Shaina Evans Memorial brings Havre together again

Despite it being the dog days of summer in Havre, locals gathered at Sixth Avenue Memorial Field to watch the Havre High Alumni games and the Shaina Evans Challenge men's fastpitch softball tournament this past weekend. The Shaina Evans Challenge served as a fundraiser in honor of Shaina Evans, a former Montana State University-Northern volleyball player who passed away in a tragic car accident 11 years ago. The funds from this weekend will go on to support the HHS softball program and a scholarship for a MSU-N volleyball program. As the softball teams honored Evans by wearing 17 on the field, the fans in the stands got the chance to let loose and enjoy some summer ball.

"It's just awesome. It's just a special tournament. It's a fundraiser for somebody that's not here and we all get together and have a great time," said tournament player and HHS softball head coach Tony Vigliotti. "It's a lot of fun so things went well for the weekend. Everybody had fun and they drank some beers and ate some burgers and kids ran around. It's pretty cool."

The weekend began with a pair of HHS alumni games on Friday night. The first game was played between two groups of HHS alumni that have moved on from the program. Members of the Ponies' 2021 senior class such as Lexi Haney, Quinn McDonald and Sam Lovenguth played in the game. Some alumni that played in the game include Kaci Hipple, Kesley Ward, Carly Danielson, Paige Henderson and Davee McLeod. McLeod graduated from Havre High in 2013 and has been participating in the HHS alumni game the past few years because of how fun it is.

"It's always been fun playing against the girls. They always show some good competition. Seeing them grow," McLeod said. "I was a Blue Pony my entire life so it was fun."

The second game Friday night saw a matchup between the HHS alumni and the current HHS Pony roster which the Ponies won 10-3. Jersi Morse, who is heading into her sophomore year for the Ponies, enjoyed playing the game and believes it was a good experience for her as she develops as a softball player.

"It was very entertaining and a very good experience playing with the older girls, and it was just something fun," Morse said.

The Shaina Evans Memorial began Saturday morning and went on through the entire day. The tournament ended on Sunday with a pair of games. Five teams competed in the tournament that had a double-elimination format. This is the eighth Shaina Evans Memorial since Evans' passing and it has become a staple in the Havre community, so the turnout was strong through the day.

The tournament started with a game between teams sponsored by Valley Furniture and Master Sports that ended with a 17-10 Valley Furniture victory. In the second game of the day, Havre Chiropractic defeated Gallery Lounge, 10-1. That afternoon, Valley Furniture defeated Koefod Insurance, 14-12.

Later on Saturday, the tournament moved onto a pair of elimination games to see who would survive. Gallery Lounge survived extra innings to defeat Master Sports, 18-17. However, Gallery Lounge was eliminated in their next game as they lost to Koefod Insurance, 4-1. The last game Saturday was between Havre Chiropractic and Valley Furniture for the chance to reach the tournament's championship game. After falling behind early, Havre Chiropractic defeated Valley Furniture, 14-6, to remain undefeated.

The tournament continued Sunday morning with another elimination game that was a rematch between Koefod Insurance and Valley Furniture. This time, Koefod survived extra innings to defeat Valley Furniture, 12-11, to advance to the championship game.

Havre Chiropractic scored early to take control and they went on to defeat Koefod, 6-0, to win the Shaina Evans Challenge. Even though they brought home the championship trophy and had fun playing with each other along the way, Havre Chiropractic players such as Mike Coleman could not help but get emotional.

"It's great playing with these guys," Coleman said. "This tournament, it's an emotional thing for me so it's a good time."