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Havre softball ready for state after winning divisionals

After winning the Northeast A Divisional for the first time in program history, the Havre High softball team looks to continue making history with the Class A State Tournament this weekend in Hamilton. The Blue Ponies have been playing their best ball over the last few weeks, so HHS head coach Tony Vigliotti believes they are ready to finish the season strong.

"We've played well the last three weeks of the season, which is what you want to be doing here in tournament time," Vigliotti said. "So we expect to keep playing well and to go down and compete."

The Ponies enter the state tournament with a 14-7-1 record and as the Northeast No. 1 seed. The Ponies will begin the tournament Thursday at 5 p.m. where they will face either Polson or Butte Central, who will play each other earlier in the day.

Either opponent should be a tough outing to start the tournament. Butte Central has had a good season to enter the tournament as the Southwest No. 3 seed. Polson brings championship experience into this weekend as the defending state champion and as the Northwest No. 2 seed. But whoever they play to start the weekend, Vigliotti knows they will need to be prepared.

"Everybody at the state tournament is going to be good," Vigliotti said. "Either way you get to the state tournament, you're going to have to play your best softball and we're doing that right now."

With their most important games this weekend, the Ponies will need their best players to continue playing well. At the plate, Molly Huse has been excellent with a .576 batting average, a .625 on-base percentage, 43 RBIs and six home runs. In her senior season, Alyssa Oliver has recorded a .484 batting average, .548 on-base percentage, 33 RBIs and six home runs.

Avery Carlson has made an impact on both sides of the plate this season for the Ponies. At the plate, she has a .526 batting average, a .654 on-base percentage and 22 RBIs. On the mound, she has a 6-3 record with a 5.897 ERA and 53 strikeouts.

Elle Verploegen has also made an impact for the Ponies on the mound. In her 12 games played and seven starts this spring, she has a 6-3 record and a 3.860 ERA. She also recorded 50 strikeouts to only 36 walks on the season. If the Ponies continue to pitch well, as well as execute in other parts of the game, Vigliotti feels good about their chances.

"It sounds easy, but if we can pitch, hit and play defense, we'll be just fine," Vigliotti said.

Even if the Ponies can win their opening game of the weekend, there are many other tough teams between them and a state title. In the Ponies' half of the bracket, Frenchtown is the other top team as the Southwest No. 1 seed. Frenchtown and Havre faced off last month with Frenchtown winning 7-3.

Frenchtown will start the tournament with a game against the winner of the Laurel-Glendive game on Thursday. Laurel enters the tournament as the Southeast No. 2 seed while Glendive enters as the Northeast No. 3 seed. As a conference opponent, the Ponies swept Glendive by scores of 21-18 and 10-0 this season.

On the other side of the bracket, Columbia Falls and Billings Central are the top teams in the tournament. Columbia Falls enters the weekend as the Northwest No. 1 seed and Billings Central is the Southeast No. 1 seed. The Ponies have faced both teams this season but suffered an 8-2 loss to Columbia Falls and a 10-0 loss to Billings Central.

Those teams will face the winners of the games on Thursday morning. Lewistown and Livingston will face each other to start the weekend. Lewistown enters the tournament as the Northeast No. 2 seed after losing, 4-0, to Havre in the divisional title game. The Ponies also swept Lewistown by scores of 17-2 and 14-13 in the regular season. Livingston enters the tournament as the Southeast No. 3 seed. Earlier in the season, Havre lost, 19-6, to Livingston.

Also on Thursday morning, Corvallis and Ronan will face off to start the weekend. Corvallis is the Southwest No. 2 seed and Ronan is the Northwest No. 3 seed. The Ponies played Ronan this season and won 10-3.

While the Ponies went undefeated in conference play this season, they went 4-7-1 in non-conference play this spring. But Viglliotti believes their defense has improved over the season. He also knows that when the postseason comes around, the Ponies will need the ball to bounce their way to make a deep run.

"I think anytime you get into a tournament, you need some breaks. You got to have some luck and you got to have some calls and bounces go your way," Vigliotti said. "So we're just going to go out, we're going to show up and we're going to play."

The HHS softball team starts the Class A State Tournament in Hamilton Thursday at 5 p.m.

 

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