Havre Lions capture championship

As summer begins, so comes the end of youth athletics across the Hi-Line. One league that finished its season recently was the Havre Youth Baseball Association that had its championship game Thursday night at Lions Park. In the championship game, the Havre Lions played against Chinook. The Lions took a quick 3-0 lead but Chinook cut their deficit to one run and got the bases loaded in the final inning. The Lions were able to get the groundout to win 3-2 and win the championship.

"It feels good," said Havre head coach Scott Leeds. "We always want to be playing our best baseball at the end of the year and this week we absolutely played our best baseball that we had played all year long."

The Havre championship team consisted of Cale Leeds, Tucker Stygeles, Tegan Solomon, Danny Niemann, Oliver Benjamin, Coye Chagnon, Evan Karnes, Ryeden Turn Toes, Oren Greenwood, Wyatt Anderson and Adam Garcia. Many players were excited to win the title, especially in such a close fashion.

"It felt pretty good," Garcia said. "It was nerve-wracking at the end, too, because it was a really close game."

The losing Chinook team consisted of Hayden Berreth, Carter Alisch, Ryan Bell, Riley Ingersoll, Weston Paulson, Kolton DePriest, Ben Murnion, Wyatt Mord, Walter Schoen, Jeffrey Seymour, Wrangler Skoyen and Wyatt Zuelke. Even though his team could not win the championship, Chinook head coach Bill Bell was proud of what his team accomplished this year.

"It's been a very good season. My boys battled hard," Bell said. "We missed last year's season altogether so for us to be in a championship is a great accomplishment for us, and I'm proud of each and every one of those boys."

Havre took a quick lead to start the game thanks to Garcia's batting. In the bottom of the first inning, Garcia hit a single to right field to drive in a run for the 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the third with the bases loaded, Garcia grounded out into a fielder's choice that allowed two runners to score to extend their lead to 3-0.

"Just trying to be smart when I was batting and only swing when it's a strike," Garcia said about his approach at the plate. "Then I swung as hard as I could when it was a strike."

Despite the early deficit, Chinook did not let the game get away from them. In the top of the fourth, an RBI single got a runner home to cut their deficit to 3-1. The championship game then went to the sixth inning, which would be the final inning of the day.

After Havre walked the first batter, Chinook scored on a Havre error to cut their deficit to one run with no outs in the inning. The Lions then recorded two straight strikeouts to get Chinook to their final out of the season. Instead of finishing them off, Havre walked two straight batters to load the bases. However, Havre was able to finish off Chinook with a groundout to end the game and clinch the title.

"We had to play smart baseball. We didn't want to give them extra bases," Leeds said about why his team won the championship. "Basically we just said if you want to do it, you got to put it in your own hands and that's what the kids did."

As Leeds celebrates his team's title, he reflects on what this season really meant to them. After last season was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic, Leeds was not only excited to get the chance to compete for a title this year, but for getting the chance to see his kids play again.

"It's been great for the kids this year to come out and have some normalcy," Leeds said. "Just for the kids to be back out was just great for their morale and it's good to see their smiling faces again, people in the stands cheering, parents getting to watch, so all the way around, it turned into a great year."