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Shaina's Challenge returns this weekend

Annual men's fastpitch softball tournament has become a big event

Shaina Evans was a special person, and meant so much to so many here in Havre and her home town of Kalispell. And, she was also a special athlete, on the volleyball court and the softball field among other sports she played so well.

And in her honor, Havre has something special going on, as the third annual Shaina’s Challenge Men’s International Fastpitch Tournament returns this weekend at the Sixth Avenue Memorial Field. The tournament, started three summers ago by Dan Wirtzberger, who now resides in Laurel, is a fundraiser for both the Shaina Evans Memorial Scholarship and the Havre Girls Fastpitch Softball Association.

This year’s tourney, which kicks off Friday afternoon and runs through Saturday afternoon, will once again feature seven teams and, according to Patch Wirtzberger, feature players from far and wide.

“We’ve once again got guys coming in from all over,” Wirtzberger said. “A lot of them are local or used to be local guys who played fastpitch here at one time or another. But we’ve got guys coming in to play from everywhere.”

In all, seven teams will partake in the tourney, which starts as a two-game round-robin, then turns into a double-elimination format. Two international teams will be in Havre this weekend, including the great group of Consul, Saskatchewan, a traditional fastpitch town north of the border, which has been competing in fastpitch softball for generations. Another Saskatchewan team will also join five teams with local ties. The sponsors for the teams include Gallery Lounge, Valley Furniture, Master Sports, Havre Ford, Koefod Agency, Tire Rama and Radio Shack. Super 8 and Bear Paw Credit Union are also tourney sponsors.

As for the schedule, the tournament will get underway with games at 6, 7:45 and 9:15 p.m. Friday. On Saturday, there are nine games on the schedule. The round robin portion of the tourney will wrap up with games at 8, 9:45 and 11:30 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. Then the double elimination tourney will start with games at 3, 4:45, 6:30, 7:15 and 9 p.m. On Sunday, the action starts at 8 a.m. and five more games will end with the championship game at 3 p.m.

And while softball is center stage this weekend, and there are plenty of great players coming home to play on a field they once roamed, the reason they are coming back to play is to support such a great cause. And beyond playing the tourney, fans can donate to the causes in a variety of ways, including full concessions, a beer gardens, 50/50 drawings and an old-school “pass the hat.”

The Shaina's Challenge men's fastpitch tournament begins with games at 6 p.m. Friday and resumes at 8 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday. The championship game is set for 3 p.m. Sunday with all the action taking place at the Sixth Avenue Memorial Field.

 

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