North Stars host Havre Jamboree

School is out, the weather is heating up and that means baseball is about to start in earnest for the boys of summer.

The Havre North Stars of the American Legion baseball league, have played just six games so far this season but are ready to ramp up their schedule, starting with three games this week.

Havre, which is taking part in the North Star Jamboree, will open its busy weekend Friday against the Lethbridge Giants at 6 p.m. Saturday, the North Stars will face the Strathmore Reds at 6 p.m. and will finish the jamboree Sunday against the Medicine Hat Majestics at 2 p.m. All games will be played at Legion Field.

In addition to the four teams listed above, the jamboree will also feature both the Glasgow A and Glasgow B team, as well as the Tri-County Cardinals, the Glacier Twins and the Fort Macleod Royals. All teams except Havre will play four games with the first pitch of the jamboree going out Friday at 2 p.m.

“I think that because these aren’t conference games, we can try some different things,” North Stars head coach Dick Fuzesy said. “We can try some kids at different positions, give some other kids a chance to play and see how things go. We want to win, especially when we are playing at home, but we can try some new things, too.”

Fuzesy didn’t say in what order he would use his pitchers, but he did say he is going to give the ball to ace Tyrell Pierce for one of the three games. Pierce is 0-2 to start the season and is coming off a disappointing outing against Medicine Hat. Yet, Fuzesy wants to give him a chance to redeem himself in front of the home crowd.TY

“It’s kind of his night, with him being one of the only seniors,” Fuzesy said. “I want to give him the chance to pitch under the lights. That’s something the kids are excited about. He will have a shorter pitch count than usual because we don’t want to overwork him in a non-conference game but he will be excited to pitch at home.”

Others who are likely to start for the North Stars this weekend include Jeff Miller, who is 1-0 on the season and Dylan Carpenter, who also boasts a 1-0 record. Jerod Boles, Ryne Antley and Brenden Danielson are also possibilities to start and may also see time in relief.

In addition to pitching occasionally and playing center field, Antley is also the team’s leading hitter through six games with an average of .562. But, catcher Jake Sedhal is not far behind and is hitting .545. Sedhal also leads the team or is tied for the team lead in total hits, doubles, runs batted in and runs scored.

Havre will also have third baseman Gavin Gunderson back this week after missing him for the last four games to do a high school football all-star game. Gunderson and short stop Travis Roth, along with Boles at second and Miller at first, have proven to be solid defensively and have committed just three errors in six games.

“The hitting was the one thing I was a little worried about coming into the season and in Great Falls,” Fuzesy said. “But I think we are starting to take the right approach at the plate and thinking when we are up there. You have to know when you are down 0-2 that you need to swing the bat, so we are just trying to fine tune things like that and keep doing the little things. But so far I have been really happy with our hitting and our defense.”

Fuzesy said he also wants to see more of Trey Murphy, who is hitting .357 in 16 at-bats so far this season. T.J. Lovenguth will also start in right field, while Nic Tanner, Tanner Hentschel, Kyle Gooch, and Cole Keller will also see the field for the North Stars.

The North Star jamboree begins Friday at 2 p.m., with the North Stars opening game coming at 6 p.m.

North Star

Jamboree

FRIDAY

2:00 PM Tri-County vs. Glasgow B

4:00 PM Glasgow A vs. Lethbridge

6:00 PM Havre vs. Lethbridge

8:00 PM Tri-County vs. Strathmore

10:00 PM Glacier vs. Fort Macleod

SATURDAY

8:00 AM Strathmore vs. Glasgow A

10:00 AM Tri-County vs. Glacier

12:00 PM Tri-County vs. Medicine Hat

2:00 PM Fort Macleod vs. Lethbridge

4:00 PM Glasgow B vs. Glacier

6:00 PM Havre vs. Strathmore

8:00 PM Fort Macleod vs. Glasgow A

10:00 PM Glasgow B vs. Medicine Hat

SUNDAY

8:00 AM Strathmore vs. Lethbridge

10:00 AM Fort Macleod vs. Glasgow B

12:00 PM Glasgow A vs. Glacier

2:00 PM Havre vs. Medicine Hat