Pony softball finishes the regular season in Butte

In their final tuneup for the Central A softball tournament, the Havre Blue Ponies faced some difficult competition and even though they won just one of four games, they still had a positive weekend

Havre, which played four games over two days in Butte at the annual Laverne Combo Softball tournament, posted a record of 1-3 over the two days, falling to Glendive, 12-2, and Laurel, 13-6, Friday, before defeating Miles City, 6-5, Saturday. In the Ponies’ final game of the tournament, they fell to Frenchtown, 13-5.

“I thought that it was a good weekend,” McNally said. “We played some really good teams and I thought we did a good job of hitting, especially in the last game against Frenchtown, the girls really came out hitting well in that game. It gave us a chance to move some people around and give some others a chance to play and that’s good, that’s what these tournaments are for.”

In the opening game of the tournament for Havre, HHS squared off against Glendive, the top team from the Eastern A. Dani Wagner was on the mound for Havre, but the Glendive overwhelmed the Ponies for a the 10-run victory.

Wagner was also the starting pitcher in losses against Laurel and Frenchtown. However, her best play of the weekend may have come in centerfield, when, against Miles City, she robbed a batter of a home run thanks to a highlight-reel catch. The play saved multiple runs and helped HHS notch a 6-5 victory.

Wagner also had a big day at the plate against Laurel, when she belted a three-run homer, her seventh of the season. Yet, she wasn’t the only Havre batter to go hard over the weekend, as catcher Nicole Parsons also hit a four-bagger in the eight-run loss to Frenchtown, which was her second bomb of the weekend.

Scout Boucher, who suffered an ankle injury against Frenchtown, was on a tear offensively before being injured, leading the team with four RBIs for the weekend in just three games. Wagner also had three RBIs during the tournament as did Payton Howard, Parsons and Barkus. Freshman Jenae Boles also added two RBIs.

“Jenae actually played the whole Frenchtown game for us, and she really stepped it up,” McNally said. “She has been playing well for us. She started out as a catcher against Frenchtown, then we needed to switch her to the outfield and she made a great catch out there, too.”

With a 1-3 record in Butte, the Ponies are now 5-8 on the season. They will head to Belgrade for the Central A Divisional tournament Thursday and Saturday. The top three teams from the Central A will advance to the state tournament next weekend.

Box scores from the Butte Central tournament were not given to the Havre Daily News by press time.