Northstars fall in district tournament title game

Heading into the Class A North District tournament this past weekend in Lewistown, the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club did not need to do well to secure a spot in the state tournament. Since they are hosting state at Legion Field this weekend, they automatically qualified.

However, they went into the district tournament as the No. 1 seed and were looking to carry their strong play all the way to a district title. Even though they were able to force a winner-take-all game against the Great Falls Chargers on Sunday, they ultimately lost, 18-10, in the championship game.

"We can do a lot better. We battled and our effort was really good," said Havre head coach Patch Wirtzberger. "We just didn't play clean enough defense to beat them twice today but overall pretty pleased with the effort."

The Chargers got off to a quick start as they scored five runs in the top of the first inning. However, Havre kept pace and eventually tied the game in the bottom of the second. The Northstars even took a 6-5 lead when Tavish McLean got a runner home on a fielder's choice.

The lead was short lived as Great Falls had another strong inning in the top of the third to take a 9-6 lead. Havre again did not let the game get away from them. In the bottom of the third, a single from Ethan Carlson got two runners home to cut their deficit to one. In the bottom of the fourth, Kale Reno tied the game with an RBI double.

Great Falls used the top of the fifth to put a stranglehold on the game as they scored nine runs. Along with several big hits with runners in scoring position, the Chargers also took advantage of walks and Northstar errors to get so many runners home in the inning.

"Usually it started with a mistake on our end and then they really took advantage," said Wirtzberger on the Chargers' big innings. "Those guys hit the ball hard all three days that they were here. You just got to tip your hats to them. Everything they hit found a hole and that's just the way it is sometimes."

While the weekend ended on a sour note, the Northstars had several big wins throughout the weekend such as their game Friday night against the Tri County Cardinals to open the tournament. Even though they fell behind early, the Northstars came back to hold on for a 7-6 win.

After three scoreless innings, the Cardinals built a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth. They then added another run in the top of the fifth to make the score 4-0. The Northstars finally got their offense going in the bottom of the fifth to come back and take the lead. Caden Jenkins got Havre on the scoreboard when he scored on a wild pitch. McLean followed up that score by grounding out into a fielder's choice to get another runner home. Theron Peterson hit an RBI double to center field to make the score 4-3.

After Havre got the bases loaded, they tied the game when Drake Berreth was hit by a pitch to drive in a runner. Jenkins then ended the inning with an RBI single to give Havre their first lead of the game.

"We got good leaders on this team and we don't feel like any lead is insurmountable when we get behind," Wirtzberger said. "We're confident in our ability to hit the ball and they went out and did it."

Throughout the rest of the game, the Northstars and Cardinals exchanged runs. With the score tied 5-5 in the bottom of the sixth, the Northstars scored off a wild pitch and fielder's choice to take a 7-5 lead. Even though the Cardinals scored a run in the top of the seventh, Havre held on for the comeback win to start the weekend.

Their second game of the tournament saw the Northstars fall behind again, this time to the Great Falls Chargers. However, Havre could not come back and lost the game, 11-4, Saturday afternoon.

Early on in the game, Havre kept pace with the Chargers even though they trailed 3-2 after four innings. The Chargers took control of the game in the top of the fifth as they scored five runs for an 8-3 lead. Great Falls continued to roll on offense as they had another strong inning in the top of the seventh with three more runs.

"Walks and errors started their big innings and then they finished them off with really good hits," Wirtzberger said. "Those guys just had really solid approaches at the plate and if there was a ball over the plate, they were hitting it somewhere hard."

The Northstars played against the Lewistown Redbirds Saturday night to stay alive in the tournament. Even though they fell behind early again, Havre rallied to win, 5-3, and advance to the tournament's championship game.

Havre's offense started the game slow again which gave Lewistown the chance to build a 2-0 lead after three and a half innings. In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Northstars finally got it rolling to take a 3-2 lead. Havre got on the scoreboard when Peterson grounded out into a fielder's choice to get a runner home. The Northstars then tied the game with another fielder's choice before McLean scored on a wild pitch to give Havre the lead.

After Lewistown tied the game with a run in the top of the fifth, Havre again responded to take the lead. Carson Lunak gave Havre the lead with an RBI single to left field. In his lone plate appearance of the game, Brody Nanini hit an RBI single to left field to give Havre the 5-3 lead that they would hold onto for the victory.

"Just sticking with it, knowing that no lead is too much for us to come back," said Wirtzberger on how they came back again. "We kept on scrapping and clawing and were able to get enough runs and win that tough game."

Sunday afternoon, the Northstars made sure not to repeat the same mistake they had all weekend by falling behind early. This time, they jumped on the Chargers early to build themselves an 8-2 lead halfway through the second inning. Even though the Chargers came back, Havre held on to win 10-9 to force the winner-take-all game for the tournament championship later that day.

In the top of the first, Havre quickly got the bases loaded with no outs. The Northstars took advantage when a pair of runners scored on a wild pitch and then an error. Trenton Maloughney then pushed their lead 3-0 when he scored on a fielder's choice.

Great Falls' offense looked to keep pace as they scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first to cut Havre's lead to one. The Northstars responded in top of the second with five runs. They scored their first three runs of the inning off of a fielder's choice, a wild pitch and a steal at home. Maloughney and McLean then each hit an RBI single to make Havre's lead 8-2.

"The guys stayed really patient at the plate and they made their pitcher work," Wirtzberger said. "We were just not missing good pitches. We were hitting it hard and that's how we were able to get it going early."

However, Great Falls did not go away as they kept chipping away at Havre's lead. They scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to two. In the top of the fourth, Berreth hit a double to right field that drove in a pair of runners to extend Havre's lead to 10-6. The Chargers were able to cut the lead to 10-9 heading into the final inning but could not complete the comeback. The win forced another championship game later Sunday but Great Falls won that game to win the title.

With the loss in the championship game, Havre will now turn its eyes toward their real goal: a state title. While Wirtzberger wishes the Northstars could have performed better at the district tournament, he also believes they gained valuable experience playing against good teams in high-pressure situations.

"We got to play a couple of really good baseball teams," Wirtzberger said. "Got a few big wins and just weren't able to finish it off there at the end. We just got to rest up, get focused and get ready for Thursday."

The Havre Northstars will begin the State A Tournament with a game against the Glacier Twins on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Legion Field.

Havre 7, Tri County 6

TC 0 0 0 3 1 1 1 - 6 10 2

HV 0 0 0 0 5 2 X - 7 7 3

WP - Tarek Shipp

LP - T Vanderbos

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

Great Falls 11, Havre 4

GF 2 0 1 0 5 0 3 - 11 14 2

HV 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 - 4 7 2

WP - Austin Armstrong

LP - Carson Lunak

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

Havre 5, Lewistown 3

LEW 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 - 3 8 1

HAV 0 0 0 3 2 0 X - 5 7 1

WP - Kale Reno

LP - Wyatt Elam

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

Havre 10, Great Falls 9

HV 3 5 0 2 0 0 0 - 10 5 1

GF 2 2 2 0 1 2 0 - 9 10 1

WP - Brody Nanini

LP - AJ Sloan

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

Great Falls 18, Havre 10

GF 5 2 4 0 9 0 0 - 18 20 1

HV 2 42 1 1 0 0 - 10 12 4

WP - Mason Davis

LP - Lane Kinsella

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