Havre High softball battles tough teams, weather in Butte

The Havre High softball team was supposed to get two days of tournament softball in Friday and Saturday in Butte at the Laverne Combo Invitational. Yet poor weather shortened it to one day and limited HHS to two games. Saturday’s games were canceled due to snow.

Havre opened the tournament Friday at Stodden Park in Butte, against the host team, the Butte Central Maroons and despite a strong offensive effort, the Blue Ponies fell 14-7. Then, in the nightcap Friday against Polson of the Northwest A, Havre fell 12-5.

The two losses meant HHS ended the regular season at 7-7-1. Havre will head to the Central A Divisional tournament Friday in Livingston, where the Ponies will face Lewistown.

“I thought that the girls played really well,” HHS head coach Whitney McNally said. “I thought that they had really good attitudes and we hit the ball really well. We had some girls hitting that have struggled to hit some this season, so that was really good and hopefully that will continue.”

In the opening game against the Maroons, Havre fell behind quickly as Butte Central got a three-run home run from Taylor Wahl to grab a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Yet, the Ponies managed to tie the game in the top of the third, when Jaycelyn Hassa scored and Jacey McDonald belted a two-run homer to square things at 3-3. It was McDonald's third home run of the season and her third in four games.

However, Butte Central knocked out two more long balls in the bottom of the fourth inning as Megan Michelotti hit a solo shot, followed by Emma Keeley, who crushed a two-run blast. The Maroons scored a total of eight runs in the inning, putting them in front 12-4.

In order to keep the game competitive, Havre scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning as Kinzee Peterson scored for the Ponies on a wild pitch. Janae Boles and McDonald also scored in the inning to cut the lead down to 12-7. In the bottom half of the fifth, Kloie Thatcher and Zoe Doherty answered by each hitting a solo shot, which pushed the lead back to 14-7. That was the final score when the game was called due to the time limit being reached.

Thatcher was the winning pitcher in the game for the Maroons, while Hassa got the loss for Havre. Offensively, the Ponies generated nine hits, compared to 13 for the Maroons. McDonald led the way with a home run, two runs scored and two RBI, while Peterson also had a double and two runs scored. Keeley paced the Maroons with two hits, one home run and three RBI.

In the second game of the day for the Ponies against Polson, Havre fell behind for the second straight game, as the Pirates scored three runs in the top of the first, five in the second and three in the third to go up 11-0. Havre answered with a run in the bottom of the second and four more in the fourth. Yet, the game was stopped due to rain and then stopped due to the time limit.

“We had to stop against Polson because of weather,” McNally said. “And then because you have to wait 30 minutes, we reached the time limit. So that was disappointing, because we just got our bats going and we were coming back.”

Alex Barkus was the losing pitcher for Havre, while Camryn Huston led the way offensively with two hits, including a three-run homer. Boles was also 2-for-2 and Parsons was also 1-for-2 with an RBI. Lauren Kato also contributed with a double.

“In both games, the girls never gave up and they never stopped fighting,” McNally said. “Our game against (Butte Central), who took state last season, ended because of the time limit, but we were coming back. And against Polson, we had a weather delay and then the game got called due to time as well. So in both games, we were coming back and just ran out of time.

Havre will be back on the field Friday against Lewistown in its opening game at the Central A Divisional tournament, which will be held in Livingston.