Blue Pony fastpitch players honored

The Havre High softball team had a strong end to the 2016 spring sports season, as the Blue Ponies were able to not only advance to the Class A state tournament, but also win a first-round game while they were there.

Now, three Havre High standouts have been honored for the season, as the Central A released its All-Conference Team for the 2016 season.

At the top of the list was Havre senior Dani Wagner, who earned Class A All-State honors for the third straight season. Wagner was also named First-Team All-Conference yet again, and by earning All-State in softball, she was able to pull off a rare feat for the second year in a row. Wagner, who pitched and played center field, while setting a Blue Pony record for home runs in a season, was named All-State in all three sports she plays for the second year in a row. Wagner was also Class A All-State in volleyball and basketball this past school year, just as she was her junior year at HHS.

But, Wagner wasn’t alone in All-Conference recognition for the Blue Ponies.

Havre’s Jacey McDonald and Scout Boucher were also named Second-Team All-Conference for the season. Both players were key hitters for the Ponies this year, and both were veterans on an otherwise fairly young Blue Pony squad.

Belgrade dominated the All-Conference list, including putting three players on the All-State list with Judy Taylor, Skyla Neubauer and Kindall Bethke. Lewistown, coached by former Big Sandy standout Mike Mangold, had Dani Gapay, Karlie Southworth, Mikayla Comes and Kindall Bethke make All-State, while Meghan Gibson of Livingston rounded out the Central A’s All-State performers.

Belgrade’s Justin Taylor was named Central A Coach of the Year.

Central A Softball

All-state: Dani Gapay, Lewistown; Dani Wagner, Havre; Judy Taylor, Belgrade; Karlie Southworth, Lewistown; Kindall Bethke, Belgrade; Meghan Gibson, Livingston; Mikayla Comes, Lewistown; Skyla Neubauer, Belgrade.

All-conference

First team: Dani Gapay, Lewistown; Dani Wagner, Havre; Judy Taylor, Belgrade; Karlie Southworth, Lewistown; Kindall Bethke, Belgrade; Meghan Gibson, Livingston; Mikayla Comes, Lewistown; Skyla Neubauer, Belgrade; Jordan Branch, Belgrade; Sierra Higgs, Livingston.

Second team: Carley Carpenter, Lewistown; Skye Ingram, Livingston; Jacey McDonald, Havre; Kinsey Irvin, Lewistown; Michaela Murphy, Livingston; Nora Weichel, Lewistown; Scout Boucher, Havre; Shania Neubauer, Belgrade; Ty Atwood, Belgrade.

Coach of the year: Justin Taylor, Belgrade.