Gallery claims Shaina title

For three days, nine teams and tons of softball enthusiasts took part in the Shaina's Challenge Fastpitch softball tournament, and at the end of it, it was the team sponsored by Havre's Gallery Lounge that walked away with all the marbles.

The tournament, which got underway Friday night at the Sixth Avenue Memorial Field with the Blue Pony Alumni game, saw the championship decided Sunday between The Gallery Lounge of Havre and Super 8 of Missoula. But thanks to some timely hitting and some stellar pitching from local legend Gary Jo Evans, the Gallery walked away champions following a 6-4 win.

While the title was certainly a team effort, no one contributed to it as much as Evans, who pitched four games Sunday and won them all to help his team take first place. But if it wasn't for a pair of rallies, the Gallery would not have won anything.

After losing to Super 8 Saturday night, the Gallery had to play and win four games Sunday to come back and win the championship. The first two wins came over the Oxford (Missoula) and Havre Ford, but the victory over Master Sports didn't prove to be as easy. In fact, in the sixth inning, Gallery Lounge found itself down 11-9, before a three-run inning, capped by an RBI single by Bucky Lindstrand, gave it a 12-11 win and punched its ticket to the title game.

Then, in a rematch against Super 8 in a winner-take-all championship game, the Gallery Lounge again rallied from a deficit. This time, Gallery fell behind 4-2 in the first few innings, but tied the game in the top of the fourth, then took the lead in the top of the fifth 5-4. With the lead in hand, Evans sealed the deal, holding Super 8 scoreless over the last three innings to earn the win, including some key strikeouts down the stretch.

Joining Evans and Lindstrand on the winning team were Cal Wirtzberger, Rusty Evans, Tony Vigliotti, Bo Evans, Doug Vandolah, Dave Hergesheimer, Jake Meierhoff, Matt Kretchmer, John Coleman, Brady Kimball, Pat Hergesheimer and Lunar Evans.

The nine teams that participated was a tournament record and led to some competitive softball over the weekend. Master Sports, a team made up mostly of former Havre North Stars American Legion baseball players finished third, while Havre Ford, another team filled with locals, wound up fourth. The Alumni Game Friday night also ended up being close as the final score between the two teams of former Blue Ponies ended up being 8-7.