Havre stuns Miles City, falls to Broncs

POLSON - Havre waited five years to get here, but it only took six innings to get a victory. Sophomore Dani Wagner smashed a 3-run homerun in the top of the sixth inning of Havre High's opening game of the Class A state softball tournament Thursday in Polson, and the blast turned out to be the game-winner as the Ponies beat Miles City 7-5. Havre trailed 2-0 early, but a 3-RBI double by Wagner gave the Ponies a lead in the third inning. Miles City rallied and led 5-4 in the sixth when Wagner delivered the biggest blow of her young career.

Rachel Majeres went the distance on the mound for the Ponies, while Wagner was 2-for-4 with five RBIs and a stolen base. Havre advances to face Southwest A champion Frenchtown later this afternoon.

Havre's good fortune was stymied by the Frenchtown Broncs in the second round of the state tournament Thursday afternoon. Behind a 1-hit shuout from Broncs' pitcher Morgan Ray, who is a top collegiate prospect, the Broncs sent Havre into the loser-out bracket with a 9-0 win. Majeres and Wagner combined the pitching duties in the second game, and pitched well, but Frenchtown was just a little too powerful, and now HHS will look to stay alive when it faces Butte Central Friday morning.

Despite the loss, Havre head coach Danny Wirtzberger was more than pleased with how Havre's first day at a state tournament in five years went.

"It's huge to win that game against Miles City," Wirtzberger said. "It does so much for our confidence and for this program moving forward. It was special.

"And even with the loss, we can hold our heads high," he continued. "We played a really good game. Today, overall, we played about as well as we could play, and we are still alive. We get to play again tomorrow. So we're holding our heads high right now."