Ponies go 1-2, gain great experience at state softball

A strong season for the Havre High softball team came to a close this past weekend at the Class A state tournament in Butte. After they won their opening game of the tournament, the Blue Ponies lost back-to-back games to end their season. Despite the disappointing end to the year, HHS head coach Tony Vigliotti is proud of how his team performed.

“We played fairly well,” Vigliotti said. “With the adversity we faced in the beginning of the year with a couple of players hurt, a successful year for us.”

The Ponies finished the year with an overall record of 15-6-1 and a conference record of 7-1. They also finished the regular season undefeated at home at Sixth Avenue Memorial Field and advanced to the Northeast A divisional championship at home where they lost to Lewistown. Coming into the year, the Ponies had a young team as well as injured players who could not suit up this year. Considering these circumstances, Vigliotti thought Havre had a strong year.

“We had some young girls out there that got a ton of experience this year and it’s going to do nothing but help us going forward,” Vigliotti said.

However, that strong year ended Friday with a 14-4 loss to Columbia Falls that eliminated the Ponies from the state tournament. Columbia Falls came into the tournament as the No. 3 seed from the Northwest A. Havre defeated Columbia Falls, 5-4, earlier in the year but they could not contain the Wildkats’ offense this time out.

In the Wildkats’ second at-bat of the game, Haylee Lawrence hit a two-run home run to center field to give Columbia Falls the lead. In the top of the second, Havre’s Alyssa Oliver took advantage of a Wildkat error to score a run. Avery Carlson then hit a double to right field that drove in a run to tie the game, 2-2.

Columbia Falls retook the lead in the bottom of the second when Lawrence hit a two-run double to left field. Havre again responded to the Wildkats’ score when Quinn McDonald stole home plate to cut their deficit to one run in the top of the third.

The bottom of the third doomed the Ponies as Columbia Falls took control of the game. The Wildkats started the scoring with a fielder’s choice that got a runner home. A Pony error then allowed another Wildkat to score. Three straight hits from the Wildkats then drove in another four runs to push their lead to 10-3.

“We had a few errors in that game that cost us,” Vigliotti said. “We just didn’t make the couple of plays that we needed to make to keep ourselves in the ball game.”

Columbia Falls kept it going in the bottom of the fourth by scoring another two runs. Havre ended Columbia Falls’ 8-0 run when Oliver drove in a run with a double in the top of the fifth. However, the Wildkats scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth to push their lead to 10 runs and end it after five innings.

In their final game of the season, Oliver and Ellie Collins led the team with two hits each. Oliver and Carlson both recorded an RBI each for the Ponies. In her final start at Havre, senior pitcher Lexi Haney gave up 16 hits, nine earned runs and one walk. She finished her final season with an 11-4-1 record as a pitcher.

“She worked hard to get where she was and I don’t know if there’s anybody that worked as hard as Lexi did to improve herself and it showed this year,” Vigliotti said. “She had a great career at Havre High and we’ll miss her. That’s no doubt.”

The Ponies did start the tournament on a positive note as they defeated Southwest A No. 3 seed Butte Central, 6-3, Thursday afternoon to open the tournament. The game did not start out well for Havre as Brooke Badovinac hit a home run to center field to give Butte Central a 1-0 lead in their first at-bat of the tournament. The Ponies responded in the bottom of the first when Carlson stole home plate to tie the game, 1-1.

Butte answered back in the top of the third with an RBI double from Kump to take a 2-1 lead. The Ponies responded in the bottom of the third when a sacrifice fly from Jocelyn Staples got Carlson home to tie the game. Later in the inning, Oliver doubled to center field to drive in a run that gave Havre a 3-2 lead.

The Ponies added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth when Calrson tripled to center field to drive in another run for Havre. In the next at-bat, Lizzi Haney put the ball in play to force a fielder’s choice that allowed Carlson to score and push the lead to 5-2.

The Maroons tried to get back in the game in the top of the sixth with an RBI single from Badovinac to cut their deficit to two runs. However, the Ponies got an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single from Carlson.

Carlson finished the game leading the team with four hits, two RBIs and three runs scored. Sam Lovenguth and Oliver both recorded two hits each in the game. Lexi Haney pitched the game and recorded eight strikeouts while allowing two earned runs, nine hits and three walks.

“We had some good quality at-bats,” Vigliotti said. “We put the ball in play, we got some good bunts down when we needed to and got a good pitching performance from Lexi in that game that held them at bay.”

After their win to open the tournament, the Ponies played another game Thursday night against Laurel. Laurel came into the tournament as the Southeast A divisional champions and they defeated Havre, 13-3, back in April. Even though the stakes were higher, the Ponies could not keep pace this time as they suffered a 10-4 loss and were sent to the loser’s bracket.

Laurel took a quick lead in the bottom of the first as they capitalized on a Pony error to score two runs to take the lead. Back-to-back hits from the Locomotives then drove in two more runs to push their lead to 4-0. Laurel then scored four more runs in the bottom of the third to make the score 8-0. A solo home run from Taylor Feller in the bottom of the fifth increased their lead even further.

“They’re just a good team,” Vigliotti said. “Laurel’s just a good team. Their pitcher was tough and they put the ball in play a lot.”

Havre finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth when Oliver doubled to center field to drive in two runs. After Laurel scored another run in the bottom of the sixth, Staples drove in two more runs for the Ponies to cut their deficit to six runs. However, Havre could not mount a comeback as they were sent to the loser’s bracket where they lost to Columbia Falls.

Staples and Oliver both recorded two RBIs each against Laurel while Lizzi Haney led the team with three hits. Carlson started the game at pitcher for Havre and she gave up six earned runs, eight hits and four walks against two strikeouts.

As the season comes to an end, so do the careers of seniors Haney, McDonald, Collins, Lovenguth, Staples, Parsons and Sydney Wilting. However, players such as Carlson and Oliver will return next year. With the experience the Ponies gained competing against the best teams in the state in the postseason, Vigliotti believes that it will help his returning players next season.

“We can take forward that we got a group of competitors,” Vigliotti said. “These girls showed that they can compete with anybody, and going forward that experience is going to help us.”

Havre 6, Butte Central 3

BTTC 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 - 3 9 1

HAV 1 0 2 2 0 1 X - 6 10 1

WP - Lexi Haney

LP - Reopelle

Havre Batting - Avery Carlson 4-4, Lizzi Haney 0-4, Jocelyn Staples 0-4, Sam Lovenguth 2-3, Quinn McDonald 1-3, Alyssa Oliver 2-3, Lexi Haney 0-3, Keylee Kline 1-2, Danni Wirtzberger 0-1, Ellie Collins 0-1.

Laurel 10, Havre 4

HAV 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 - 4 6 3

LAUR 4 0 4 0 1 1 X - 10 10 2

WP - Ella Crookston

LP - Avery Carlson

Havre Batting - Avery Carlson 1-4, Lizzi Haney 2-4, Jocelyn Staples 2-4, Sam Lovenguth 0-3, Quinn McDonald 0-4, Alyssa Oliver 1-3, Lexi Haney 0-3, Keeley Kline 0-2, Danni Wirtzberger 0-2.

Columbia Falls 14, Havre 4

HAV 0 2 1 0 1 X X - 4 7 3

CF 2 2 6 2 2 X X - 14 16 1

WP - S. Mann

LP - Lexi Haney

Havre Batting - Avery Carlson 1-3, Lizzi Haney 0-1, Jocelyn Staples 1-2, Sam Lovenguth 0-2, Quinn McDonald 1-3, Alyssa Oliver 2-2, Lexi Haney 0-2, Ellie Collins 2-2, Paige Parsons 0-2.