It's time to play ball

One thing that has gotten lost in all the weather disruptions during the spring sports season is the fact that the Havre High softball team has a new head coach and a new attitude.

For years, the Blue Ponies have been looking up at Lewistown and Belgrade in the Central A when it comes to softball and that's something this team is hoping to change. But to get that started, Havre will need to start beating those teams and this weekend, HHS will have three chances to do just that.

The first will come at home Friday against Lewistown. The opening pitch will go out at 5 p.m. at the Sixth Avenue Memorial Field. The Ponies will then travel to Belgrade Saturday for a doubleheader with the defending Class a state champions. That will begin at 3 p.m.

"Belgrade has a good program," HHS head coach Tony Vigliotti said. "I have known their coach for a long time and he does a good job. They are going to be tough. They are the defending state champions, so it will be nice to go down there and see where we stand against one of the best teams in the state."

While the Ponies will certainly be focused on Belgrade Saturday, their first order of business will be trying to even up the season series with Lewistown, which defeated Havre 14-4 in Lewistown last Tuesday. However, that was the first time the Ponies had been outside all spring, either for a game or practice, so the result was not unexpected. Yet, if the Ponies are going to challenge in the conference this season, beating Lewistown Friday is a must.

"It would be huge," Vigliotti said. "Getting a win against them would be huge. The first time we played them, it was our first time on a softball field so hopefully being outside for a week and a half before we play them again will cut down that gap a little bit."

In the first meeting between the two teams, Lewistown got to Havre pitcher Alex Barkus, who will be the likely starter again Friday, for 14 runs on 13 hits. The Eagles scored at least two runs in every inning and got a couple of home runs. Havre managed just five hits in the loss but another contributing factor was three costly errors.

"So far I think offensively, we have gotten quite a bit better each time out," Vigliotti said. "I think we just need to keep our focus a little bit defensively. Sometimes, we are giving teams 4-5 outs an inning and you can't do that. That will come back to haunt you and it has already a couple of times."

Since playing Lewistown more than a week ago, Havre has beaten a pair of Eastern A opponents in Hardin and Laurel. In the victories, the Ponies combined for 46 hits and 34 runs. Junior Kinzee Peterson was a driving force behind the outbreak, with seven hits in two games, a feat matched by freshman Sydney Wilting. Janae Boles and Sam Oliver, another starting pitcher for Havre, also had multiple hits in both outings. Other threats in the lineup are senior Camryn Huston, Barkus, Lauren Kato, Peyton Brown, Kylie Walker, Jera Verploegen, Katelyn Maloughney and Kaitlin Anderson.

Against Belgrade (5-2), Havre (2-1) will need all the offensive firepower it can get. The Panthers have won three straight games behind the outstanding pitching of Erin Elgas, who is 3-1 on the season and tossed a complete-game shutout in the Panthers 17-0 win over Helena High earlier this week. Belgrade also beat Butte Central and Dillon last weekend.

Havre will open its critical three-game stretch Friday with a single game against Lewistown. That will start at 5 p.m. The doubleheader in Belgrade Saturday, starts at 3 p.m.