Home Turf: Havre squad wins state fastpitch title

The Montana State Men's Fastpitch state tournament was back in Havre this past weekend for the second straight year but, unlike last year, it was a hometown team that walked away with the title.

Last season, the Press Box team from Missoula knocked off the Gallery Lounge of Havre in the championship game to win the state championship. But, the Gallery team was not at full strength as the roster was split up in order to create more teams for last year's tournament. This year, there was no such problem and as a result, the Gallery Lounge dominated, going undefeated in the tournament and clinching the state title with a 7-3 victory over the N-Unit, another team from Missoula in the championship game, which was held at the famed Sixth Avenue Memorial Field.

Gary Joe Evans was again instrumental in the win for the Gallery as the legendary pitcher had solid stuff all weekend. In the championship game, though, after giving up three runs early, Evans needed a little help from his offense to seal the deal and when called upon the bats of the Gallery Lounge delivered.

After trailing 1-0 in the top of the third, Patch Wirtzberger belted a single, stole a base and later scored to tie the game at 1-1. Then, Dan Wirtzberger got in on the act with an RBI single of his own, which was followed by an RBI single by Billy Wager, which put the Gallery in front 3-1.

Yet, the N-Unit was not going to go down without a fight and managed to scrape together a pair of runs off Evans in the bottom of the third inning and suddenly the score was once again tied up at 3-3 after three full innings of play.

But, the Gallery answered in the top of the fourth when Dan Wirtzberger struck again - this time with an RBI double that made the score 4-3 in favor of the Havre based team at the end of the fourth inning.

The Gallery added two more runs in the fifth inning to make it 6-3 and in the sixth inning, Cal Wirtzberger, father of both Patch Wirtzberger and Dan Wirtzberger, got in on the action with an RBI of his own to make the score 7-3.

Four runs is a good lead for any pitcher, but a four-run lead in the hands of quite possibly the best softball hurler Havre has ever seen is just about insurmountable. And over the course of the final two innings, Evans made sure that was the case. The crafty veteran held them scoreless over the last two innings and actually held them without a run for the final four innings of the game to preserve the 7-3 win, reclaiming the state championship for the Gallery after the team was forced to settle for second place one year ago.

The Gallery got the championship game with with wins over Plentywood and the N-Unit Saturday after receiving a first-round bye. The Press Box, the defending state champions fell to the N-Unit Saturday, but worked their way back into the championship chase with two victories over Triple Dog Brewery of Havre and a win over the Past, another team from Havre, Sunday morning, before falling to the N-Unit in the semifinal of the loser's bracket.

That set the stage for a rematch between the Gallery and the N-Unit, but for the second time in as many days, the Gallery proved to be too much to handle for the team from Missoula and added yet another state championship to its already long list of Men's Fastpitch softball achievements.

The state championship team is composed of Evans, Dan and Patch Wirtzberger, Cal Wirtzberger, Gary and Billy Wagner, Dane Solomon, Andy Smith, Tony Vigliotti, Jake Meirhoff, Bucky Lindstrand, Scott Miller, Rusty Evans and Brad Shaffer.