Northstars sweep Cardinals in Conrad

Due to weather and a change in the schedule, the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball team paid a visit to the Tri-County Cardinals Tuesday instead of earlier in the season.

When the Northstars hosted their Northern A rival at Legion Field last month, they swept them and Tuesday, on the road, the result was the same, as Havre won the first game 7-6 and followed it up with a 12-6 victory to win their third in a row. The Northstars are now 18-11 overall and 10-6 in the Northern A District, which has them in the running for a top seed. Right now, only Vauxhall is leading the Northstars in the loss column.

“Getting a sweep on the road is big,” Northstars head coach Patch Wirtzberger said. “That will put us firmly into second place in the district. The encouraging thing is we definitely could have played better. But the kids battled and came away with two conference wins. And that’s the important thing.”

In the first game against the Cardinals, both teams struggled to score runs early, and it wasn’t until the bottom of the third inning before either team got on the board. Tri-County drew first blood and got four runs across to take a commanding 4-0 lead.

The Cardinals tacked on another run in the bottom of the fourth, pushing their advantage to 5-0 before the Northstars finally generated some offense. Tyrel Kjersem drove in two runs with a double in the top of the fifth. Kennedy McKay started the rally with a triple. He eventually scored and when the inning was over, Havre was down just 5-4.

Tri-County tacked on an insurance run in the sixth inning and was three outs away from a win. Yet, the Northstars had other ideas and with the bases loaded, Quinn Reno cleared the bases with a double and put Havre in front 7-6. Reno also threw out a runner that was attempting to steal in the bottom of the seventh to end the game.

Tony Antley started and finished the game for the Northstars, earning him a complete-game victory. Reno also contributed with two hits and three RBIs in the win.

In the second game, the Northstars quickly took control of things against Tri-County, scoring five runs in the second to grab a 6-0 lead. Kennedy McKay surrendered one run in the third, but Havre added two more runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. McKay lasted just over five innings and got the win after giving up just four hits and one run, while striking out four. Tri-County scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh to make it respectable but the outcome was never in doubt.

Austin Delarosa led the way for the Northstars with three hits and three RBIs; Reno also had another stellar outing with two hits, two runs and three RBIs. He also walked twice. Caden Jenkins and Ethan Roberts managed two hits apiece, while Kjersem, Eli Cloninger and Kelden Sullivan notched hits, as well.

Havre (18-11,10-6) is now second in the Northern A standings and will be back in action Thursday at the Helena Tourney. The Northstars will get a break from district play until July 3 when they will travel to first-place Vauxhall.

Havre 7, Tri-County 6

Havre 000 030 4 - 7

Tri-County 000 411 0 - 6

WP - Tony Antley

Havre 12, Tri-County 6

Havre 150 022 2 - 12 12 2

Tri-County 001 000 5 - 6 9 5

WP - Kennedy McKay

LP - Brinkley Evans

Havre batting - Ethan Roberts 2-3, Quinn Reno 2-3, Tony Antley 0-3, Tyrel Kjersem 1-3, Austin Delarosa 3-4, Hunter Lovenguth 0-5, Eli Cloninger 1-5, Kelden Sullivan, Caden Jenkins 2-3.