Streaking Blue Ponies finish in Butte

The Havre High softball team has one important goal in mind when it comes to the 2018 season and that's to make it back to the Class A state tournament. However, before the Blue Ponies can punch their ticket, they have one final warmup this weekend in Butte at the Butte Central Invitational.

The annual two-day event hosted by the Maroons begins today for the Ponies, as they will open the invitational tournament against Butte Central at 2:30 p.m. Havre will also take on Ronan tonight at 6, before playing Florence at 9 a.m., Saturday and Hamilton later in the day at 12:30 p.m.

"We are just going to try to focus on getting better," HHS head coach Tony Vigliotti said. "The girls have been working really hard and they have been playing really well lately and we just to keep building on that momentum."

In baseball or softball, the saying is that momentum begins with the next day's starting pitcher and that's been true for the Ponies all season long. While Havre may not have a dominating ace in the classic sense, Vigliotti has three solid pitchers he can turn to in senior Alex Barkus, junior Lauren Kato and sophomore Sam Oliver. Barkus has won the majority of games this season for Havre, but Kato and Oliver have also started and won ball games for the Ponies, including a complete-game victory for Oliver against Conrad last Saturday.

Vigliotti said he was not sure which pitcher would start what games yet for the Ponies, but he did say that all three hurlers would see time on the bump. Yet, when Oliver isn't pitching, she is playing shortstop for the Ponies and has been excelling in that role. However, she isn't alone as Kato at third, Peyton Brown at second, Camryn Huston at first and Kinzee Peterson behind the plate have all played well defensively and helped the Ponies limit errors. The outfield, which features Sydney Wilting, Janae Boles and Jera Verploegen, as well as Barkus, Kylie Walker and Mia Olson at times, has also been productive.

At the plate, no one is hitting the ball better than Peterson right now. She currently has three home runs for the Ponies and has found a way to deliver clutch hits with runners in scoring position all season long. Setting the table for Peterson and other power hitters like Huston, who bashed her first home run of the season last Saturday against Cut Bank, are Boles, Wilting and Oliver, who are the top three in the batting order for HHS.

Wilting has put together an impressive freshman season, while Boles has continued to be a factor from the leadoff position, especially when she finds a way to get on base. Kato has also been hitting the ball well of late and Brown is another that has a home run on her resume this season. Above all, though, Havre has been vigilant about putting the ball in play and the implementation of that philosophy has helped Havre win nine of its last 10 games.

"That's been a big part of what we try to do," Vigliotti said. "We just try to put the ball in play and if you can do that consistently, good things happen and the girls have really done a great job with that."

Havre plays Butte Central and Ronan today, as well as Florence and Hamilton Saturday. The Ponies will then host the Central A Divisional May 19 at the Sixth Avenue Memorial Field.