North Stars ready to heat up

With a bunch of rainouts and cancellations, the Havre North Stars American Legion baseball club may be a bit behind many of their rivals right now. But, with plenty of summer sunshine in the forecast, the North Stars are about to hit their stride.

Havre, which picked up an 11-9 win in Scobey Monday, will make its summer debut this weekend, with a whopping six-game home stand. And, all of the games for head coach Dick Fuzesy's squad will be Northern A District contests.

The action gets underway tonight at Legion Field when the North Stars host rival Tri-County for a doubleheader. Havre then hosts the Fort MacLeod Royals for a pair Saturday night before wrapping up the weekend with a pair of games against the Medicine Hat Knights on Sunday afternoon.

So, to say this is a big weekend for the North Stars would be an understatement. Havre brings just a 2-2 record into its big weekend, and the six home games are the first of the conference season for the North Stars. But just playing games will be big for Havre, which had many cancellations due to weather during the month of May.

For the first time this season, Havre should be at full strength, too, as many spring sports athletes who play for the North Stars now transition to baseball. And that's good news for Havre's pitching rotation, which has relied heavily on ace Dylan Carpenter thus far, but will now have Jeff Miller and Jerod Boles in the full-time rotation as well.

And, with the North Stars' starting pitchers now in full rotation, Havre can look to a potentially powerful lineup to help out as well. Carpenter and catcher Jake Sedahl are two of the North Stars' most reliable hitters, while Miller and Boles hit for a high average as well. Add in the steady hitting of youngsters like Trey Murphy, Kennedy McKay and Ethan Roberts among others, and the North Stars should be a team plenty capable of bringing in runs this weekend.

Of course, Havre's opponents will have something to say about that as well. Tri-County doesn't have big numbers, but the Cardinals always put a quality team on the field, and led by star pitcher and hitter Tanner Mayer, the Cardinals will be tough to beat tonight.

Following tonight's twin bill, the North Stars will take on two teams that are always steady in the Northern A. Like Tri-County, Fort MacLeod's numbers have dwindled in recent years, but the Royals usually always boast strong pitching and veteran kids who can hit.

Then there's Medicine Hat. The Knights, who are a feeder club for the Class AA Medicine Hat Monarchs, are usually young, but always talented, and this year is more of the same. The Knights are off to a strong start this season, behind two stellar pitchers and a good hitting club. So, Havre will certainly have its hands full all weekend long.

Still, the North Stars are excited to get back on the diamond, and especially at Legion Field where Havre will also be for next weekend's Havre Jamboree. This weekend marks the start of a busy time of year for the North Stars and Fuzesy and company are hoping to get the heart of their schedule off to a great start at home.

Tonight's games between Havre and Tri-County starts at 6 at Legion Field. Saturday night's doubleheader against Fort MacLeod starts at 5 p.m. and Sunday's twin bill between Havre and Medicine Hat begins at 1 p.m.