Northstars win Harold Gjerde Memorial Tournament

With the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club in the thick of their summer schedule, they are looking to find that midseason momentum to carry them through the rest of their season. This past weekend in Lewistown, the Northstars may have found that as they went 3-1 and won the Harold Gjerde Memorial Tournament.

"I'm proud of the guys. They played their tails off all weekend long," Havre head coach Patch Wirtzberger said about the team's performance. "We are starting to play with more consistency at the plate and in the field and the best part is there is still a lot of room for improvement going forward."

The Northstars started the tournament Thursday with a 15-6 win over the Bitterroot Bucs. Jevin Jenkins got it started in the top of the first inning with an RBI double to left field to give Havre an early 1-0 lead. But in the bottom of the first, a Havre error allowed a Buc to score and tie the game. The Bucs then followed that up with a single and a sacrifice fly to extend their lead to 3-1.

But Havre responded in the top of the second. After three walks to load the bases, Kale Reno scored on a wild pitch. Eli Cloninger followed that up with an RBI single to right field to tie the game. After loading the bases again in the second, Jenkins hit a single to center field to drive in a pair of runs to give Havre a 5-3 lead to end the inning.

The Bucs were able to keep pace as they scored a run in both the second and the third innings to tie the game once again. But the Northstars again responded in the top of the fourth, this time to take full control of the contest.

With the bases loaded early in the inning, a Bitterroot error allowed Brody Nanini to score and give Havre the lead. Kale VanCampen then hit a single to left field to drive in another run for the Northstars. Reno and Terek Shipp then both scored on another Bitterroot error to push the lead to 9-5.

Later in the inning, VanCampen scored on another Bitterroot error to add onto the lead. Nanini then hit a single to left field to drive in another pair of runs to give Havre a 12-5 lead to end the inning.

In the top of the sixth, a sacrifice fly from Nanini drove in another run to add onto the lead. Then in the top of the seventh, an RBI single from VanCampen pushed the lead to 15-5.

The Bucs were able to score a run in the bottom of the seventh, but Havre recorded the final out to close out the win. Trenton Maloughney earned the win as he pitched the first six innings where he allowed six hits, one earned run and three walks while recording five strikeouts.

Many Northstars excelled at the plate to start the tournament. Jenkins and Nanini both recorded three RBIs in the game while four separate Northstars recorded at least two hits in the game.

The Northstars continued the tournament Friday with a 9-3 win over the Bitterroot Red Sox. Like the first game, Havre got started early in the top of the first inning. With two men on, Jenkins hit a single to left field to bring in a run for a 1-0 lead. But the Red Sox responded in the bottom of the fourth with a run to tie the game.

In the top of the fifth, the Northstars took control of the game. VanCampen started the inning with a solo home run to right field to give Havre a 2-1 lead. Colter Solomon then scored on an inside the park home run to add to the lead. After a walk, Nanini hit a double to center field to drive in the run for a 4-1 lead.

The Red Sox were able to score a run in the bottom of the fifth but it was not enough. In the top of the seventh, Havre pulled away. After a triple from Theron Peterson, Nanini hit an RBI double to left field. Drake Berreth followed that up with an RBI double of his own to add to the lead.

The Northstars proceeded to hit three straight singles, two of which brought in a run to push the lead to 9-2. Many Northstars had strong games at the plate, especially Nanini and Solomon who each had two hits and two RBIs in the game.

The Red Sox scored a run in the bottom of the seventh, but Havre closed it out for the win. Reno picked up the win as he pitched the first 6.1 innings where he allowed four hits, two earned runs and one walk.

The Northstars ran into trouble Saturday with a 3-2 loss to the Belgrade Bandits. In the bottom of the third, Belgrade scored with a sacrifice fly from Lane Neill to take a 1-0 lead in the game. In the bottom of the sixth, a home run from Brody Jacksha pushed the lead to 2-0.

With the game on the line, Havre finally got its offense going in the top of the seventh. With two men on and two outs recorded, Cloninger hit a double to left field to clear the bases and tie the game.

But the Bandits walked it off in the bottom of the seventh. With a runner on first with two outs, Sawyer Olson hit a single to right field to drive in the game-winning run. While he was awarded the loss for the game, Shipp had a solid start as he only allowed four hits, three earned runs and two walks.

The Northstars were able to bounce back later Saturday night with an 8-2 win over the Gallatin Valley Outlaws. The Northstars got things rolling in the bottom of the first. With two men on early in the inning, Nanini hit a double to center field to drive in both runners for the lead. Jenkins then brought Nanini home with an RBI single to center field to push the lead to 3-0.

Over the next few innings, Havre added onto its lead. In the bottom of the second, Reno scored on a groundout from Ezra Pyle to add onto the lead. After Gallatin Valley scored in the top of the fifth, the Northstars responded. In the bottom of the fifth, Nanini and Jenkins both scored on separate errors to push Havre's lead to 6-1.

Gallatin Valley scored a run in the top of the sixth, but it was not enough to keep pace. After two singles to start the bottom of the sixth, Pyle scored on an error to give Havre another run. Lane Kinsella then hit an RBI single to left field to give Havre an 8-2 lead.

The Northstars then closed it out in the seventh to win the game. Nanini earned the win as he pitched all seven innings for Havre. In the game, he allowed seven hits, no earned runs and one walk while recording four strikeouts. He also led the team at the plate as he went 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

The Northstars were scheduled to play the championship game Sunday, but it was rained out. Thanks to their win over the Bitterroot Red Sox earlier in the tournament, the Northstars won the tournament championship by tiebreaker.

With the strong weekend, Havre improves to 17-14 on its season and has now gone 9-3 in its last 12 games. The Northstars will look to keep up their strong play going as they host the Lewistown Redbirds at Legion Field in a doubleheader Tuesday starting at 5 p.m.

Havre 15, Bitterroot Bucs 6

HAV 1 4 0 7 0 1 2 - 15 11 2

BIT 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 - 6 7 4

WP - Trenton Maloughney

LP - Blair

Havre Batting - Eli Cloninger 1-3, Colter Solomon 0-1, Theron Peterson 0-5, Brody Nanini 1-1, Jevin Jenkins 2-5, Drake Berreth 2-5, Kale Reno 2-2, Terek Shipp 1-3, Conner McKay 0-1, Kale VanCampen 2-3, Ezra Pyle 0-3.

Havre 9, Bitterroot Red Sox 3

HAV 1 0 0 0 3 0 5 - 9 11 3

BIT 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 - 3 6 1

WP - Kale Reno

LP - Tim Hickey

Havre Batting - Eli Cloninger 1-4, Theron Peterson 1-3, Brody Nanini 2-4, Jevin Jenkins 1-3, Trenton Maloughney 0-4, Drake Berreth 1-4, Conner McKay 1-4, Kale VanCampen 2-3, Colter Solomon 2-4.

Belgrade 3, Havre 2

HAV 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 - 2 6 1

BEL 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 - 3 5 0

WP - Terek Shipp

LP - Kash Fike

Havre Batting - Eli Cloninger 2-4, Theron Peterson 0-3, Brody Nanini 1-3, Jevin Jenkins 0-2, Drake Berreth 0-3, Trenton Maloughney 1-2, Kale Reno 1-2, Kale VanCampen 0-3, Ezra Pyle 1-3.

Havre 8, Gallatin Valley 2

GV 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 - 2 7 4

HAV 3 1 0 0 2 2 X - 8 13 2

WP - Brody Nanini

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