North Stars make Northern A progress in Canada

While most Americans were celebrating Independence Day, the Havre North Stars American Legion baseball spent the holiday on foreign soil, Canadian soil to be exact.

The North Stars were scheduled to be in Fort MacLeod July 4, but due to a rainout earlier in the season, they also played Lethbridge Monday, July 3. And the back-to-back doubleheaders proved to be fruitful for Havre, which split with Lethbridge, winning the first game 12-11, before dropping the second 2-1, before earning a sweep over Fort MacLeod Tuesday, taking the two-game set with wins of 14-12 and 9-4. Havre is now 18-18 overall and 12-8 in the Northern A District.

In the first game of the four-game road trip Monday, the North Stars built a big lead over Lethbridge, thanks to some timely hitting and a solid start from pitcher Brendan Garden, who did go on to get the win, despite allowing 10 runs and 10 hits.

Havre built a 6-0 advantage, that shrunk to 6-5 after the Miners plated five runs in the bottom of the second inning. Yet a five-run inning in the fifth, pushed the lead back to 11-5 for the North Stars, who withstood a late rally from the Miners, who scored three runs of their own in the fifth and two more in the sixth to trim the deficit down to 11-10. But Gavin Mosbrucker, who came on in the sixth, got five outs over two innings to lock down the win and the save.

The real star in the game though was the Havre offense, as the North Stars racked up 16 hits. Brenden Danielson got four of those hits on his own, as he was 4-of-5 with two RBI. Kelden Sullivan, Ethan Roberts, Jake Sedahl, Mosbrucker and Caleb Allestad all pitched in with two hits as well.

In game two against Lethbridge, the Miners jumped ahead early, scoring two runs in the second inning. But with McKay on the mound, that's all the Miners got. McKay went six solid innings for Havre and allowed just three hits, but was stuck with the loss after the North Stars failed to generate enough offense to win. Havre got eight hits compared to three for Lethbridge, but seven runners left on base proved to be fatal for the North Stars. Sullivan led the way with two hits, while Roberts, Sedahl, Antley, Calvin White, Brady Ophus and Garden all had one.

After splitting in Lethbridge, Havre set out to sweep Fort MacLeod for the second time this season and did so thanks in large part to a quality start on the mound from Danielson, who went five innings, allowed three runs and struck out four to earn the win. Offensively, Danielson helped himself out as well, notching two hits and an RBI in the 9-4 win. Sedahl joined him with two hits and an RBI, while Trey Murphy had one hit and he drove in two runs. The North Stars finished the game with 11 hits, compared to five for the Royals.

In the second half of the doubleheader Tuesday, the North Stars looked for the sweep and after jumping out to a 10-2 lead, it looked like they would get it. However, Fort MacLeod scored nine runs in the bottom of the fifth to grab an 11-10 lead. Havre answered with a tying run in the sixth and three more in the seventh to take the lead back at 14-11. Roberts, who came on in the fifth inning for Antley, held the Royals to just one run in the bottom of the seventh, which allowed Havre to hang on for a 14-12 victory.

Roberts got the win after pitching the final three innings, despite allowing 10 hits and five runs. Yet it was the offense again that carried the day, as the North Stars managed 14 runs thanks to a total of 19 hits. Danielson was once again a star at the plate, going 3-for-3 with three RBIs. Sedahl also continued his hot streak, going 4-for-5 with two RBIs of his own. Mosbrucker was another key performer at the plate with two hits and three RBIs. Garden also contributed with three hits; McKay ended up with two.

The North Stars, who are hosting the Northern A District tournament in Havre starting July 19, have just eight games left in the regular season. At this point, they are in a tight battle with Lewistown, Vauxhall, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat for seeding at the top of the league, which is why Friday night's home doubleheader against the Lewistown Redbirds will be so critical.

Lewistown swept Havre earlier in the season, so it will be vital for the North Stars to take a game or two off the Redbirds, especially with the top four or five teams bunched so closely together. When the standings were released last at the end of last week, all five teams were within three games of each other..

The doubleheader between the North Stars and Redbirds will be held Friday night at Legion Field. The first pitch is set to go out at 6 p.m.

Havre 11, Lethbridge 10

Havre 240 050 0 - 11 16 5

Lethbridge - 050 032 0 - 10 11 2

WP - Brendan Garden

Havre batting - Kelden Sullivan 2-4, Ethan Roberts 2-4, Jake Sedahl 2-3, Brenden Danielson 4-5, Tony Antley 1-5, Trey Murphy 0-3, Gavin Mosbrucker 2-4, Caleb Allestad 2-4, Kennedy McKay 1-2.

Lethbridge 2, Havre 1

Havre 000 010 0 - 1 8 1

Lethbridge 020 000 x - 2 3 2

LP - Kennedy McKay

Havre bating - Kelden Sullivan 2-3, Kennedy McKay 0-1, Ethan Roberts 1-4, Jake Sedahl 1-3, Brenden Danielson 0-3, Tony Antley 1-3, Trey Murphy 0-3, Calvin White 1-3, Brady Ophus 1-3, Brendan Garden 1-3.

Havre 9, Fort MacLeod 4

Havre 200 130 3 - 9 11 4

Fort MacLeod 120 010 0 - 4 5 6

WP - Brenden Danielson

Havre batting - Brendan Garden 1-4, Ethan Roberts 0-2, Tony Antley 1-2, Jake Sedahl 2-3, Brenden Danielson 2-4, Trey Murphy 1-4, Gavin Mosbrucker 0-3, Brady Ophus 2-3, Kelden Sullivan 1-1, Evan Davidson 1-3, Caleb Allestad 0-0, Kennedy McKay 0-3.

Havre 14, Fort MacLeod 12

Havre 301 331 3 - 14 19 2

Fort MacLeod 100 190 1 - 12 16 2

WP - Ethan Roberts

Havre batting - Brendan Garden 3-4, Kennedy McKay 2-5, Jake Sedahl 4-5, Brenden Danielson 3-3, Trey Murphy 1-5, Caleb Allestad 1-2, Gavin Mosbrucker 2-2, Ethan Roberts 1-1, Brady Ophus 0-3, Calvin White 0-3, Tony Antley 2-4.