From The Fringe...These Northstars are so much more than a state tourney host

It's been nearly two full years since the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club won a bid to host the Class A State Legion Tournament. Of course, that tournament was actually supposed to be in 2020, but, COVID-19 put the brakes on the plan.

So, with just a couple of weeks until one of the biggest, and best weeks of baseball in Montana comes to historic Legion Field, the Northstars' long wait is almost over.

And yet, as Havre fans will soon see, the wait will have been well worth it.

For starters, we all know it will be a great tournament. There will be great baseball played over the course of the four days, and the hospitality will be second to none. Havre, when it hosts anything, puts on a great show, and that's because this is a great sports town, full of people willing to step up and make any event a special one. In other words, we take hosting big time sporting events in Havre with a lot of pride, and the state legion baseball tournament will be no different. Everyone involved with the legion program, Havre Youth Baseball, and anyone else who has helped, or will be helping, will do a great job hosting the tournament.

Of course, it's also being played at Legion Field. And I don't really need to say anything more about that. Legion Field is what it is, it's special. It's a great venue, and the state tournament belongs there.

But there's one more factor in why the state tournament in Havre will be one for the books - The Northstars are really good.

That's right, Havre isn't just going to play the role of guest host when the legion tourney comes to town. Instead, the Northstars are going to battle for a state championship. It's been a social summer on the diamond for the Northstars, who, under the tutelage of Patch Wirtzberger, have carried over their state tournament berth from a year ago, to becoming one of the top teams in all of Class A in the summer of 2021.

In case you haven't seen, Havre is a club with talent, with team chemistry and kids who really love to play the game. When you put all that together, and you have a manager like Wirtzberger, a student of the game of baseball, a baseball mind if you will, it's recipe for something very special.

And that's exactly what the Northstars' season has already been - special. Havre has had several long winning streaks, they've had monumental wins over powerhouse programs like Gallatin Valley and Bitterroot, and, above all else, the Northstars have done exactly what they're supposed to do over the course of a long season - get better as time goes on.

Indeed, the Northstars are getting better each week, they're grinding and getting hot right when it's time to do so, and now, they've hit the stretch run. It's the final week of the regular season, and the postseason is just around the corner.

And while it's a postseason that was always going to include the Northstars because they were the host of the state tournament this year, it's pretty clear at this point that Havre didn't need that hosting role in order to make the run the Northstars are going to make in the final day son July. No, this Havre team is really good, and they would have made a run all on their own.

So, baseball fans, the state tournament is coming to historic Legion Field very soon, and that's exciting. Get your lawn chairs and your sunflower seeds ready, get out the sun screen and get ready to watch the Havre Northstars do much more than be gracious hosts of the state tournament - no, you're going to see, these Northstars are much more then hosts, they're a great baseball team, and they're ready to do a heck of a lot more than just host they state tourney, they're ready to win.