Ponies hope to finally make their home debut

After their home opener on Saturday against Miles City was canceled, the Havre High softball team will finally play their first home game in two years when they host Browning tonight at the Sixth Avenue Memorial Field.

"We always play pretty well at home so the girls are excited," said HHS head coach Tony Vigliotti. "Just a good atmosphere for us down there so we're excited to get going."

After their games against Miles City were canceled, Vigliotti kept his team ready by holding a scrimmage with both his junior varsity and varsity players. However, he could only do so much to imitate the feel of a real game.

"We're at a point where we need to just play some games," Vigliotti said. "There's only so much that you can do in practice."

The Blue Ponies come into their matchup against Browning with a record of 2-2-1. However, after they started the season 2-0, they went winless in the Lewistown tournament. Browning will be looking to win their first game of the season as they are 0-3.

One of Havre's wins this season came against Browning in their season opener. The Ponies had their best performance this season as they defeated the Indians, 20-0. Lexi Haney started the game at pitcher for the Ponies and she pitched for three innings. She struck out five batters while only allowing one hit. Avery Carlson also pitched two innings in relief and struck out four batters. If the Ponies are going to defeat the Indians again, they will need a repeat of both their offensive and defensive performances.

"We're going to pitch well," Vigliotti said. "We're going to have to keep putting the ball in play, that we've been doing so we'll just be ourselves and we should be OK."

Vigliotti believes that if Browning is going to change the result from the last time they played, their athletes will have to make plays to make up for their pitching.

"They've always got some good athletes running around out there," Vigliotti said. "They just haven't been able to develop much pitching."

Pitching has not been a problem for the Ponies this season. Haney has started four games this season at pitcher. In her four starts, Haney has struck out 32 batters and led the Ponies to a 2-1-1 record. She also has made an impact batting and is second on the team with four RBIs this season.

The Ponies may also send Carlson to the mound. She has pitched in two games this season, including one start, has struck out 12 batters and is 0-1 as a starter.

On offense, Quinn McDonald leads the way for the Ponies, leading the team with five RBIs. Other batters who can make an impact this weekend include Lizzi Haney, Dani Wirtzberger and Jocelyn Staples, who have driven in three runs each this season.

As the Ponies head into their home opener looking to pick up their first win since April 3, they are looking to improve in some aspects of the game.

"We've just been focusing on the mental side of the game. We've been talking about it with the game of softball. You got to know what you're going to do with the ball before it's hit," Vigliotti said. "Trying to stay present with each pitch and trying to cut down on some of those mental errors that cause big innings for the other team, so we need to stay away from that."

HHS and Browning begin play at 5 p.m. at the Sixth Avenue Memorial Field in Havre.