North Stars split wild ones with Cardinals

There was a lot at stake for the Havre North Stars American Legion baseball team as they hosted the Tri-County Cardinals at Legion Field Wednesday. Havre was looking for a sweep and if it wasn't for the Cardinals' penchant for late-game rallies, the North Stars would have gotten it.

The two Northern A district rivals went head-to-head in doubleheader action and after earning a dramatic 12-11 win in the opening game of the back-to-back, the North Stars squandered a 1-0 lead entering the top of the seventh and fell in extra innings by the score of 2-1. With the split, Havre is now 12-14-1 on the season as well as 6-4 in district play.

"It's frustrating because we had the sweep and we gave it away," North Stars head coach Dick Fuzesy said. "Something that I have noticed is that we are too complacent after we win the first game of the doubleheader, and we think that the other team is going to lay down for us. Tri-County is a scrappy group of kids, they love to ball and they don't quit. We are playing them in a doubleheader tomorrow, so hopefully we can do the opposite of what we wanted to do which was sweep at home and split on the road. I thought we could get four games from these guys, but hopefully this will motivate us and we win two games (Thursday) to reach our goal."

In the first game of the two-game set, the North Stars and Cardinals found themselves tied at 3-3 going into the bottom of the third winning, when Tanner Hentschel belted an RBI single to give Havre a 4-3 edge. Yet, Tri-County answered with three runs in the top of the fourth to grab a 6-4 lead.

Then, in the bottom of the fourth inning, the North Stars started to get rolling offensively. Havre scored three runs in that inning to go ahead 7-6 and followed that up by plating four more runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a decisive 11-6 advantage into the final inning.

In the top of the seventh, Havre appeared to lock up the win with a double play that would have ended it, but the umpire called the runner safe at first base and played continued. And with new life, the Cardinals knocked in five runs with two outs to tie the score at 11-11.

But, even after losing a five-run lead in the top half of the inning, when the North Stars came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, they kept their cool. First, Travis Roth got on base by drawing a walk, then the North Stars leader in RBIs, notched possibly his biggest of the season. With no outs and Roth on first base, Jake Sedahl ripped a double to right center that scored Roth and gave Havre the 12-11 walk-off victory.

"It was good to see us bounce back after letting them tie the game in the seventh," Fuzesy said. "Jake Sedahl came through with a great hit. He has been hitting for us all year and he did it again right there."

Despite giving up a total of 11 runs, Dylan Carpenter earned the win as the starting pitcher for the North Stars. Sedahl was big at the dish for the North Stars going 3-for-4 with two singles, a double and an RBI. Tyrell Pierce also managed three hits in the win. Ryne Antley was also 2-for-4 with an RBI.

In the second game of the series against the Cardinals, the game turned out to be the exact opposite of the first matchup as it quickly turned into a pitcher's duel. Both teams struggled to hit the ball and Pierce, who was on the mound for Havre, was lights out.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the two teams remained scoreless until Hentschel got on base with a single and eventually scored on an overthrow to put the North Stars ahead 1-0. The score stayed the same until the top of the seventh, when Tri-County had runners on the corners with two outs.

The Cardinals' runner that was on first, suddenly made a break for second base and while the North Stars had him in a pickle and were trying to record the final out, the other baserunner crossed home plate and tied the score at 1-1 before the third and final out was made.

That meant extra innings for the North Stars and Cardinals and in the top of the eighth, Tri-County struck again, scoring a run to take their first lead of the game at 2-1. In the bottom half of the inning, the North Stars didn't manage a hit as Tri-County wrapped up the win.

"For some reason we couldn't get the bats going in the second game," Fuzesy said. "Tyrell threw a great game. He just didn't get enough run support. But, we need to learn to finish games and play the whole seven innings.

The North Stars will try to do just that today when they travel to Conrad for their second doubleheader against Tri-County in two days. The first pitch will be tossed out at 3 p.m. Havre is then home for games against Lethbridge Saturday and Vauxhall Sunday.

Havre 12, Tri-County 11

Tri-County 000 300 5 - 11

Havre 211 304 1 - 12

Havre - Gavin Gunderson 0-3, Travis Roth 0-3, Jake Sedahl 3-4, Ryne Antley 2-4, Tyrell Pierce 3-4, Jeff Miller 2-4, Branden Danielson 1-2, Tanner Hentschel 1-3, Jerod Boles 1-3.

Tri-County 2, Havre 1 F/8

Tri-County 000 000 1 1 - 2

Havre 000 010 0 0 - 1

Havre - Gavin Gunderson 0-3, Travis Roth 1-3, Jake Sedahl 0-4, Ryne Antle 0-3, Dylan Carpenter 0-2, Jeff Miller 1-3, Brenden Danielson 0-3, Tanner Hentschel 1-3, Jerod Boles 1-3.