Northstars begin postseason with district tournament this weekend

After a long hot summer for the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club, the postseason will finally begin this weekend at the Class A North District Tournament in Lewistown. The Northstars head into the weekend as the tournament's No. 1 seed because of their first-place finish in the standings. Since they host the state tournament next weekend at Legion Field, Havre already has a spot in the state tournament. Even though they do not need to do well this weekend to continue their season, they still aim to win their first district tournament title since 2005.

"The goal remains the same, we want to win the district tournament," Havre head coach Patch Wirtzberger said. "We just want to keep getting better each game and if we do that, we should be just fine."

The Northstars earned the No. 1 seed after they finished 10-2 in conference play during the regular season. They finished the season with an overall record of 32-12 and have been playing their best baseball over the past month. Since the middle of June, the Northstars have a 20-2 record and even won 15 games in a row during that stretch.

The tournament will have a double-elimination format, so even if Havre loses a game, they still have a shot at winning the tournament. The Northstars will begin the district tournament with a game against the Tri County Cardinals Friday at 4 p.m. The Cardinals enter the tournament with an overall record of 6-16 and conference record of 1-11. Havre went 4-0 against the Cardinals this season, three of their wins coming by double digits. Wirtzberger believes if the Northstars are going to pick up their fifth win of the year over Tri County, they just need to avoid mistakes.

"Just staying focused I think is the biggest thing. Not having any lapses in our game," Wirtzberger said. "The guys have done a really good job here in the last couple weeks of fielding the ball well and hitting the ball well and our pitchers have obviously been really good so if we can keep doing that, I don't think we should have any trouble."

If the Northstars defeat Tri County, they will advance to their next game that will be Saturday at 4 p.m. They will play the winner of the game between the Lewistown Redbirds and Great Falls Chargers, who will play each other Friday at 7 p.m.

Havre's most likely opponent Saturday will probably be Lewistown. The Redbirds finished the year with an overall record of 40-26 and a conference record of 8-4 to earn the tournament's No. 2 seed. Most notably, the Redbirds were the only team to defeat Havre in the past month and in conference play. The Northstars even finished the year with a 3-4 record against the Redbirds. Even though Lewistown will be a tough opponent, Wirtzberger believes in his team.

"They're a good team. There's no doubt about that," Wirtzberger said. "They're not going to beat themselves but I think we're pretty confident in what we can do. If we play well, we can play with anybody in the state."

At some point during the double-elimination tournament, the Northstars might run into the Great Falls Chargers who finished the year with an overall record of 26-21-1 and a conference record of 5-7. During the regular season, Havre went 6-0 against the Chargers. Despite the dominance during the regular season, Wirtzberger believes the Chargers' offense could cause trouble for the Northstars if they are not careful.

"Those guys can really hit the ball. It's a young team. If you let them stay in the ball game, you never know what can happen," Wirtzberger said. "We've done a good job of capitalizing on our opportunities to put them down by multiple runs and if we can just keep capitalizing on those opportunities, we should be just fine."

As they head into the postseason, the Northstars hope to carry their momentum from the past month. One of the keys to their strong play recently has been their offense. Senior Ethan Carlson has been a key part of the Northstar offense as he leads the team with 34 runs batted in. To get those runners home, he will need his teammates to get on base first such as senior Eli Cloninger with his team-leading .419 batting average.

The Northstars will also need their reliable pitching staff to have another strong weekend. Leading pitcher Carson Lunak hopes to continue his strong year where he has a 2.597 earned run average and 35 strikeouts. Even though he is dealing with a foot injury, Havre may also turn to Brody Nanini at the mound who has a 2.949 ERA and team-leading 40 strikeouts. If all his players play up to their standards, Wirtzberger is confident his team can bring home the hardware this weekend.

"This is a talented group. If they stay focused and cut down on the mental mistakes, I think everything else will take care of itself," Wirtzberger said. "It's a great opportunity for us to go out and play some good baseball and I think we can do that."

Even if the Northstars do not win the district tournament, they have already qualified for next week's state tournament. Since there is less pressure on them this weekend, Wirtzberger wants his team to continue playing hard anyways to help help build them the confidence they will need for the state tournament.

"If we can go out and win a few ball games and maybe pick up this north district championship, I think that would just bring a lot of confidence to this team heading into the state week," Wirtzberger said.

The Havre Northstars will begin the Class A North District with a game against the Tri County Cardinals Friday at 4 p.m.