Havre softball rolls against Lewistown in home opener

In last year’s Northeast A Divisional title game, the Havre High softball team lost, 11-1, to Lewistown. On Thursday night, the Blue Ponies were looking to get back at the Golden Eagles as they faced off in Havre’s home opener at Sixth Avenue Memorial Field. This time out, the Ponies got the better of their conference foe with a 17-2 win over the Eagles.

“I thought we played pretty good softball today,” HHS head coach Tony Vigliotti said. “We put the ball in play like we like to do. Defensively, we played well and I thought we ran the bases really well.”

The win improved the Ponies’ record to 3-0 on the year and in conference play early in the season. Already with a sweep against Miles City this spring, the Ponies have dominated their opponents to win early in five innings.

The Ponies’ bats have been hot early this spring. On Thursday night, Molly Huse broke out for the Ponies as she went 4-for-4 from the plate with seven runs batted in and a home run. After the past two years with a canceled season and an injury, Huse was excited to be back out on the field.

“It felt really good. I’m really excited to be back with my teammates out there playing and it’s always good to have a home run,” Huse said.

Early on, it did look like the Eagles had come to play. The Eagles started the top of the first inning with singles from Kiya Foran and Shelby Sannar to get on base. HHS pitcher Avery Carlson then hit the next batter with a pitch to load the bases with no outs. A groundout to first base got Foran home to give Lewistown an early 1-0 lead.

After two quick outs to start the bottom of the first, the Ponies finally got something rolling. After Alyssa Oliver got on base with a single, Huse crushed a home run to center field to give Havre a 2-1 lead.

The Ponies kept it rolling in the bottom of the second. Camille Keeley opened the inning with a double to right field. With Keylee Kline at bat, Keeley advanced to third base on a passed ball. A groundout from Danni Wirtzberger allowed Kelley to reach home and extend the lead to 3-1.

Carlson then reached third base on an error in the outfield. Lizzi Haney and Oliver then walked to load the bases. Huse kept her strong night going with a double to left field that cleared the bases and pushed the lead to 6-1. Huse then scored on a single from Hannah Gingery to give Havre a 7-1 lead early in the game.

After a promising start, the Eagles failed to create momentum at the plate the rest of the game. After allowing the first three batters she faced to reach base, Carlson finished the night with two earned runs and five hits given up. She also struck out seven batters while only walking four. Carlson believes her experience helped her weather the rocky start to the night.

“The first inning is a nice warm up for me and as far as being able to come back after that, I think being older helped me do that,” Carlson said.

The Ponies kept the fireworks going in the bottom of the third. Keeley started the inning with a double to left field. Two batters later, Wirtzberger hit a hard ball to right field. Thanks to her speed on the bases, Wirtzberger was able to make it all the way home on the play for an inside the park home run.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Ponies kept the bats rolling to go through their entire lineup. After loading the bases with no outs, Keeley was hit by pitch to get another runner home. Kline, Carlson and Oliver recorded hits to drive in more runs and push the lead to 15-1. Huse then capped off her night with a single that drove in another pair of runners to make the score 17-1. The Ponies finished the game with 13 hits and 17 runs. Through their first three games this season, the Ponies have been hot at the plate averaging 18.6 runs a contest.

“We’re being aggressive at the plate,” Vigliotti said about the offensive start to the season. “We’re swinging at pitches we should swing at and we’re being patient and picking out the right pitch.”

The Eagles tried to get some offense going in the top of the fifth in an attempt to extend the game. But the Ponies were able to record three outs to end the game after five innings. The strong win over last season’s Northeast Divisional champion should be a sign of good things to come this spring. But for now, Vigliotti is just focused on their upcoming tournament in Lewistown and hopes to use that to continue improving.

“We’ll go to Lewistown this weekend and play four quality opponents, so we’ll just keep trying to get better every time we go out and see what happens,” Vigliotti said.

The Ponies next play in the Lewistown tournament starting today. The Ponies will start the tournament at noon with a contest against Stillwater.

Havre 17, Lewistown 2

LEW 1 0 0 0 1 X X - 2 5 2

HAV 2 5 2 8 X X - 17 13 0

WP - Avery Carlson

LP - Karolyne Southworth

Havre Batting - Avery Carlson 1-4, Lizzi Haney 0-1, Alyssa Oliver 2-3, Molly Huse 4-4, Hannah Gingery 2-3, Taylor Ball 0-1, Elle Verploegen 0-2, Jersi Morse 0-1, Camille Keeley 2-2, Keylee Kline 1-3, Danni Wirtzberger 1-3.