Errors cause Northstars to fall behind early against Great Falls

Early in the summer, the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club has been looking to find its rhythm before it gets into the thick of its schedule later this summer. While the Northstars have had success early this season, they have also faced their downs. On Wednesday night at Legion Field, the Northstars suffered another down with an 18-3 loss to the Great Falls Chargers AA team.

Against such a tough opponent, the Northstars had little room for error Wednesday. But the mistakes came as the Northstars committed seven errors in the contest that allowed the Chargers to run away with it.

"A really tough night. I think we found out what you can't do against really good teams," Havre head coach Patch Wirtzberger said. "(You can't) make a whole lot of mental and physical mistakes in the field because they'll get after you if you let them have free base runners and free bases and that's exactly what they did tonight."

The Chargers capitalized on Havre mistakes from the start. In the top of the first inning, Landon Lockwood reached first on a Havre error. Later in the inning, he scored thanks to an RBI single from Lane Seim.

In the bottom of the first, the Northstars responded to tie the game. After he got hit by a pitch to get on base, Eli Cloninger scored on a passed ball to tie the game.

After a clean second inning, things began to turn for the worse for Havre in the top of the third. After two singles to start the inning, Trigg Mapes hit a double to left field to give the Chargers a 3-1 lead. After loading the bases, another Havre error allowed a Charger to score another run. Seim then scored on a passed ball to further push the lead to 5-1.

Nate Fowler kept it rolling with a double to right field to drive in another pair of runs. Lockwood followed that up with an RBI single to push the lead to 8-1. Another Havre error allowed another pair of Chargers to score and push the advantage to 10-1.

The Northstars struggled to respond over the next few innings. In the bottom of the fifth, Drake Berreth brought home a run with a double to cut the deficit to 10-2. However, the Northstars failed to muster any more offense, even when they had more opportunities to score.

"We didn't have many timely hits," Wirtzberger said. "We just couldn't get those runners in and those are the things you need to do if you're going to claw your way back into a game."

After a few scoreless innings, the Chargers got things rolling again late in the game. In the top of the sixth, Mapes hit a home run to center field to push the lead to 11-2. In the top of the seventh, the Chargers took advantage of several hits, walks and hit batters to score seven more runs to push the lead to 18-2.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Northstars tried to ignite a comeback. After getting two batters on, Ezra Pyle hit a single to center field to bring home a run. But the Northstars were unable to get anything more as Great Falls ended the inning to win the game early by run rule.

While Brody Nanini took the loss starting the game at pitcher for the Northstars, he only allowed two earned runs in the contest. He also recorded two strikeouts and two walks. Only two Northstars recorded an RBI in the contest and Cloninger led Havre at the plate as he went 2-for-3 in the contest.

The loss dropped Havre to 6-8 on the season. As they move forward into the summer, there is plenty to learn from a loss like this. But if there's one thing he wants his team to learn from this game, Wirtzberger wants them to know how simple mistakes can cost them a game.

"We need to be prepared for every single pitch or else that's what's going to happen. Good teams will make you pay if you have errors and have mental mistakes," Wirtzberger said. "I think we just need to be a little bit more prepared mentally and just keep working at practice on the physical stuff and then it'll come."

The Havre Northstars will next play on Tuesday in a doubleheader in Lewistown against the Lewistown Redbirds starting at 5 p.m.

Great Falls 18, Havre 3

GF 1 0 9 0 0 1 7 - 18 11 0

HAV 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 - 3 9 7

WP - Josh Banderob

LP - Brody Nanini

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