Patch Wirtzberger ready to be the guiding light of the Northstars

The Havre Northstars American Legion baseball team has gone through a transition with a couple of different managers in the past few seasons. But now, the local Northstars are looking to steady the ship by handing the program to former Northstar standout Patch Wirtzberger.

Wirtzberger, who played legion baseball for the Northstars and helped the team reach the state tournament in both 2004 and 2005 following back-to-back district championships, was an assistant with the club last season and will now move into the role as full-time head coach. He was the interim manager during the first part of the season before being the top assistant to Mickey Williams.

"Getting back into it last year, that kind of got me going," Wirtzberger said. "I had been out of baseball for a long time, and getting up there and working with the guys, being back up at the field, it sparked my interest."

Following his stellar career catching for the Northstars, Wirtzberger moved on to play college baseball at Montana State University-Billings for the Yellowjackets. During his collegiate career, Wirtzberger saw action in 113 games with 79 starts. He had a career batting average of .263 and in his senior season, he had a .272 average with 25 hits, five doubles and 21 runs scored in 32 starts. He also posted a career on-base percentage of .376 and got on base more than .400 percent of the time in three of his four seasons in Billings.

After coming back as the head coach of the Northstars last season, Williams decided to step aside and become an assistant with the team and with Wirtzberger's playing experience at MSU-B and his ties to the program, it was a perfect fit.

He will also be the second member of his family to hold the head job, as his brother Danny Wirtzberger, who also played for the Northstars, was the head coach as recently as 2014.

"The program means a lot to my family," Wirtzberger said. "Dan and I both played and this program gave us a lot. I was able to go on and play in college because of what the Northstars gave me. So it has special meaning because of the opportunity it provided for me and, Havre is a special community, and baseball is a big part of that and I am just happy to be part of that again."

While Wirtzberger played baseball for the Northstars, his athletic career wasn't limited to the diamond. He also played basketball for Havre High in addition to participating in track and tennis. On top of that, Wirtzberger is a respected MOA official doing both varsity football and basketball games in the area.

Much of what he does revolves around sports, but Wirtzberger also has a career with Koefod Agency, where he works as an insurance adjuster. Yet, that hasn't stopped him from being an active fastpitch softball player. Wirtzberger helps organize the Shania's Challenge Softball Tournament every summer and plays in other competitive fastpitch tournaments. A couple of years ago, he was even a candidate and tried out for the U.S. Men's National team.

With his love for the game, Wirtzberger is optimistic to get back to work, however with the winter and all the snow, that might be a little tricky. But, not even all the snow can dampen his excitement.

"It's been a long winter," Wirtzberger said with a chuckle. "But I am really excited. It has been a lot of fun and I am ready to get back to work."

Wirtzberger also said that while he couldn't predict the future, he could see himself coaching the Northstars for years to come, maybe even long enough to see his son play for the team.

"You never know what's going to happen," Wirtzberger said. "A lot can change, but in a perfect world, it would be great to stay there for the long haul. My son is growing up and he is playing in Havre Youth Baseball and it would be great to stay there and see him in the legion program."