Havre Northstars go undefeated at Miles City Tournament

After a four-game losing streak a few weeks ago, the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club have been on a roll the past two weekends. After a strong performance at the Harold Gjerde Memorial to get it started, the Northstars showed no signs of slowing down as they went undefeated at the Miles City Tournament this past weekend. Head coach Patch Wirtzberger was pleased that his team did not lose their momentum and is playing great ball at the end of the month.

"Pretty pleased with the effort over the weekend. I thought the guys were locked in from the very get go and they didn't really let up the whole weekend," Wirtzberger said.

The Northstars opened the weekend with their second straight win over Miles City Mavericks after they defeated them to end the Harold Gjerde Memorial. Just like in their previous win over the Mavericks, Havre got its offense going to secure a 13-8 win.

Havre got their offense rolling early and often. In the top of the first inning, Ethan Carlson gave the Northstars the lead with an RBI single to left field. Havre pushed its lead to 2-0 when Theron Peterson grounded out into a fielder's choice to get a runner home. Miles City responded in the bottom of the first with a run of their own to cut Havre's lead to 2-1. The Mavericks then tied the game in the bottom of the second when a runner scored on a sacrifice fly.

The Northstars got their offense rolling again in the top of the third to take control of the game. Peterson gave Havre the lead when he tagged on a sacrifice fly from Kale Reno to score. Caden Jenkins then added to the lead with a double to drive in two runs for a 5-2 lead. Havre continued to roll over the next two innings by scoring three runs in each frame to make their lead 11-2.

"The guys here are just not missing good pitches right now, especially with runners in scoring position," Wirtzberger said about his team's stretch of offensive production. "They're doing all the little things that it takes to get those runs in and if you can do that, you're going to be successful."

Miles City finally responded in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single from Logan Muri to cut Havre's lead to 11-3. The Mavericks kept their offensive momentum going into the bottom of the sixth to get back in the game. Miles City's first score came off a Havre error. Jayden Venable then hit a three-run home run to left field to cut Havre's lead to four runs. The Mavericks scored on another Havre error to make Havre's lead 11-8.

Havre scored a pair of runs in the top of the seventh to cushion their lead. Maloughney continued his strong day at the plate with an RBI triple to center field and then Carson Lunak hit an RBI single to make Havre's lead 13-8. Pitching in relief, Reno got three outs to end the game.

The Northstars finished the day with 12 hits. Peterson finished the night with three RBIs and Maloughney led the team with four hits and also drove in three runs.

"He's been working really hard," Wirtzberger said about Maloughney's performance. "He just kept with his consistent approach to the plate and just kept on hitting the ball hard and was able to hit a couple."

The Northstars carried their strong performance into a 10-0 win over the D's Halos DJs Friday. Havre got on the scoreboard early in the bottom of the first when a pair of runners scored on a Halo error. Later in the inning, Kale VanCampen hit a single to right field to drive in another runner for a 3-0 lead.

Havre extended their lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the second with a pair of fielder's choices. The Northstars then scored another four runs in the bottom of the fourth to push their lead to 9-0. In the bottom of the fifth, a sacrifice fly from Brody Nanini got a runner home for the 10-0 lead to invoke the mercy rule to end the game early.

As the Havre offense lit up the scoreboard, Reno pitched the shutout in the complete game for the Northstars. In his five innings, he struck out one batter while only allowing one hit and one walk.

"He was just really good. He was good with his fastball around the zone and he used the breaking ball and off-speed pitches in good counts," Wirtzberger said. "He was just really locked in."

The Northstars kept it rolling in their second game on Friday where they defeated the Froid Bulls, 12-4. Their offense once again struck early to take control. In one stretch in the bottom of the first, Havre batters hit four straight singles to drive in three runs for the lead.

After Froid scored in the top of the second, Havre kept their offense rolling in the bottom of the second to maintain their momentum. In another strong stretch for Havre batters, three straight singles drove in three runners to push Havre's lead to 6-1. Froid responded in the top of the third to cut Havre's lead to four runs.

Havre had their strongest inning in the bottom of the third where they scored five runs. Eli Cloninger got the scoring started with an RBI single to center field. Peterson followed him up with an RBI single of his own. To end the inning, Lunak hit an RBI triple to right field and Tavish McLean hit an RBI single to make Havre's lead 11-2. In the bottom of the fourth, an RBI single from Peterson further extended Havre's lead to 12-2.

Even though the Bulls scored a pair of runs in the fifth and sixth innings, Havre finished the game off with the mercy rule. Peterson had a strong performance against the Bulls as he went three-for-three at the plate and led the team with four RBIs.

"He was really good. It just seemed like every time he got up, there were guys on and in scoring position and he was able to put the ball in play," Wirtzberger said.

Saturday morning, the Northstars had another strong performance where they defeated the Lewistown Redbirds, 9-5. After a slow start, Havre took the lead in the top of the third with a sacrifice fly from Cloninger to get a runner home. Peterson then grounded out into a fielder's choice which was followed up by a two-run single from Maloughney to make their lead 4-0. Havre went on to score another four runs in the fourth to make their lead 8-0.

However, Lewistown came back. In the fifth, the Redbirds scored a pair of runs to make Havre's lead six runs. After Havre scored in the top of the sixth to make their lead 9-2, Lewistown responded in the bottom of the sixth with three runs to cut the deficit to four runs. Thanks to Tarek Shipp's relief pitching in the final two innings, the Northstars were able to hold on for the win.

"That's a really good offensive team so to be able to hold them down for that long was good. It was only a matter of time before they broke through," Wirtzberger said. "Tarek was able to come in and limit the damage and then close out the game."

Havre finished the weekend with a 12-2 win over the Glendive Blue Devils. In the first, Havre took the lead with back-to-back hits from Nanini and Carlson to drive in a pair of runners. McLean then grounded out into a fielder's choice to get another runner home.

Leading 3-1 in the second, a sacrifice fly from Nanini and an RBI single from Carlson pushed their lead to 5-1. The Northstars kept their offense rolling through the game, culminating in a five-run fifth inning that ended the game early. Lunak pitched all five innings for Havre as he allowed six hits, one earned run and three walks.

"That's how Carson's been all year long. He's just been very consistent," Wirtzberger said. "He doesn't walk too many guys, he doesn't strike out too many guys, he keeps his defense involved and lets them do the work for him."

The undefeated finish at the tournament improved the Northstars' record to 19-10 and 8-1 in their last nine games. As the Northstars head into the last month of their schedule, Wirtzberger wants his team to remain focused and hungry.

"If they can not get complacent and know that there's a greater goal at the end they're trying to achieve, they'll be just fine," Wirtzberger said. "They'll just keep getting better and better every day and that's what we're seeing."

The Havre Northstars will look to keep things rolling as they play the Great Falls Chargers in a doubleheader Wednesday night.

Havre 13, Miles City 8

HV 2 0 3 3 3 0 2 - 13 12 4

MC 1 1 0 0 1 5 0 - 8 10 4

WP - Brody Nanini

LP - Kaden Harding

Havre Batting - Caden Jenkins 2-3, Eli Cloninger 1-5, Brody Nanini 2-4, Ethan Carlson 1-4, Trenton Maloughney 4-4, Theron Peterson 1-3, Carson Lunak 1-4, Tavish McLean 0-3, Kale Reno 0-3.

Havre 10, Halos 0

HAL 0 0 0 0 0 X X - 0 1 2

HAV 3 2 0 4 1 X X - 10 9 0

WP - Kale Reno

LP - Logan

Havre Batting - Caden Jenkins 1-4, Eli Cloninger 3-4, Brody Nanini 1-22, Ethan Carlson 1-3, Trenton Maloughney 1-3, Theron Peterson 0-2, Kale VanCampen 1-2, Jevin Jenkins 0-1, Drake Berreth 1-3.

Havre 12, Froid 4

FRO 0 1 1 0 1 1 X - 4 9 2

HAV 3 3 5 1 0 X X - 12 14 1

WP - Lane Kinsella

LP - Walker Ator

Havre Batting - Eli Cloninger 1-3, Theron Peterson 3-3, Trenton Maloughney 1-4, Carson Lunak 3-4, Tavish McLean 2-3, Drake Berreth 1-4, Connor McKay 2-4, Lane Kinsella 1-3, Jayce Jensen 0-1.

Havre 9, Lewistown 5

HAV 0 0 4 4 0 1 0 - 9 9 0

LEW 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 - 5 6 2

WP - Trenton Maloughney

LP - Isaiah Marquart

Havre Batting - Eli Cloninger 0-4, Theron Peterson 0-4, Brody Nanini 1-3, Ethan Carlson 2-4, Trenton Maloughney 22-4, Carson Lunak 2-3, Tavish McLean 0-4, Kale Reno 1-2, Drake Berreth 1-3.

Havre 12, Glendive 2

HAV 3 2 0 2 5 X X - 12 9 1

GLE 1 0 1 0 0 X X - 2 6 5

WP - Carson Lunak

LP - Vinnie Torres

Havre Batting - Eli Cloninger 1-2, Theron Peterson 1-4, Brody Nanini 2-2, Ethan Carlson 2-3, Tavish McLean 1-3, Connor McKay 1-3, Kale VanCampen 0-3, Tarek Shipp 0-2, Drake Berreth 1-3.