Little league excitement comes to Havre

Every year, little league teams from Havre travel to state baseball tournaments all across Montana. But this summer, the Havre 12-year-old all-star team gets to stay home.

Thursday through Sunday, Havre will host the 2014 Cal Ripken Montana 12-year-old East State Tournament. The tourney will be played at the Sixth Avenue Memorial Field and will feature Havre, Border (Scobey), Big Muddy (Wolf Point), Miles City, Glendive, Sidney, Glasgow and Bozeman.

On the line at this weekend’s tournament is a trip to the Cal Ripken Northwest Regional, which will be held later this summer in Kalispell. There is a West Montana State Tournament also being held this weekend.

The Havre tournament will be divided up into two pools. Havre plays in the pool with Big Muddy, Border and Miles City. The other pool is composed of Bozeman, Sidney, Glendive and Glasgow. The top two teams from each pool advance to a single-elimination tournament on Sunday. Semifinals are at 9 and 11 a.m. and the championship game is slated for 1:30 p.m.

The Havre All-Star team, which went 2-2 at the Kalispell Firecracker Tournament last week and 6-0 at a tournament in Conrad two weeks ago, is composed of Bridger Staples, Caleb Allestad, Cameron Pleninger, Eli Cloninger, Ethan Werk, Jacob Miller, Jake Huston, Leighton Schennum, Quinn Reno, Quinn Springer, Tanner Parson and Tyrel Kjersem. The team is coached by Darin Miller, Randy Cloninger and Shane Reno.

Havre opens pool play Thursday at 1 p.m. against Border. Havre also plays Big Muddy at 6 p.m. Friday and Miles City at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Thursday through Saturday, there are six games each day, with the final game being at 6 p.m. each night.

There is also plenty of fun events for the kids over the course of the four-day tournament. Thursday, the Opening Ceremonies will be held at 7:30 p.m. On Friday, there will be a skills contest, starting at 8 p.m. and a homerun derby to follow. There will also be full concessions and plenty of fun for fans. Entry is $5 per day, and there is a family pass, which is $40 for the entire tournament.

The Cal Ripken Montana 12-year-old East State Tournament starts Thursday, with Havre playing at 1 p.m. The tournament will wrap up with the championship game Sunday at 1 p.m. All of the action takes place at the Sixth Avenue Memorial Field.

Cal Ripken East State Tournament

in Havre

Thursday

Havre vs Border, 1 p.m.

Glasgow vs Glendive 3:30 p.m.

Friday

Miles City vs Big Muddy, 8 a.m.

Glendive vs Bozeman, 10:30 a.m.

Border vs Miles City, 1 p.m.

Glasgow vs Sidney, 6 p.m.

Havre vs Big Muddy 6 p.m.

Saturday

Sidney vs Glendive, 8 a.m.

Border vs Big Muddy, 10:30 a.m.

Glasgow vs Bozeman, 1 p.m.

Havre vs Miles City, 3:30 p.m.

Sidney vs Bozeman, 6 p.m.

Sunday

Semifinals at 9 and 11 a.m.

Championship at 1 p.m.