Northstars extend winning streak to nine games

With just two games left in the month of June, the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club looked to continue their strong play over the last couple of weeks. With a record of 11-9 early in June, the Northstars have been playing their best baseball since then to end the month. Despite falling behind early Wednesday night on the road against the Great Falls Chargers, the Northstars dominated the rest of the night to sweep the doubleheader and continue their strong play.

"I thought we played well. Got behind in the first game early but we were able to battle back," said Havre head coach Patch Wirtzberger. "We were just really locked in at the plate. Second game, got on them early and didn't let up so proud of the effort."

The sweep extended Havre's winning streak to nine games in a row and made their record 10-1 in their last 11 games. The sweep also improved their record to 21-10 with just over a month left in the regular season. It also improved their record to 4-0 against the Chargers this season after they swept them in a doubleheader at Legion Field on April 25.

The Northstars started the evening with an 8-5 win but early on it looked like the Chargers might pick up their first win of the year over Havre. In the bottom of the second with two runners on base, Josh Stimac hit a double to left field to drive in a pair of runners for the 2-0 lead. Later in the inning, Scotty Klinker hit an RBI single to left field to make the lead 3-0.

However, Havre eventually responded in the top of the fourth to get back in the game. After two batters got on base to start the inning, Theron Peterson hit a single to center field to drive in a run. Drake Berreth then hit a single to left field to drive in another runner. On the same play, Peterson was tagged out at home trying to tie the game.

Havre finally climbed their way back in the top of the fifth. With two runners on, Carson Lunak hit a single to right field to get both runners home for the 4-3 lead. Later in the inning, Trenton Maloughney stole home to push Havre's lead to 5-3.

"It's just consistent approaches at the plate with runners in scoring position. When we get bases loaded, we're usually not leaving them out there," Wirtzberger said on how his team came back. "We're scoring one, two, three runs and having big innings so the way we're hitting the ball right now, we don't feel like if we get behind that we can't come back. These guys are really resilient and that's good to see."

The Northstars maintained momentum over the last two innings by scoring another four runs to make their lead 8-3. Outside of an error in the bottom of the seventh that allowed two Great Falls runners to score, Havre pitcher Kale Reno and his defense held down the Chargers' offense.

"Kale Reno was really good. He settled into the mound nicely and started hitting spots and really shut them down and the defense was just really good all day long too," Wirtzberger said.

The Northstars carried their momentum into the second game which they won 13-1 in five innings. Havre struck early in the top of the first with back-to-back hits from Brody Nanini and Ethan Carlson to drive in two runners for the lead. Peterson then capped the inning off with an RBI single of his own to center field to make it 3-0.

In the top of the second, the Northstars scored on a bases-loaded walk and a fielder's choice to make their lead 5-0. Eli Cloninger then scored on a Charger error to make the score 6-0.

"Just capitalizing on mistakes. They had a few errors but we still had to hit the ball" Wirtzberger said. "When we had runners in scoring position, we were able to do that. The guys are just seeing the ball really well right now."

Great Falls got on the board with an RBI single from Stimac in the bottom of the second. However, that would be their only score of the game as starting pitcher Nanini shut down the Chargers. He pitched all five innings of the game and only allowed two hits, one run and no walks.

"Brody was really good," Wirtzberger said. "If you asked him, he would probably think that he didn't have his best stuff but he was able to find the strike zone and let his defense go to work for him."

In the top of the fourth, the Northstars continued to roll on offense as they scored another seven runs to make their lead 13-1 and end the game early after five innings. Wirtzberger hopes that his team can continue to roll at the plate when they return to Legion Field to play a doubleheader against the Tri-County Cardinals Saturday. Havre was set to play the Cardinals in the Harold Gjerde Memorial a few weekends ago but that game was rained out. Even though the Northstars struggled against the Cardinals last year and have not had a chance to play them this year, Wirtzberger is confident in his team.

"It should be a good matchup," Wirtzberger said. "It's a team that we struggled with last year a little bit so excited to see how this team can get out there and get after another good conference opponent."

The doubleheader this weekend will be Havre's first games at Legion field since June 8. While he is excited to return to play at home after being away for nearly a month, Wirtzberger believes the sudden change might affect his players.

"I know we're excited to be at home. Sleeping in our own beds and being able to get to the field and do our normal routine without getting on the bus," Wirtzberger said. "We've been playing pretty good on the road so it's a changeup that we'll have to deal with and hopefully the boys can use their home crowd to get some momentum."

Regardless of where their next game is at, Wirtzberger hopes the Northstars can continue their winning ways. If his team continues to roll on offense, they should have a good shot of extending their winning streak this weekend.

"For our team, it starts at the plate," Wirtzberger said. "Our pitchers have been really good all year long so we count on that but if we're good at the plate I feel like we can beat anybody."

The Havre Northstars will play the Tri County Cardinals in a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. Saturday at Legion Field.

Havre 8, Great Falls 5

HV 0 0 0 2 3 1 2 - 8 8 1

GF 0 3 0 0 0 0 2 - 5 7 4

WP - Kale Reno

LP - Scotty Klinker

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

Havre 13, Great Falls 1

HV 3 3 0 7 0 X X - 13 11 3

GF 0 1 0 0 0 X X - 1 2 3

WP - Brody Nanini

LP - Austin Armstrong

Havre Batting - Caden Jenkins 2-3, Eli Cloninger 1-3, Brody Nanini 2-3, Ethan Carlson 1-1, Connor McKay 0-1, Trenton Maloughney 0-3, Jayce Jensen 1-1, Carson Lunak 1-2, Lane Kinsella 0-1, Theron Peterson 2-2, Kale Reno 0-1, Drake Berreth 0-2.