North Stars spilt with Royals at home

Every so often, even a young baseball team puts together a great outing on the diamond, earning a win and showing just what kind of potential they have, and how dangerous they can be.

That was the case Saturday at Legion Field in Havre, when the Havre North Stars American Legion baseball club earned a home split with the district rival Fort Macleod Royals. In the first game of the evening, the North Stars defeated the Royals 12-1 in five innings. But in the nightcap, the Royals’ bats caught fire, as Fort Macleod defeated Havre 12-6 in a complete seven-inning outing.

In the dominating win, it was, without question, one of the best performances by the North Stars this season.

After trailing 1-0 through the top half of the first inning, the North Stars refused to hit the panic button. Instead, Havre rallied to post runs in three out of the five innings played. Going into the weekend, head coach Danny Wirtzberger stressed how important their at-bat mindset was, and how they had to look to hit the ball, instead of being fortunate enough to get hit or earn a walk. This time around, the North Stars earned 12 hits, walked four times, struck out four times, and got on base after being hit two times.

Havre took a 2-1 lead after one inning, but gained even more momentum through the second, taking a 7-1 lead on three hits. The North Stars sealed the game in the fourth inning with five more runs on five hits.

Thurman Holdsclaw was 1-for-2, including a double off of the left-center field fence, while Travis Roth was 3-for-3 with four RBIs, and David Denny was 1-for-1 with three RBIs. Gavin Gunderson was 2-for-2 with an RBI, and Ryne Antley was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Jase Kato and Chris Vukasin were both 1-for-3 with one RBI each.

But solid hitting was just part of the equation, as Tyrell Pierce also had a dominating outing on the mound.

"Very excited that we got that first conference win in front of our home crowd," Wirtzberger said. "Again, it shows the potential of this young team."

Pierce pitched the compete game, and was on his game. In seven innings of work, Pierce allowed just one hit in the first inning and one hit in the fifth. He also struck out five, walked four, and hit just one batter. Pierce also forced five fly outs and four ground outs.

In the nightcap, the North Stars started out with solid pitching again, but couldn’t keep the Royal bats quiet for long.

Dane Warp got the start on the mound, and pitched four and two-thirds innings. Warp allowed just two runs through four innings, keeping the ballgame tied at 2-2. But as the Royals heated up, they eventually faced Dan Miller, Spencer Ross, Gunderson, and Denny on the mound, as the North Stars struggled to close out the game.

Fort Macleod’s four runs in the fifth inning stretched the deficit to 7-2. The North Stars did battle back in the fifth, scoring four runs on three hits and three errors, but the Royals’ five runs in the sixth inning stretched the deficit back to 12-6, putting the game out of reach, and sealing the win for the Royals.

Roth went 1-for-4 at the plate, while Pierce was 2-for-3, Denny was 1-for-3, Gunderson was 3-for-3, and Kato was 1-for-3. Denny also had two RBIs while Gunderson had two RBIs, and Kato had one.

Havre wasn't done with Northern district games after Saturday night's split, either.

Sunday, the North Stars traveled north and dropped a pair of tough games to the Vauxhall Spurs.

In the first outing, the Spurs beat the North Stars 21-6 in five innings. Gavin Gunderson took the loss on the mound for Havre, while Holdsclaw, Pierce and Roth all went 3-for-4 at the plate.

The North Stars battled back in game two, but fell to the Spurs 15-9. David Denny pitched strong in the loss, while Ross picked up three hits and Denny and Ryne Antley each had two.

"I am proud of the way we had the never-quit attitude but we need to learn how to finish stronger, especially defensively," Wirtzberger noted.

"I was in a slump, coaches and dad have been helping me adjust my swing a bit and I went with it and it just started to click," added Roth, who went 5-for-6 in Vauxhall.

The North Stars will be right back in action Tuesday night when they host the Great Falls Hawks in a doubleheader.

Note: Havre Daily News sports editor George Ferguson contributed to this story.

Havre 12, Fort Macleod 1 (5 Inn)

Fort Macleod 100 00 — 1 2 0

Havre 250 50 — 12 12 2

WP – Tyrell Pierce; LP – Foster

Fort Macleod – Burden 0-2, Foster 0-3, Gudria 1-2, Shepperd 1-3, Atwood 0-3, Kidd 0-1, Jensen 0-2.

Havre – Thurman Holdsclaw 1-2, Travis Roth 3-3 4RBIs, Tyrell Pierce 0-3, Chris Vukasin 1-3 RBI, David Denny 1-1 3RBIs, Spencer Ross 1-2, Gavin Gunderson 2-2 RBI, Ryne Antley 2-3 2RBIs, Jase Kato 1-3 RBI.

Fort Macleod 12, Havre 6

Fort Macleod 010 142 x – 12 9 2

Havre 002 040 0 – 6 8 1

WP – Jensen; LP – Dane Warp

Fort Macleod – Burden 0-4, Foster 0-2, Gudria 1-2 RBI, Shepperd 3-4 3RBIs, Atwood 2-4, Kidd 3-4 2RBIs, Jensen 0-4 RBI, Tirgia 0-3, Ondnia 0-2.

Havre – Thurman Holdsclaw 0-3, Travis Roth 1-4, Tyrell Pierce 2-3, Chris Vukasin 0-1, David Denny 1-3 2RBIs, Chris Pitkanen 0-2, Spencer Ross 0-3, Kyle Gooch 0-1, Gavin Gunderson 3-3 2RBIs, Ryne Antley 0-3, Jase Kato 1-3 RBI.