Northstars grab key road wins in Canada

Winning on the road is never easy and this past weekend, that’s a lesson that the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball team learned once again.

With a 6-4 record in the Northern A District heading into play Saturday, the Northstars had a big opportunity with back-to-back doubleheaders against Fort Macleod and then Medicine Hat Sunday.

The Northstars split with the two teams during a four-game homestand earlier this month and that’s exactly what happened this weekend. Havre went 1-1 against Fort Macleod Saturday, dropping the first game 10-6, before rebounding for a 15-7 win. The Northstars did the same thing Sunday against Medicine Hat, following the same script the teams followed in Havre with each team taking a game.

“I think it could have been better,” Northstars head coach Patch Wirtzberger said. “We still aren’t quite where we need to be, but we are working through it. We knew it would be tough to go on the road and get wins. Two isn’t the worst thing that could have happened. We will go back to work this week and keep working at getting better.”

Trenton Maloughney got the start for the Northstars in the first game Saturday, but his day on the mound would be short-lived as the Royals hammered him in the second inning to the tune of six runs. When he came out after one and one-third innings, he had allowed six runs on five hits in addition to four walks.

The Northstars were still in the hunt after scraping together two runs in the first and three more in the third inning, but Fort Macleod answered with two runs each in the third and fourth innings, which pushed the Royals’ lead to 10-6. Ty Schaffer then came on to help close things out with three scoreless innings on the mound, including five strikeouts.

Tyson Sommerfeldt got the win, while Maloughney was hit with the loss. Austin Delarosa had a solid day at the plate, notching three hits. Tyrel Kjersem and Quinn Reno also added two hits. Kelden Sullivan managed one hit and two RBIs.

In the second game in Fort Macleod, the Northstars roared out of the gates with three runs in the first inning and four in the second to build a 7-4 advantage over the Royals. The Northstars added another run in the fourth and then relied on starting pitcher Austin Delarosa to make it stick, which he did.

Needing to preserve the rest of his pitching staff, Wirtzberger rode one of his veteran arms and he was rewarded with a complete-game win by Delarosa, who allowed seven runs on seven hits in seven innings. He also struck out five and walked only three, while tossing 92 pitches in an efficient outing.

At the plate, the Northstars racked up a total of 17 hits, which led to the outburst of 15 runs and that effort was led by Maloughney, who went 3-for-5. He also added a double and three RBIs. Sullivan matched Maloughney with three hits and three RBIs of his own, while Ethan Roberts, Reno, Tony Antley and Kennedy McKay all had two hits each. Reno and Eli Cloninger, who had one hit, also had two RBIs.

The win gave Havre some momentum heading into another road doubleheader Sunday, however, Medicine Hat quickly stole it away with a dominant 10-1 victory in the opener. Facing a 1-3 road trip, the Northstars rallied and behind the pitching of Kjersem, who earned the win, they managed a much-desired split thanks to a 13-7 triumph. Kjersem gave Havre some solid work on the mound before giving way to Sullivan, who closed things out.

With the 2-2 mark over the weekend, Havre is now 15-10 overall this season, as well as 8-6 in the Northern A District. The Northstars will look to improve their record Tuesday when they travel to Tri-County for another doubleheader within the Northern A. The first pitch is set for 1 p.m.

Fort Macleod 10, Havre 6

Havre 203 100 0 - 6 10 2

Fort Macleod 062 200 x - 10 9 3

WP - Sommerfeldt

LP - Trenton Maloughney

Havre - Ethan Roberts 1-3, Quinn Reno 2-4, Tony Antley 0-3, Ethan Carlson 0-1, Tyrel Kjersem 2-4, Austin Delarosa 3-4, Eli Cloninger 0-3, Kelden Sullivan 1-3, Carson Lunak 0-1, Caden Jenkins 0-3, Kennedy McKay 1-3.

Havre 15, Fort Macleod 7

Havre 340 122 3 - 15 17 1

Fort Macleod 400 010 2 - 7 7 2

WP - Austin Delarosa

LP - Colby Snider

Havre - Ethan Roberts 2-4, Quinn Reno 2-5, Tony Antley 2-4, Tyrel Kjersem 1-3, Hunter Lovenguth 1-4, Eli Cloninger 1-4, Kelden Sullivan 3-3, Trenton Maloughney 3-5, Kennedy McKay 2-2.