Plenty of baseball on tap at Havre Jamboree

It is still the early stages of the Havre North Stars American Legion baseball schedule, but this weekend brings ample opportunity for local baseball fans to catch a game or two.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday the North Stars will host the annual Havre Jamboree at Legion Field in Havre. Action will begin at 2 p.m. Friday, with the final game beginning at 4 p.m. Sunday. A grand total of 18 games will be played at Legion field over the three days, including the hometown North Stars taking the diamond four times. Havre will play Friday at 8 p.m. against the Glacier Twins, followed by two more games Saturday, and a final game Sunday. Saturday the North Stars will face the Lethbridge Giants at 6 p.m., followed by the Missoula Prospects at 8 p.m. And Sunday, the North Stars will close out the jamboree against the Glasgow Reds (B squad) at 4 p.m.

Havre will be joined this weekend by the Lethbridge Giants, Fort MacLeod Royals, Strathmore Reds, Missoula Prospects, Glacier Twins, Tri-County Cardinals and Glasgow Reds A and B squads.

All games will be seven innings, with no new innings beginning after the one-hour, 40-minute time limit. An eight-run rule is also applied after five innings, and a 12-run rule is applied after four innings.

The North Stars’ four games are all nonleague games, but head coach Danny Wirtzberger is still looking forward to showing off his program and venue to area programs.

“I am really excited to show off our facility,” Wirtzberger said. “We have the best ball field in the state and Dick Fuzesy does a great job preparing this field, and we want to show it off. But we also want to show off our program, our fans and our community, and the jamboree is always a great opportunity to do that. I know other coaches and teams enjoy coming to Havre and playing on our field because it really is just a fun time.”

And facing four nonleague opponents, the North Stars are taking the same approach they did Tuesday night in the win over the Great Falls Outlaws. Havre has a lot of young and experienced talent on the roster this season, but there are still areas to improve. The entire roster should see playing time this weekend, and that means a lot of throws for Tyrell Pierce, Chris Vukasin, Dylan Carpenter and Gavin Gunderson from the mound, as well the continuation of developing youngsters like Jeff Miller at short stop and Jake Sedahl at catcher.

Four games against good pitching and defenses also means quality at-bats for the North Stars.

The bats have gotten hot from all over the Havre lineup this season, as players like David Denny, Pierce and Travis Roth have shown solid consistency at the plate. If they can continue to make contact, while Spencer Ross, Chance Pitkanen, Vukasin, Miller, Gunderson, Ryne Antley, Mike Loftus, Dan Miller, Carpenter and Sedahl continue to improve, than the North Stars should continue to see success. Sitting at 4-5 overall, the North Stars have shown they can win ballgames, but as the weekend, and season, progresses the bottom half of the lineup needs to find ways to get more hits and get on base.

The North Stars continue to focus on themselves in the early stages of nonleague play, but they should also look to grab a handful of wins this weekend. If they can play well and play to their potential, they should find themselves to be very competitive in the four game home stand.

Havre will play Friday at 8 p.m. against the Glacier Twins. Saturday the North Stars will face the Lethbridge Giants at 6 p.m., followed by the Missoula Prospects at 8 p.m. And Sunday the North Stars will end the weekend against the Glasgow Reds (B squad) at 4 p.m. All games will be played at Legion Field in Havre.

Havre Jamboree

Friday

2 p.m. Tri-County vs Glasgow A

4 p.m. Tri-County vs Glasgow B

6 p.m. Lethbridge vs Strathmore

8 p.m. Havre vs Glacier

10 p.m. Fort MacLeod vs Missoula

Saturday

8 a.m. Strathmore vs Glasgow B

10 a.m. Tri-County vs Glacier

12 p.m. Fort MacLeod vs Glacier

2 p.m. Glasgow A vs Strathmore

4 p.m. Lethbridge vs Glasgow A

6 p.m. Havre vs Lethbridge

8 p.m. Havre vs Missoula

10 p.m. Missoula vs Glasgow B

Sunday

8 a.m. Fort MacLeod vs Strathmore

10 a.m. Fort MacLeod vs Lethbridge

12 p.m. Tri-County vs Missoula

2 p.m. Glasgow A vs Glacier

4 p.m. Havre vs Glasgow B