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With a break from their schedule, the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club looked to forget about the stress of trying to win every weekend and instead just focus on the love of the game. They did that this past Saturday at Legion Field as several events were held to celebrate and grow the game of baseball on the Hi-Line.
At the start of the day, the Northstars and the Great Falls Voyagers worked with younger players in a youth baseball camp. The Northstars then played a scrimmage against the Voyagers, which is a professional baseball team. After falling behind, the Northstars came back to win 8-7. The day then ended with a home run derby with players from both teams.
"Just a great event for our kids on the Northstars team, a great event for the youth and a great event for the community," Havre Northstars head coach Patch Wirtzberger said about the day at Legion Field. "It was a good crowd today and it was a good baseball game."
The day started with players from both the Voyagers and the Northstars running a camp for youth baseball players from around the area. About 55 players from the ages of 5 through 12 worked on drills in the camp that focused on their pitching, fielding, base running and batting. As they got to help develop the next generation of ball players, Andy Atwood of the Voyagers enjoyed spending time with the Hi-Line baseball community.
"It's just amazing to be out here and to see this community," Atwood said. "They supported us today and I'm just glad that we could give back a little bit and see some of those kids develop and I'm really sure that there's some good talent in there."
The Northstars and Voyagers then got their scrimmage started later in the afternoon. In order to balance things out, Great Falls pitchers pitched to Great Falls batters with the Northstars filling out the infield and outfield. It was the same way on the other side as Northstar pitchers pitched to Northstar batters with Voyagers in the infield and outfield. But even with those circumstances, the Northstars could not help but notice the differences between the skill levels.
"It was really interesting seeing all these bigger guys from Great Falls come down. It was a really cool experience, just seeing the differences from our perspective compared to theirs," Havre's Ezra Pyle said. "It was a good opportunity for us to see what we could improve on ourselves."
In the top of the first inning, the Voyagers got off to a strong start. After a runner got on base, Atwood hit a triple to right field to bring in the runner for the lead. He then scored on a wild pitch to push the Voyagers' lead to 2-0. But the Northstars responded in the bottom of the first. After two runners got on base, Tanner Delarosa hit a single to center field to clear the bases and tie the game.
In the top of the second, the Voyagers took advantage of several walks and hits to score some runs and take a 5-2 lead. Another run in the top of the third pushed the lead to 6-2. But the Northstars did not back down.
In the bottom of the fourth, Kale Reno kept the Northstars in the game with an RBI single that cut the deficit to 6-3. The Voyagers then responded with an RBI double in the top of the fifth to push the lead to 7-3.
With one last chance in the bottom of the seventh, the Northstars fought their way back. Thanks to an infield single, another single and an error to load the bases with no outs, Colter Solomon was walked to bring a runner home. Lane Kinsella then grounded out into a double play, but he brought another runner home to cut the deficit to 7-5.
"They're good," Atwood said about the Northstars. "They have some bright futures and if they keep working hard and compete like they did today, then they're going to be alright."
The Northstars continued to fight their way back. Drake Berreth kept the game alive with a triple to right field that brought in another run and cut the deficit to one. He then scored himself on a dropped ball to tie the game.
After singles from Brody Nanini and Reno to keep the game alive, Pyle went up to the plate with two outs. With a chance to drive in the winning run, Pyle hit a double to left field to drive in a run and give the Northstars the 8-7 win in the scrimmage. After the game, Wirtzberger was impressed with how his players hung with the pros.
"I thought they did a really good job," Wirtzberger said. "I thought they played loose, our pitchers threw strikes, we didn't make too many physical mistakes and we were in the right spots on defense."
After playing seven innings with the Voyagers and coaching a youth camp together, Wirtzberger believes there was plenty for the Northstars to learn from the professional players that will help them going forward with the rest of the summer.
"I think the biggest thing they can take from these guys is their process. Everything they do, even when they're not up to bat or pitching or fielding the ball, is with intent," Wirtzberger said. "They're trying to prepare for the next time that the ball comes to them. Not react to when the ball comes to them but be prepared for when it happens and I think that's something that these guys can take for the rest of the summer and really apply and get better at."
The Havre Northstars will return to their regular schedule with a game against the Great Falls Chargers AA team at Legion Field on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
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