Northstars turn two in Glendive

Nothing beats sweeping a team at home, especially when it puts a team in a more confident and fired-up attitude, which can carry over to other games throughout the season. That was the case for the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club. After sweeping the Great Falls Lightning at Legion Field last Thursday, Havre made more noise, but this time on the road.

The Northstars put on a great show against the Glendive Blue Devils this weekend in Glendive, sweeping the Blue Devils with a 10-2 win in game one and a 12-3 victory in game two, giving Havre another big boost on the season, with the Northstars overall record now being 16-21, giving their postseason dreams some more flair.

Havre head coach Patch Wirtzberger was glad to see his guys come away with another sweep, especially on the road.

“It all started at the plate,” Wirtzberger said. “The guys did a great job of making everything work, being patient, waiting for their pitch and when Glendive’s pitchers made a mistake, we made them pay for it. We got leads in both games and both of our pitchers pitched really well. It was an all-around team effort.”

Game one kicked off strong for the Northstars, with Havre quickly taking the lead 2-1 after an error on behalf of the Blue Devils allowed two Northstars to make it home. Havre continued its trend of scoring, utilizing the top of the second inning to score three runs, while holding Glendive to zero in the bottom of the inning to lead 5-1 going into the third.

The Blue Devils put up one more run in the fifth inning to push back, but the Northstars once again added three more runs in the sixth inning to push its lead further, as well as putting up two more runs in the seventh inning to seal the deal for Havre. Senior Quinn Reno had two hits at three at-bats and Eli Cloninger had three hits at five at-bats in game one, while Julian Benson got the win on the mound.

Throughout the doubleheader, there were many things that went well for the Northstars, but Wirtzberger saw a special key that led to his team’s success.

“Our approaches at the plate were great,” Wirtzberger said. “From start to finish, we did really good. We were being patient and if we got a good pitch over the plate, we drove it. They did it all. I think that was the biggest key.”

Game two was another blowout in favor of Havre, who took the lead early on once more in the top of the second inning with six runs, putting them ahead 6-1 going into the third inning. After a stale third inning, the Northstars had two more runners make it home to extend their lead in the fourth, as well as adding another run in the fifth inning to continue the strong lead 9-3. It would keep getting better for Havre.

Glendive may have added on two more runs in the fifth inning, but the Northstars made sure not to let up. After holding the Blue Devils to a no-score sixth inning to keep the score the same, Havre capped off an excellent day of baseball with three more runs in the seventh inning to come away with the sweep Sunday. When it came to game two, Reno had a perfect two hits at two at-bats, while Trenton Maloughney and Tyrel Kjersem had two hits at four at-bats. Kjersem was the winning pitcher for game two, as well.

It was another big night for Kjersem, who stood out against Glendive both offensively and defensively.

“Tyrel had another great game,” Wirtzberger said. “He was solid at the plate, had a lot of grit and pitched in the second game for probably the best game of the season. He was just really tough and was another big key to our success.”

Havre is in Great Falls for conference games against the Great Falls Lightning, then will return to the Electric City Wednesday to face the AA Chargers.

Havre 10, Glendive 2

Glendive 1 000 1 00 – 2 8 9

Havre 2 3 000 3 2 – 10 9 0

WP – Julian Benson

LP – Trenton Reinhart

Havre batting – Quinn Reno 2-3, Eli Cloninger 3-5, Tyrel Kjersem 1-5, Caden Jenkins 1-4, Carson Lunak 1-4, Trenton Maloughney 0-3, Julian Benson 1-4, Tavish Mclean 0-3, Kale Reno 0-3, Theron Peterson 1-4.

Havre 12, Glendive 3

Glendive 0 1 00 2 00 – 3 6 6

Havre 0 6 0 2 1 0 3 – 12 10 4

WP – Tyrel Kjersem

LP – Rhett Hoffer

Havre batting – Quinn Reno 2-2, Eli Cloninger 1-2, Tyrel Kjersem 2-4, Caden Jenkins 1-3, Ethan Carlson 2-5, Trenton Maloughney 2-4, Jeremiah Benson 0-4, Julian Benson 0-2, Drake Berreth 0-4.