Holden's Hot Wheels claims Majors title

Over the weekend, baseball was front and center in the Havre community, especially when it came to the Havre Youth Baseball Association's Majors Tournament that took place at Lions Park Friday through Sunday, with three teams, Holden's Hot Wheels, the Havre Lions and Northern Montana Hospital, all competing for a first-place victory in the tournament.

And after pushing through the winner's bracket and coming back in the true championship, Holden's Hot Wheels was crowned as the victors of the tournament in a 7-2 win over the Havre Lions Sunday afternoon. The Havre Lions took second place at the tourney, while Northern Montana Hospital placed third.

The second-place team, the Havre Lions coached by Russ Oswalt and Sindy Brandon, put up a great fight throughout the tournament alongside a well-taught team. Carter Chagnon, Dax Oswalt, Tyson Brandon, Quinn Elliot, Brandon Healy, Eli Vaughn, Oliver Benjamin, Heyden Jensen, Malichi Morris and Riley Kacher comprised the players on the Havre Lions roster.

Second place is always well-respected in any tournament and coach Oswalt was happy to see his team compete at a high level all weekend.

"It was nice to see them come back because they came from and through the loser's bracket," Oswalt said. "It was nice to see them win that Saturday morning game then come back and play the game that they played this afternoon. Not only did they play a great game, but they improved 100-percent since the beginning of the year. This year, I hope it was fun for them so that they can continue to play the game."

The champions of the tournament, Holden's Hot Wheels, had a strong group of players, as well. Michael Thompson, Archer Sawdey, Logan Kinsella, Tommy Lewis, Aaron Hargrove, Deven Tyler, Landon Kinsella, Callen Stoner, Austin Belk, Garrion Olson and Grayden Blackwell all had play-time throughout the weekend, while coaches Tom and Shaylee Lewis helped lead the team to victory, with Dustin Kinsella helping out, as well.

Coach Shaylee Lewis knew her team had a lot of potential going into the tournament and was glad to see the boys give it their all throughout the weekend.

"They played amazing," Lewis said. "They came to win and I couldn't ask for better baseball. I told them at the end of the day today that every game we got was a gift, especially with our pandemic here. It still is a gift. The fact that we got to play in this was absolutely amazing and we're glad we got to play at all. Who knows where sports will be in the fall. We're really happy."

After the Havre Lions battled with Holden's Hot Wheels in the championship game, with the Havre Lions handing Holden's Hot Wheels its first loss of the tournament 4-3, the true championship started.

Holden's Hot Wheels started off on a good note in the first inning, putting up two runs after back-to-back singles, with the Havre Lions responding in kind in the bottom of the second with two runs of its own. There would be some open air throughout the next few innings, but Holden's Hot Wheels would really be on fire toward the end of the game, with two more runs added to its score, leading the Havre Lions 4-2 going into the fifth inning.

That is when Logan Kinsella drilled a pitch out of the field-of-play, scoring off of a solo home run to start what would be a big final push by Holden's Hot Wheels. Meanwhile, the Havre Lions were clawing to get back on top, but Holden's Hot Wheels had a strong defensive game, making sure that the Havre Lions made no forward progress at bat. Holden's Hot Wheels then sent two more runners home to cap off a great offensive game in the sixth inning, while the defense cleaned house and ended the game.

At the end of the day, Holden's Hot Wheels showed up and pushed through some tough bouts, including the 6-1 win Friday night opener against the Havre Lions and the 4-3 win over Northern Montana Hospital Saturday morning, but Lewis knew their victory was chalked down to a fundamental skill that made its way into every player on the team that weekend.

"Their hitting really improved," Lewis said. "They came through and just started hitting the ball well. You got to win games by hitting the ball. We had that solo home run right toward the end of the game and that was the big turning point for us in that game. It was great."

The Havre Lions made a tough journey through the loser's bracket to get back to the championship, pushing past Northern Montana Hospital 8-3 Saturday morning, then bouncing back to beat Holden's Hot Wheels 4-3 to force the true championship Sunday morning. Despite placing second, the Havre Lions showed a lot of tenacity throughout the tournament, something that Oswalt was proud of seeing.

"My favorite part of the tournament is that they played as a team and not as individuals," Oswalt said. "I think that was the best thing about the whole tournament that they played as a team because when one guy gets down, everybody gets down, so to watch those guys play and back each other up was a big improvement."

Up next, the HYBA Minors Tournament will take place at Elks Park Field this weekend to continue the HYBA league's summer season.