Perfect Start: Northstars win three

The 2021 season arrived for the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club this past weekend as they hosted the Billings Expos in three games over the course of Saturday and Sunday at Legion Field in Havre.

The Northstars got off to slow starts in every game but great pitching and explosive innings late in the contests led Havre to a 3-0 start to the season.

"It's a good start. I thought we did some really good things and a lot of things that we can build on," Havre head coach Patch Wirtzberger said. "Scary thing is about this group is they can get even better."

The Northstars opened the season with a 7-2 win Saturday night over the Expos. The game started with the Expos scoring a run off of an error in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. The Northstars responded in the bottom of the third to tie the game when Caden Jenkins hit a triple to right field that got Eli Cloninger home.

The Expos retook the lead in the top of the fifth when Cooper Hanson hit a single that scored Hunter Miller. The Northstars then responded by exploding at the plate in the bottom of the fifth with four runs.

Havre took the lead when Brody Nanini hit a double that got Cloninger and Jenkins home. Later in the inning, they extended their lead to 5-2 when Drake Barreth hit a single that got Nanini home and Ethan Carlson scored on the throw to the plate. The Northstars added a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it a total of six runs in their last two innings after only one run in their first four.

"Their approaches were consistent throughout the game," Wirtzberger said. "When your approach is consistent and you're getting deep into the count and you're swinging at good pitches, you're bound to break through."

The Northstars' pitching shut down the Expos for the rest of the game. Carson Lunak started and finished the game at pitcher for Havre finishing the game with seven strikeouts while allowing five hits, two runs and three walks.

"He's just fantastic. When you make good pitches and you're around the strike zone, keeping your fielders involved, the game goes so much smoother," Wirtzberger said.

In their second game Saturday night, the Northstars pulled out an 8-1 victory to improve their record to 2-0. The game was close through the first five and a half innings as they battled to a 1-1 tie. Again, the Northstars broke through in a late inning to pull away.

After the Expos tied the game in the top of the sixth inning, the Northstars responded in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead. They took the lead when Barreth scored on a groundout from Kale Reno. The Northstars then made it 4-1 when Nanini hit a single that got Kale Vancampen and Cloninger home. Jenkins then scored on a wild pitch and then Lunak hit a single to get Nanini and Carlson home to make it 7-1. They added another run to make it seven straight runs in response to the recently tied game.

"Those are the moments where we really need big hits," Wirtzberger said. "All of our big hits were with two strikes and that's working to get deep in the count and really staying dedicated to what you're doing in there."

Nanini started the game for the Northstars. He pitched all seven innings striking out eight batters while only allowing six hits, one earned run and no walks.

"Brody was fantastic," Wirtzberger said. "He used all three of his pitches very well. He was all around the strike zone."

The Northstars won again Sunday morning with a 7-0 victory. Like their other wins on the weekend, the Northstars pitched well and didn't get their offense going until late in the game.

Havre scored first in the bottom of the first when Nanini hit a single to right field to score Cloninger to take a 1-0 lead. However, the Northstars could not score again until the sixth inning.

Trenton Maloughney pitched the game's first five innings for the Northstars. Not only did he keep the Expos off the scoreboard but he did not allow any hits as he struck out eight batters.

"He was really consistent, he worked low in the zone with his fastball and then used his curveball to get spots and kept them off balance all game," Wirtzberger said.

Kale Reno pitched in relief in the last two innings while the Northstars exploded at the plate in the bottom of the sixth to increase their lead on the scoreboard. It started with a Theron Peterson single that scored Lunak. Tavish Mclean then scored on a balk and Barreth scored off of a Cloninger single. They then got three more runs to put the game out of reach to improve to 3-0.

The Northstars and Expos started a fourth game Sunday afternoon but after one inning, the game was called due to snowy weather conditions.

With their opening weekend of the season behind them, the Northstars will next play Sunday against the Great Falls Chargers. Even though it is early in the season, Wirtzberger believes his team's focus shows they are already prepared for the season.

"Our focus was there from the first pitch to the very last, so we can really build off that," Wirtzberger said. "If you're focused, you're going to be in a lot of games."

The Northstars next play Sunday at 10 a.m. at Legion Field against the Great Falls Chargers.

Havre 7, Billings 2

Billings 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 2 5 1

Havre 0 0 1 0 4 2 X - 7 10 5

WP - Carson Lunak

LP - Noah Crane

Havre batting - Eli Cloninger 1-2, Caden Jenkins 3-4, Brody Nanini 2-4, Ethan Carlson 1-4, Carson Lunak 1-3, Tavish Mclean 1-4, Drake Barreth 1-2, Kale Vancampen 0-3, Jevin Jenkins 0-2, Kale Reno 0-1.

Havre 8, Billings 1

Billings 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - 1 6 3

Havre 0 1 0 0 0 7 X - 8 8 2

WP - Brody Nanini

LP - Wyatt Fink

Havre batting - Eli Cloninger 1-3, Caden Jenkins 1-3, Brody Nanini 1-2, Ethan Carlson 1-3, Carson Lunak 1-3, Tavish Mclean 1-3, Drake Barreth 1-3, Kale Reno 1-4, Kale Vancampen 0-3.

Havre 7, Billings 0

Billings 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 2 4

Havre 1 0 0 0 0 6 X - 7 9 2

WP - Trenton Maloughney

LP - Tristan Rodriguez

Havre batting - Eli Cloninger 2-3, Caden Jenkins 0-4, Brody Nanini 1-4, Trenton Maloughney 2-3, Kale Reno 0-1, Ethan Carlson 1-4, Carson Lunak 1-3, Tavish Mclean 0-3, Drake Barreth 0-2, Theron Peterson 2-3.