On to State for the Blue Ponies

Thanks to a rain delay that cut the tournament short, no one really left the Central A softball divisionals happy, but the Havre Blue Ponies had to at least be satisfied that they wrapped up another berth in the Class A state tournament.

“It feels good,” Havre head coach Whitney McNally said of making state. “The girls just played awesome. They really deserved it. We wished we could play again, but they were excited getting to state.”

After suffering a heartbreaking 4-2 defeat to Lewistown in their first round game Friday in Belgrade, by way of a late two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Ponies were faced with the prospect of winning consecutive games over Browning and Livingston to advance to state. And for the third time this season, HHS defeated both teams, beating Browning 14-2 Friday, followed by a 9-5 win over Livingston Saturday, to clinch third place.

Havre was supposed to face the loser of Lewistown and Belgrade, with a chance to reach the championship game. But, due to weather, the tournament was canceled. Belgrade was awarded first and Lewistown second based on the regular season standings.

In the first of two games, Havre took on Browning and easily dispatched of the Indians by the score of 14-2. Havre racked up 11 hits in the win, three of which came from Nicole Parsons, who was 3-4 with two doubles. Janae Boles was also 2-for-2 with a double. J.J. Hassa was also 2-2 and Dani Wagner was 1-for-2 with a double of her own.

The Ponies got four runs across in the bottom of the first, followed one in the second and seven in the third to take a 12-1 lead. HHS tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fourth and after allowing just one to Browning in the top of the fifth, the game was over due to a mercy rule.

After taking care of Browning Friday, HHS was supposed to play Livingston right after, but thanks to more rain showers, the game was pushed to Saturday morning. However, a different start time made little difference to the Ponies.

Havre did fall behind the Rangers early, as Livingston scored two runs in the top of the first, but the Ponies responded with three runs in the bottom half of the innings to go up 3-2. After added a run in the second, Livingston tied the game with two in the top of the fourth to tie the game 4-4.

Yet, in the bottom of the fourth, the Ponies blew the game wide open. Havre plated four runs to take a commanding 8-4, thanks to a clutch two-run homer by Wagner.

“That was pretty big for us,” McNally said. “Every senior wants to come up with a big hit, she had struggled to come up with one a bit recently, but she came through when we really needed it. That really helped give us a cushion “

With a four-run lead in toe, Wagner went to the mound and made it stick, surrendering just one more run to the Rangers as Havre hung on for the 9-5 win.

Wagner got the win on the mound and was also huge at the plate, with a 3-for-3 performance that also included her home run. Jacey McDonald and Madison Tommerup each added two hits apiece in the win, while Scout Boucher, Parsons and Claire Worm all added one.

On Friday, in the first game of the tournament for the Ponies, Havre took on Lewistown. The Eagles grabbed a 2-0 lead with a two-run first inning, but after HHS notched a run in the top of the fourth and another in the sixth thanks to an RBI single by McDonald, the game was tied 2-2.

Yet, in the bottom of the sixth inning, a two-run homer by Lewistown put the Eagles back in front 4-2. Havre couldn’t muster any offense in the seventh inning and the game was over. It was Havre’s third loss to the Eagles this season.

“We played really well in that game, the girls played really good defense,” McNally said. “We had some chances and some baserunners, but we just couldn't get them in.”

Wagner, Parsons, Boucher, Tommerup and Boles all managed to get a hit in the loss to Lewistown. Wagner was also given the loss after allowing four runs in six innings pitched.

“The girls played really well,” McNally said “I think that we found our right group. The girls played together and for each other. We have the ability to be as good as we want, we just have to play our best and stay together as a team.”

Havre is now 7-11 on the season and will advance to the 2016 Class A state tournament, which runs Thursday through Saturday back in Belgrade.

Lewistown 4, Havre 2

Havre 000 101 0 - 252

Lewistown 200 002 x 4 8 3

W – Carpenter. L – Wagner. 2B, Havre, Dani Wagner, Scout Boucher. HR: Southworth.

Havre (15-6): Nicole Parsons 1-3, Dani Wagner 1-3, Scout Boucher 1-3, Madison Tommerup 1-3, Janae Boles 1-4.

Lewistown (6-13): Mikayla Comes 1-3, Southworth 1-2, Dani Gapay 2-3, Kinsey Irvin 2-3, Hanna Hayes 1-3, Abby Gremaux 1-1.

Havre 14, Browning 2

Browning 001 01 - 2 5 4

Havre 417 2x - 14 11 2

Jazmine SpottedBear and Candace StillSmoking. Jacelyn Hassa and Nicole Parsons. W. Hassa. L – SpottedBear.

BROWNING – SpottedBear 2-3, StillSmoking 1-2, Kyanna RidesAtTheDoor 0-3, Lesley Bremmer 0-2, Angela Tatsey McKay 1-2, Jamie Lynn LittleDog 1-2, Hailee Salway 0-2, Shawntyanna BullShoe 0-2, Cherish Madden 0-1.

HAVRE – Nicole Parsons 3-4 (2 2B), Madi Shennum 0-2, Dani Wagner 1-2 (2B), Hassa 2-2, Clair Worm 0-2, Madison Tommerup 0-3, Katelyn Compton 0-1, Jacey McDonald 1-1, Janae Boles 2-2 (2B), Camryn Huston 1-3, Alex Barkus 1-3 (2B).

Havre 9, Park 5

Park 200 210 0 - 5 4 2

Havre 310 401 x - 9 10 3

Sierra Higgs and Destiny Ingram. Dani Wagner and Nicole Parsons. W – Wagner. L – Higgs.

PARK (8-12) – Meghan Gibson 1-3 (2B), Ellie Nelson 0-3, Skye Ingram 0-3, Higgs 0-2, Paige Gavne 1-3 (2B), Micaela Murphy 0-3, Carson Ooley 1-3, Alicia Watson 1-3, D. Ingram 1-3.

HAVRE (17-6) – Janae Boles 0-2, Nicole Parsons 1-3, Dani Wagner 3-3 (HR), Scout Boucher 1-3, Jacey McDonald 2-4, Claire Worm 1-4, Jacelyn Hassa 0-4, Camryn Huston 0-4, Madison Tommerup 2-3.