Blue Ponies strive for state tourney berth

Since the start of the 2015 season, the goal of the Havre High softball team has been to get back to the Class A state tournament. And now, after a long wait, the Blue Ponies will finally have the opportunity to punch their ticket.

The Central A divisional tournament will be held in Lewistown starting today and concluding Saturday. The top three teams will earn a trip to the state tournament which is May 21-23 in Anaconda. The Ponies will open the tournament today at 1 p.m., against Livingston.

"If we play like we can, we should do well," HHS head coach Bob Evans Sr. said. "We have beaten all the teams there. Well, we haven't beaten Belgrade, but we were close to beating them and we have beaten all the other teams, so if we play up to our potential we should be able to win and make it to state."

Even though the Ponies haven't gotten a win over Belgrade, the team favored to win the divisional title, they at least own a pair of wins over Livingston, Havre's opponent in the first round. The two teams squared off in a doubleheader back on April 25 and on that day it was all Havre. HHS dominated, especially at the plate, and knocked off the Rangers 15-7 and 13-8.

Since then, the Havre offense has been on a roll and has managed to score at least seven runs in 10 of its last 12 games. And in order for the Ponies to continue their recent success at the divisional tournament, they will need their bats to stay hot.

"We have just really been hitting the ball so well lately, if we can keep that up we will be tough to beat," Evans said. "All our girls have been doing a really good job. They are being patient and waiting for good pitches."

The Havre lineup is difficult from top to bottom, but the heart of the order, which features Paige Henderson, Dani Wagner and Jacey McDonald is the most difficult part to navigate for opposing pitchers.

Henderson has been a force at the plate for HHS this season, hitting 10 home runs, batting near .500 and leading the team in RBI's. Yet, Wagner has been just as lethal, hitting seven home runs and also knocking in runners at a blistering pace. Not to be left out is McDonald, who has developed into a legitimate power hitter and has blasted three homers of her own this season.

In addition to the big three in the middle of the Ponies' lineup, the rest of the batting order has contributed in a big way by getting on base and giving the opportunity for Henderson, Wagner and McDonald to get them home. Players such as Morgan Mazurkiewicz, Scout Boucher, Shania Carlson, Jordyn Warren and Harlee Boucher have all had their moments at the plate over the last month of the season.

Even players who don't normally start for Havre such as Claire Worm, Madison Tommerup, Samy Huston, Tara McCormick and Jacqueline Martin, have all made strong contributions near the end of the season and will be continue to be counted on at divisionals.

Some of the team's younger players played in Butte last weekend "and they played really well," Evans said. "We lost Payton Howard, who is normally at third base for us, to injury, so we will need some of our younger players like Madison and Claire to step up for us and fill that void."

While hitting the ball well will be important for the Ponies, it doesn't change the fact that the majority of softball games are won with pitching, which means Havre will need strong efforts on the mound from both Wagner and Henderson.

Wagner is the ace of the HHS pitching staff and will be counted on to pitch as many innings as she can at divisionals and if possible she may pitch Havre through the entire tournament. That's because after a few shaky performances early in the season, Wagner has turned a corner and finished the year with wins in three of her last four starts. Even more impressive is the fact that in her last three starts, she has held opponents to five runs or fewer, while also dishing out very few walks.

"We are going to pitch Dani as much as we can," Evans said. "If we win that first game, we might think about resting her, but if we lose, we will probably pitch her as much as we can. Not just because she's our best pitcher, but because it also puts Paige at shortstop, which gives us our best defense playing behind her.

"The biggest thing for Dani is that her control has gotten a lot better," he added. "She is not walking many batters anymore and that makes a huge difference. When you can only walk one or two batters a game and make them put the ball in play more, it's a lot easier to get outs."

The Ponies will head into divisionals at the No. 2 seed and will take on Livingston, which is seeded third. Belgrade, which finished undefeated in regular season play, is the top seed and will play the victor of fourth-seeded Lewistown and fifth-seeded Browning. If the Ponies win, they would clinch a berth in the state tournament and play Saturday at 11 a.m. But, if they lose to Livingston, they would play at 5 p.m. today and would need to win that game plus another at 7 p.m. to advance to state.

The divisional tournament will start this morning and conclude Saturday with the championship game, which begins Saturday at 3 p.m.