Ponies have a perfect senior day of softball

The Havre High softball team honored its senior class Saturday at the Havre Invitational and in turn, those seniors, led the Blue Ponies to a perfect 3-0 record in their final home action of the season.

The Ponies, who honored five seniors Saturday at the Sixth Avenue Memorial Field in Jacey McDonald, Nicole Parsons, Jaycelyn Hassa, Madison Tommerup and Tracyn Labuda, knocked off Shelby 15-0, before beating Conrad in back-to-back games 11-7 and 5-3. HHS is now 7-5-1 with one weekend left in the regular season.

"It was pretty awesome," Parsons said. "I can't remember the last time that we won all of our games in the same day, especially against (Conrad), they are pretty close to us, skillwise, so I think it was pretty cool to sweep those games against them."

Before taking on Conrad, the Ponies first battled Shelby in the opening game of the Havre Invitational and it didn't take long to see that HHS was out of the Coyotes league. Havre scored two runs in the bottom of the first, followed by 10 in the bottom of the second to jump out to a 12-0 lead. Then, in the bottom of third, McDonald went hard for her first home run of the season. That made it 13-0 and then a two-run double by Lauren Kato ended the game at 15-0 thanks to the mercy rule.

"I was just about to try and bunt," McDonald said of her homer. "But then I figured my dad would be mad at me if I didn't try to at least swing at one, so I swung and it went out. First one of the year. It means a lot to do it on senior day."

McDonald was 2-for-3 in the game with two RBIs, while Parsons, Janae Boles, Alex Barkus, Tommerup, Mariah Matosich and Camryn Huston all added hits. Hassa didn't get a hit, but drove in two runs. Matosich also had two RBIs, while Parsons, Boles and LaBuda all pitched in with one. Hassa also got the win for Havre after limiting Shelby to zero runs and one hit in three innings pitched.

After blowing out Shelby in the morning, Havre returned to the field in the afternoon for two games against Conrad. The first saw HHS jump out to a 2-0 lead, before the Cowgirls managed to tie things up at 2-2 after two innings.

In the top of the third, Havre added three runs to go up 5-2, and later, in the top of the fifth, Parsons ripped an RBI double that scored Kato and put the Ponies in front 7-3. Yet, three runs by Conrad in the bottom of the fifth, got the Cowgirls back within striking distance at 7-6 with two innings to play.

But after two runs in the top of the sixth for HHS made it 9-6, McDonald iced the win in the top of the seventh, when she hit a two-run homer that put the Ponies in front 11-6. The final margin of victory was four runs.

McDonald was 3-for-3 in the win with three RBIs. Parsons joined her in having a big game, going 4-for-5 at the plate and knocking in a run of her own. Tommerup also had three hits and two RBIs, while Kato also had one hit. Barkus got the win for Havre, after pitching a complete game and holding Conrad to seven runs on nine hits.

"It was a great day for us," HHS head coach Whitney McNally said. "The girls came out and played their game. They came ready to hit the ball and have fun and that was good to see."

In the last game of the day, Conrad scored two runs in the top of the first to grab the early 2-0 lead, but after a two-run single by Barkus, the score was tied again at 2-2. Havre added a run in the bottom of the third to go up 3-2, then, in the bottom of the fourth, Parsons belted an RBI triple, her third extra-base hit of the day, to help HHS push its advantage to 5-2.

From there, Hassa and the defense sealed the deal. The senior allowed Conrad to score a run in the sixth, but held the Cowgirls scoreless in five of the seven innings she pitched. In the end, she earned the complete-game victory after allowing only three runs on 10 hits.

Parsons, who finished 2-for-3 against Conrad with two RBIs, was an eye-popping 7-for-10 on the day, with two doubles and a triple, as well as four RBIs.

"I think I finally figured out how to slow my bat down a little bit," Parsons said. "I have always been a left-field hitter and sometimes I get ahead of myself and strike out. But today, I was able to slow down a little bit and watched the ball come in a little more."

Parsons was outstanding on senior day, but she wasn't alone. McDonald went 5-for-6 at the plate and also earned three walks. She also hit two homers and drove in a total of five runs. Hassa also contributed to the effort with two wins on the mound and two RBIs; Tommerup was 5-of-8 with two RBIs, while LaBuda added a hit and an RBI as well. In addition to the seniors, Kato, Boles and Barkus all contributed with hits in the final win over Conrad.

"It was awesome to see our seniors do so well at the plate," McNally said. "We also had some great plays in the field, too. So it was just a great day for us overall. We got some momentum and now, hopefully, we can keep that going."

Havre will be back in action this Friday and Saturday, when the Ponies will take part in the Butte Central Invitational, before heading to Livingston May 19-20 for the Central A divisional tournament.

Havre 15, Shelby 0

Shelby 000 - 0 1 4

Havre 210 3 - 15 9 1

WP - Hassa

LP - Daniels

Shelby - Selveson 0-2, Sanchez 0-2, Daniels 0-1, Robison 0-1, Skiera 0-1, Long 0-1, Dodson 0-1, Kline 0-1, Barnes 0-0.

Havre - Nicole Parson 1-2, Janae Boles 1-2, Alex Barkus 1-2, Jacey Mcdonald 2-3, Madison Tommerup 1-1, Mariah Matosich 1-1, Tracyn LaBuda 0-1, Camyrn Huston 1-1, Lauren Kato 1-1, Kate Compton 0-1.

Havre 11, Conrad 7

Havre 203 112 2 - 11 11 0

Conrad 021 030 1 - 7 9 0

WP - Barkus

LP - Durocher

Conrad - Johnson 1-4, Gouchenour 0-4, Durocher 2-4, Harris 1-4, Erickson 3-4, Moritz 0-1, Kinamon 2-4, Broesder 0-4, Daley 0-3, Petrosky 0-1.

Havre - Nicole Parsons 4-5, Sam Oliver 0-0, Janae Boles 0-3, Alex Barkus 0-3, Jacey McDonald 3-3, Madison Tommerup 3-4, Mariah Matosich 0-2, Tracyn LaBuda 0-3, Jayceyln Hassa 0-3, Lauren Kato 1-4.

Havre 5, Conrad 3

Conrad 200 001 0 - 3 10 0

Havre 210 200 x - 5 5 0

WP - Hassa

LP - Durocher

Conrad - Johnson 1-4, Gouchenour 1-4, Durocher 2-4, Harris 1-3, Erickson 1-4, Moritz 1-3, Kinamon 0-3, K. Broesder 2-3, A. Broesder 1-2.

Havre - Nicole Parsons 2-3, Janae Boles 1-3, Alex Barkus 1-3, Jacey McDonald 0-0, Madison Tommerup 1-3, Tracyn LaBuda 0-2, Camryn Huston 0-3, Jayceyln Hassa 0-3, Sam Oliver 0-2, Lauren Kato 1-4.