Babe Ruth all-star teams converge on Havre

It has been a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs for the Havre 13U Babe Ruth all stars, but the summer’s play all comes down to this weekend.

Hosting the 2013 13U state tournament, Havre will be joined by Glendive, Kalispell, Glacier, Hi-Line (Glasgow), and Helena at Legion Field this weekend. The tournament opens today at 4 p.m., and runs through Sundays’ championship game at 11 a.m.

Havre will open the tournament in today’s 4 o’clock game, as it faces Hi-Line. Glacier and Helena will also face off today at 7 p.m., following the opening ceremonies slated for approximately 6:30 p.m. Kalispell and Glendive received the first round byes, but Kalispell will face the winner of Havre/Hi-Line at 10 a.m. Friday, while Glendive will face the winner of the Glacier/Helena matchup at noon Friday. There will also be loser-out games at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Friday, with semifinal action resuming at noon Saturday. Two more loser-out games at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. will be played Saturday, leading up to Sunday’s 11 a.m. chipper. An if-necessary game is also slated for 1 p.m. Sunday.

“Just from what I know from playing in the 12U tournament last year,” Havre all-star coach Dennis Murphy said. “Glasgow took second, Kalispell was in the top four, and we lost to Glendive in the first round 3-1. The thing about it is, being so spread out, it is hard to see how well everybody is playing coming in. But I have heard Helena is pretty good, too. They have a nice ball club.”

Each of the teams present at Legion Field this weekend has a shot at making a run into Saturday, as well as a run at the title game. But in typical baseball fashion, the teams to come out on top will be the teams who play well all the way around, limit their errors, and find ways to support their pitchers with runs.

Ivar Aageson has become Havre’s ace on the mound, and has also held steady as one of the lineup’s more consistent players swinging the bats. Catcher and outfielder Trey Hanson has also been a leader with his bat, while the rest of the lineup in Brendon Danielson (pitcher/third base), Trey Murphy (second base), Kaden Anez (first base), Gavin Mosbrucker (utility), Brady Ophus (outfield), JayR Caplette (outfield), Bobby O’Leary (outfield), Jacob Irvin (infield/outfield) and Noah Brown (pitcher/infield) will also pitch in, hopefully propelling Havre into a great state tournament weekend.

And while most of the field is somewhat of a mystery to Havre, the opening game against Hi-Line could get Havre off on the right foot.

Havre and Hi-Line split their two meetings during the season, with Havre winning 8-2 and Hi-Line winning 13-3. But if Havre gets past Hi-Line, a very tough Kalispell squad will be waiting. And the only thing that Havre really knows about Kalispell, is what they learned last year when Kalispell won their only meeting 10-0. Glendive also beat Havre last year in the 12U tournament, while Glacier and Helena will be very new to Havre if they happen to meet this weekend.

Havre and Hi-Line get the weekend started at 4 p.m. today at Legion Field in Havre, followed by the opening ceremonies at 6:30 p.m., and then by Glacier and Helena in a 7 p.m. game to wrap up day one.