Northstars host state tournament this weekend

As a long and hot summer enters its final month, the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club can see the end of the road for their 2021 season as they prepare to compete in the Class A state tournament this weekend. In a season that has seen the Northstars reach new heights, it only seemed fitting that they would get to host their final games of the season at Legion Field from Thursday through Monday. Havre will face the best teams in the state, including the Glacier Twins in their opening game Thursday night. However, Havre head coach Patch Wirtzberger believes that his team can compete with anybody.

"If our team plays up to their ability, they can play with anybody in the state so it's time to see what that ceiling is," Wirtzberger said. "We'll get tested right away with a gritty team in Glacier, but we're just excited for the opportunity and we hope we can play our best."

The Northstars enter their final weekend of the season with a record of 35-14. The Northstars have been playing their best baseball since the middle of June, including a stretch where they won 15 games in a row. This past weekend, Havre finished second at the Class A North District tournament. Even if they had not finished in the top two last weekend, they still would have qualified as the tournament host. But Wirtzberger expects a dogfight despite their homefield advantage.

"The bases are still 90 feet and the mound's 60 feet, 6 inches so we're just going to have to go out there and play our best," Wirtzberger said. "All these teams are coming to hopefully beat the host team. We got a target on our back and we got to make sure we bring our 'A' game."

The Northstars will begin the weekend with a game against the Glacier Twins Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. Havre has already faced off with the Twins this season in a game June 18 in which the Twins won 9-8. Wirtzberger believes the Twins are one of the toughest teams in the tournament as they have a record of 45-13 and are the Class A West District champions. If Havre is going to beat Glacier this time around with higher stakes, they need to play better defense than last time.

"We need to shut down their running game and keep guys out of scoring position. They're going to hit the ball, we just need to make sure that we don't give up extra bases," Wirtzberger said. "We hit the ball really well in that game, we came up one hit short of beating them and hopefully we can come up on the right end of this one."

Havre's defense will start with their pitching staff that has been strong throughout the season. However, they are coming off one of their weakest performances in the district tournament this past weekend. Wirtzberger is not too worried, though, as he expects them to bounce back this weekend.

"Part of it is just getting used to the way the postseason is. Everything is ramped up just a little bit and the pressure is on," Wirtzberger said. "They've just got to relax and trust in their preparation and know that they've done the work and be confident. They'll settle in and do just fine. I think our pitchers are poised for a great weekend."

The leading pitcher for the Northstars, Carson Lunak, will look to end his senior season on the right note with a strong showing this weekend. In his 13 starts this season, he has a record of 8-2, a 3.166 earned run average and 37 strikeouts. The Northstars can also turn to Brody Nanini who has a 9-1 record, 3.247 ERA and 44 strikeouts this season.

Even if the pitchers get back on track this weekend, Havre will need its offense to show up, as well. During their strongest stretches of the season such as their 15-game winning streak, the Northstar offense had been explosive. If they are going to win a state title, they will need the bats to get hot on a more consistent basis, unlike at the district tournament.

"(We need) more consistent approaches at the plate. I thought at times we were really good over the weekend and that showed as we hit the ball really well and scored a lot of runs, but at times, when we had opportunities, we just didn't swing at good pitches," Wirtzberger said. "We were helping the pitcher out instead of staying patient and waiting for a good pitch and that's everything if you want to score runs consistently."

To score runs this weekend, they will first need players to get on base first. Senior Ethan Carlson hopes to get in scoring position this weekend as he leads the team with a .413 batting average and .534 on-base percentage. He has also gotten other runners with his team-leading 37 runs batted in this season. Senior Eli Cloninger also hopes to make an impact this weekend as he has a .404 batting average, .505 on-base percentage and 25 RBIs this season.

Regardless of how Thursday's game turns out, the Northstars will play against either the Belgrade Bandits or the Laurel Dodgers Friday. Belgrade and Laurel will play each other Thursday at 1 p.m. at Legion Field. Wirtzberger believes Belgrade is one of the toughest teams of the tournament. The Bandits had a record of 42-17 and won the Class A South District tournament. If the Northstars are going to beat such a formidable opponent, they will need momentum and their homefield advantage.

"You can't discount that we're playing at home, and that could bring a lot of energy if we were to run into a team like that," Wirtzberger said. "Our team kind of plays off of momentum. If we can grab some momentum in that game and really start to hit the ball, then we can fall into a comfort zone and hopefully finish the game off."

If they do not play Belgrade Friday, the Northstars will instead be playing the Laurel Dodgers who have a record of 35-22 and finished second in the Class A East District tournament. Wirtzberger does not know much about Laurel but knows they will be a tough outing if they run into them.

"They've got a good coach who has a very disciplined team so we're just going to have to be ready if we end up matching up with those guys," Wirtzberger said.

The Northstars hope to be playing deep into this weekend as they battle for a state championship. If they get that far, they will run into other teams at the tournament such as the Gallatin Valley Outlaws and Glendive Blue Devils. The Outlaws and Devils will start the tournament as they play each other Thursday morning at 10 a.m.

Gallatin Valley enters the tournament with a record of 51-21 and a second-place finish in the Class A South District tournament. If Havre runs into the Outlaws, it would be the fourth meeting between them this season. The Outlaws lead the season series so far 2-1, but Wirtzberger would feel confident if the teams met up again.

"They've got good pitching, experienced hitters and they don't make too many mistakes in the field so they're going to be very difficult to beat," Wirtzberger said. "We feel confident going into that game that we can play with those guys."

Glendive would be another familiar opponent as the Northstars have already played them twice this season back in June. Even though Havre is 2-0 against the Devils this year, Wirtzberger would not expect a potential matchup with them this weekend to be a cakewalk considering they won the Class A East District tournament despite their 22-26 record.

"Glendive's not the same team they were the last time we played them. Definitely not the same team they were the first time we played them," Wirtzberger said. "They're the champions of the East. That's a difficult conference to win and that's a big accomplishment which means they're playing really well so we can't take them lightly if we run into those guys."

The last two teams competing in this weekend's tournament are the Mission Valley Mariners and Great Falls Chargers who will play each other Thursday at 4 p.m. Wirtzberger does not know much about the Mariners except for the fact they have a 32-15 record and they finished second in the Class A West District tournament.

However, Wirtzberger is more than familiar with the Chargers who are coming off their Class A North District championship this past weekend. The Chargers played their best baseball of the season this past weekend as they defeated Havre twice, including an 18-10 win in the championship game. The result was also shocking since the Northstars went 6-0 against the Chargers during the regular season. If Havre meets up with the Chargers again, they will need to clean up their mistakes.

"We just need to play cleaner defensively," Wirtzberger said. "Every mistake we made, Great Falls made us pay."

With just one weekend left in the season, the Northstars will want to make the most of it. If they are going to do that, Wirtzberger believes they will need to make it as easy on themselves as possible by avoiding the loser's bracket early on.

"We preach to these guys to take it one pitch at a time and that is everything. We have to win the first game if we are going to have a chance to win the whole thing. Coming back through the loser's bracket is very difficult," Wirtzberger said. "We just got to come ready to play Thursday, be ready every pitch and hopefully be playing Friday night.

The Havre Northstars will begin competing in the State A tournament Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at Legion Field. The tournament itself will begin Thursday morning at 10 a.m.