HHS softball looks strong in Butte

In its final tune-up before the Central A divisional tournament, the Havre High softball team traveled to Butte for the Laverne Combo tournament and built some solid momentum to close the regular season after winning three of four games over the course of two days.

The Blue Ponies opened the tournament with three consecutive wins, defeating Hamilton 10-5 and Dillon 13-9 Friday, as well as knocking off Billings Central 6-4 Saturday. The Ponies' only loss came Saturday against Polson, which defeated HHS by the score of 10-3.

"We played really well this weekend," HHS head coach Bob Evans Sr. said. "We really hit the ball well, we had some good pitching and we played some pretty good defense. We beat two of the betters teams in the Southwest A and Billings Central, which is the top team from the East, so it was a good weekend for us."

Havre opened the tournament against Hamilton, one of the better teams in the Southwest, and right out of the gate, put together one of their best performances of the season. The Havre offense was efficient notching six hits, drawing seven walks and blasting two home runs in the win. HHS scored two runs in the first inning and four in the second to grab a 6-0 lead, and the pitching from their Dani Wagner made it stick.

Wagner showed why she is the ace of the Ponies pitching staff, holding the Broncs scoreless through three innings and limiting them to a total of just five runs on six hits. Wagner would earn the win for her stellar pitching effort but also helped herself at the plate by hitting a three-run homer. Harlee Boucher also belted a two-run shot for the Ponies to help overwhelm Hamilton. Jacey McDonald had a hit and two RBIs, while Paige Henderson and Payton Howard each totaled a hit and an RBI.

In their second game of the tournament Friday against Dillon, the Ponies continued their hot streak at the plate and opened with three runs in the top of the first as Morgan Mazurkiewicz scored on a single by Scout Boucher, before Henderson hit a two-run homer to put HHS up 3-0.

Havre added three more runs in the bottom of the second to make the score 6-1, before Dillon came roaring back to grab the lead after notching three runs in the bottom of the third, as well as two in the fourth and one in the fifth to go ahead 9-7.

Yet, when they needed it most, the Pony bats got back on track and after two scoreless innings, Havre scored six in the top of the sixth inning. McDonald ripped a two-run homer to put Havre ahead 10-9 and then Claire Worm homered to score three runs and put Havre ahead 13-10.

Henderson shutout Dillon in the bottom half of the inning to seal the victory and earn the win as the starting pitcher, while she, McDonald and Worm all finished the game with three RBIs. Maddison Tommerup also hit a solo home run in the win for HHS.

"Up and down our lineup we are getting contributions from everybody," Evans said. "I think we have like 20-25 home runs as a team, which is unheard of for Havre softball. We were able to bring up a couple sophomores, and they hit the ball really well for us. But if we can just continue to hit the ball the way that we have, we should do well at divisionals."

On Saturday morning, the Ponies took on Billings Central, a solid team from the Eastern A, and thanks to another spectacular performance from Wagner, Havre won its third straight game to start the tournament.

In five innings pitched, Wagner limited the Rams to just four runs on eight hits. She was also 2-for-3 at the plate and drove in two runs. HHS again benefited from a fast start and jumped out to an early 4-1 lead and never trailed.

Wagner and McDonald were both 2-for-3 in the win for Havre. Scout Boucher and Shania Carlson each had a hit and an RBI. Harlee Boucher contributed with an RBI.

"Dani pitched really well for us in both games," Evans said. "I don't think she had many walks to speak of and she did a really good job. We could have played a little better defense behind her and those are some things we still need to clean up."

In the final game of the tournament, the Havre bats finally cooled off. Polson held the Ponies to just three runs on five hits. Henderson also struggled to keep the Pirates' offense at bay and was hit with the loss. When the game was over, Polson finished with 10 runs on 15 hits. Four Pony errors also didn’t help matters in the 10-3 defeat.

One of the bright spots in the game for Havre was another home run by Henderson, which was her tenth of the season. Tommerup was also 1-for-3 with an RBI. Samy Huston also added an RBI in the loss.

With three wins and one loss, the Ponies improved to 11-9 on the season but more importantly thanks to their strong play this weekend, they should head to divisionals, which start Friday in Lewistown with plenty of confidence as they try to earn a return trip to the Class A state tournament.

"Right now I really like how we are playing," Evans said. "And I like our chances this week at divisionals if we can just keep hitting the ball and avoid the mistakes on defense and play seven innings."

Havre 10, Hamilton 5

Hamilton 000 203 – 5 6 1

Havre 204 40 – 10 6 0

W – Dani Wagner. L – Sky Lopez.

Havre – Morgan Mazurkiewicz 0-2, Harlee Boucher 1-2, Dani Wagner 1-2, Paige Henderson 1-2, Jacey McDonald 1-2, Shania Carlson 0-3, Payton Howard 0-3, Scout Boucher 1-3, Samy Huston 1-3.

2B – Goligoski, Nye, Dolcater, Reynolds, Ringer; Henderson. HR – H. Boucher, Wagner. RBIs – Reynolds, Ringer, Dolcater, Nye 2; H. Boucher 2, Wagner 3, Henderson, McDonald 2, Howard.

Havre 13, Dillon 9

Havre 331 006 - 13 17 2

Dillon 132 210 - 9 10 2

Paige Henderson. LP – Bailey Berriochoa.

HR – Henderson, Madison Tommerup, Jacey McDonald, Claire Worm, Kimee Hritsco-Murray 2, Lovaas. RBI – Henderson 3, McDonald 3, Worm 3, Scout Boucher, Morgan Mazurkiewicz, Lovaas 2, Hritsco-Murray 2, Montgomery, Schurg, Adrianna Pittman, Erica Rude.

Saturday

Havre 6, Billings Central 4

Billings Central  013 00 - 4 8 0

Havre 312 0 - 6 9 0

Havre - Morgan Mazurkiewicz 1-3, Scout Boucher 1-3, Dani Wagner 2-3, Paige Henderson 1-2, I. Jacey McDonald 2-3, Shania Carlson 1-2, Payton Howard 1-2, Harlee Boucher 0-1, Jordyn Warren 0-2. RBIs: S. Boucher, Wagner 2, Carlson, H. Boucher.

Polson 10, Havre 3

Polson 021 511 - 10 15 1

Havre 000 102 - 354

H - Mazurkiewicz 0-4, Harlee Boucher 0-2, Dani Wagner 0-3, Paige Henderson 2-2, Jacey McDonald 0-1, Jacqueline Martin 1-1, Huston 0-2, S. Boucher 1-1, Worm 0-2, Carlson 0-0, Madison Tommerup 1-3, Jordyn Warren 0-3. HR: Henderson. RBIs: Henderson, Samy Huston,  Tommerup.