Havre Northstars split first road trip of the season

After playing in the friendly confines of Legion Field early this season, the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club finally went on the road this past weekend. The Northstars played a total of four games, two in Great Falls and two in Kalispell, over the course of Saturday and Sunday.

The Northstars experienced several highs and lows over the weekend. In Great Falls, the Northstars defeated the Great Falls Chargers, 6-5, before suffering a 14-4 loss to the Bozeman Bucks. In Kalispell Sunday, the Northstars opened the day with a 12-4 win over the Kalispell Lakers before suffering an 8-5 loss to the Lakers. While the Northstars’ games yielded mixed results, Havre head coach Patch Wirtzberger liked what he saw from his team on their road trip.

“I thought we got better every step of the way so that’s what we’re looking for at this point in the season,” Wirtzberger said. “I thought that the boys competed really hard from the very first game to the very last pitch so we’re pretty happy with the way it turned out.”

The Northstars started the weekend on Saturday afternoon with a 6-5 win over Great Falls. But it was the Chargers who struck first as a Havre error in the bottom of the first resulted in a 1-0 lead.

The Northstars were able to bounce back in the top of the third. After reaching third base, Chason Mader scored to tie the game thanks to a sacrifice fly from Drake Berreth. In the top of the fifth, an RBI single from Tanner Delarosa to right field gave Havre a 2-1 lead. Later in the top of the sixth, Brody Nanini scored from third on a passed ball to push the lead to 3-1.

After several scoreless innings, the Chargers finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth. After loading the bases, a walk brought in a runner for Great Falls. Another runner then scored on a fielder’s choice to tie the game. A Havre error allowed another runner to score and give Great Falls a 4-3 lead.

Despite losing the lead, the Northstars responded in the top of the seventh to retake control. With a runner on base, Eli Cloninger hit a triple to left field to bring in the runner and tie the game. Nanini followed that up with an RBI triple of his own to give Havre a 5-4 lead. An RBI single from Kale Reno pushed the lead to 6-4.

“We just kept on plugging away,” Wirtzberger said about the comeback in the seventh. “In that inning, we broke through and that just speaks to the kids sticking to their approach at the plate and just trusting that sooner or later, good things will happen.”

The Chargers threatened in the bottom of the seventh and were even able to score a run to cut the deficit to one run. But Colter Solomon was able to record a strikeout for the last out to secure the win. Solomon pitched the last 1.2 innings of the game and was able to record the win and the save.

Many Northstars had strong games at the plate to start the weekend. Cloninger and Nanini each recorded three hits in the game. But the Northstars were unable to take their momentum into their 14-4 loss to the Bozeman Bucks later Saturday in Great Falls.

Early on, it looked like the Northstars would be able to keep pace with Bozeman. After loading the bases with an error and a pair of walks, another walk brought Cloninger home for the 1-0 lead. Another pair of bases-loaded walks further pushed the lead to 3-0 in the top of the first.

But the Northstars could not contain the Bucks in the bottom of the first. With two outs and the bases loaded, Quinn Pershing tied the game as he cleared the bases with a double to left field. In the top of the second, the Northstars responded with an RBI single from Reno to retake the lead, but it would not be enough.

In the bottom of the second, an RBI double tied the game once again. A sacrifice fly then got another runner home to give Bozeman the lead. An RBI single from Torin Jeske pushed the lead to 6-4.

Over the last four innings of the game, the Northstars could not break through and were held scoreless. None of the Northstars recorded more than one hit or one RBI in the contest. After a hot start to the contest, Wirtzberger believes Bozeman pitcher Dylon Poulin settled in to hold the Northstars at bay.

“Their pitcher did a really nice job after that first inning. He settled down and threw strikes,” Wirtzberger said. “In that game, we hit a lot of balls hard that just couldn’t find holes and in the waning moments of the game where it’s hanging in the balance, we just couldn’t get anything good to happen.”

Meanwhile, the Bucks scored a total of seven runs in the fifth and sixth innings to push the lead to 14-4 and end the game early.

The Northstars continued the weekend on Sunday with a doubleheader against the Kalispell Lakers. The Northstars started the day with a 12-4 win over Kalispell. They got the bats rolling in the first and the second innings to take a 5-0 lead.

The Lakers tried to claw their way back as they cut the deficit to 5-3. After Havre scored another run in the top of the fourth, Kalispell scored in the bottom of the fourth to cut the deficit to 6-4.

But the Northstars continued to roll on offense with four more runs in the fifth and two more in the seventh. As a team, the Northstars finished the game with 12 hits. Mader led the team with two hits and Nanini and Pyle each recorded three RBIs.

“They were just really locked in at the plate the whole time,” Wirtzberger said about the offense. “We were executing throughout the offense and the base running was really good. The most complete offensive game we’ve put together so far this year.”

But the Northstars could not keep it rolling in their 8-5 loss to the Lakers to end the weekend. The Lakers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first. They added another run in the bottom of the second to extend the lead.

The Northstars were able to work their way back to cut the deficit to 5-4 in the top of the fifth. Over the next two half innings, the Northstars and Lakers exchanged runs. In the bottom of the sixth, the Lakers scored another pair of runs before holding the Northstars scoreless in the top of the seventh to secure the win.

At the end of the weekend, the Northstars now have a 6-4 record. It was not an easy weekend with several players missing because of commitments to other spring sports. But that allowed Wirtzberger to give other players more playing time which should help the team down the line.

“I think this weekend was huge for us to get all our young kids some playing time and to prepare ourselves for the stretch run of the summer,” Wirtzberger said. “That experience is just so valuable, not only to our team but to those individuals so I couldn’t be happier with the efforts I’m getting out of these guys.”

The Northstars will next play the Helena Senators AA team in a doubleheader on the road this Saturday starting at 3 p.m.

Havre 6, Great Falls 5

HAV 0 0 1 0 1 1 3 - 6 13 5

GF 1 0 0 0 0 3 1 - 5 4 5

WP - Colter Solomon

LP - Beau Carns

Havre Batting - Drake Berreth 1-3, Eli Cloninger 3-4, Brody Nanini 3-4, Kale Reno 1-3, Ezra Pyle 1-3, Lane Kinsella 0-4, Colter Solomon 2-3, Chason Mader 1-3, Tanner Delarosa 1-3.

Bozeman 14, Havre 4

HAV 3 1 0 0 0 0 X - 4 4 2

BOZ 3 3 1 0 2 5 X - 14 12 1

WP - Dylon Poulin

LP - Kale Reno

Havre Batting - Drake Berreth 0-4, Eli Cloninger 1-2, Brody Nanini 1-2, KaleReno 1-2, Ezra Pyle 0-1, Colter Solomon 0-3, Lane Kinsella 1-2, Chason Mader 0-2, Tanner Delrosa 0-3.

Havre 12, Kalispell 4

HAV 2 3 0 1 4 0 2 - 12 12 2

KAL 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 - 4 10 2

Kalispell 8, Havre 5

HAV 0 0 2 2 0 1 0 - 5 5 4

KAL 4 1 0 0 1 2 X - 8 4 1