giving up 12 runs in the first two innings, he gave way to a host of Havre relievers.

At the plate, the North Stars had to contend with Great Falls' ace Kolby Sukut, a former Havre Blue Pony and North Star. Sukut was stellar, tossing a shutout through the first three innings. Havre scored one run in the fourth and two in the fifth. Daniel Miller drove in a pair of runs for the North Stars while going 2-for-2 at the plate. Thurman Holdsclaw, Ryne Antley and Bryce Kinsella also had hits for Havre.

In the second outing, Havre was strong on the mound early behind starter Spencer Ross. Ross held the powerful Chargers to just three runs through three innings. Great Falls exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning however, ending the game early.

Ross took the loss for the North Stars, while Dane Warp also pitched in the game.

Offensively, Havre managed just two hits off of winning pitcher Jayse McLean. Pierce and Antley collected those two hits.

In all, Great Falls collected 17 hits in the two games, while the North Stars committed a costly nine errors.

Still, it was good for Havre to open its season, and now the North Stars will prepare for their home debut, which will take place Saturday night at 7 p.m. against Calgary. Havre will host Calgary for three games this weekend at Legion Field.

GF Chargers 19, Havre North Stars 3

North Stars 000 12 3 5 5

Chargers 480 7x – 19 12 1

WP—Sukut. LP—Pierce.

Havre – Spencer Ross 0-1, Dustin Odegard 0-1, Tyrell Pierce 0-1, Daniel Miller 2-2, Thurman Holdsclaw 1-3, David Denny 0-1, Clint Popchoke 0-2, Ryne Anthem 1-2, Kyle Gooch 0-1, Jace Kato 0-1, Gavin Gunderson 0-1, Travis Roth 0-1, Bryce Kinsella 1-1, Chance Pitkannen 0-1, Deion Hammet 0-1, Brady Wolf 0-1.

Great Falls – Anthony Bonilla 0-2, Ryan O'Connell 0-2, Dalton Cook 1-2, Jayse McLean 2-2, Elijah Collins 1-2, Lucas Poitra 3-5, Wyatt Eckert 2-3, Justin Pfennigs 3-4, Colton Philp 0-2, Josh Oatman 0-2, Quade Hamrell 0-1.

2B—Miller 2, Cook, McLean, Pfennigs. 3B—Poitra, Pfennigs.

RBIs—Miller 2, Anthem, O'Connell, Cook 3, McLean 2, Collins, Poitra 3, Eckert 3, Pfennigs 2, Oatman, Hamrell.

GF Chargers 11, Havre North Stars 1

North Stars 000 10 – 1 2 4

Chargers 210 35 – 11 5 0

WP— McLean . LP—Ross.

Havre – Spencer Ross 0-2, Kyle Gooch 0-1, Daniel Miller 0-1, Dane Warp 0-2, Thurman Holdsclaw 0-2, Tyrell Pierce 1-2, David Denny 0-1, Ryne Antley 1-1, Travis Roth 0-2, Jace Kato 0-1, Gavin Gunderson 0-2.

Great Falls – Anthony Bonilla 1-2, Elijah Collins 1-1, Lucas Poitra 0-3, Tyler Pfennigs 1-2, Kolby Sukut 1-2, Colton Philp 0-3, Josh Oatman 0-2, Quade Hamrell 1-2, Ryan O'Connell 0-0.

RBIs—Bonilla 2, Collins 2, Pfennigs, Sukut, Philp.