Havre Northstars set to host pair of doubleheaders this weekend

The Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club have been playing some of their best ball lately, with first and second-place finishes in away tournaments the past two weekends. Now the Northstars will try to carry over that success into a slate of doubleheaders this weekend at Legion Field.

"It'll be good to get back home. We've been on the road quite a bit lately so we're excited for the boys to play in front of their home crowd," Havre head coach Patch Wirtzberger said. "The expectations just remain the same. Just trying to work to get better every single day and put ourselves in a good position to win some ball games."

The Northstars will start the weekend tonight at Legion Field with a pair of conference games against the Tri County Cardinals. The Northstars and Cardinals have only faced each other once this season, a 9-3 victory for the Northstars in the Havre Jamboree at the beginning of the month. As conference foes, Wirtzberger expects the Cardinals to be a tough opponent to open the weekend.

"I know they'll be fired up. They're always ready to play us," Wirtzberger said. "A lot of young players on that team and a couple older players so a good mix of youth and experience should be a good test for us."

The Northstars will then play again Saturday at Legion Field with a non-conference doubleheader against the Lethbridge Miners from Canada. These games will be the first meeting between the teams since 2019, but Wirtzberger remembers how strong of a program the Miners are.

"It's going to be a young team with a lot of talent," Wirtzberger said. "Lethbridge is always well coached so it should be a good test for us."

As usual, the Northstars will need their best players to continue playing well. Kale Reno should get time on the mound as he leads the team in innings pitched this season. In his 12 appearances and 11 starts, Reno has a 5.827 ERA, 49 strikeouts and 25 walks.

Brody Nanini should also get plenty of time on the mound. He is second on the team in innings pitched and has a 2.947 ERA, 44 strikeouts and 14 walks this season. He is also having a good season at the plate as he has a .374 batting average, a .490 on-base percentage and 35 RBIs.

Several other Northstars have been reliable at the plate this season. Eli Cloninger leads the team with a .395 batting average this season while also recording a .506 on-base percentage and 20 RBIs. Jevin Jenkins has also been steady with a .333 batting average, a .432 on-base percentage and 19 RBIs.

Heading into the middle of the summer, the Northstars have a 21-17 record. They are most recently coming off a second-place finish at the Harry Griffith Memorial Tournament in Miles City this past weekend. With their recent success, Wirtzberger hopes to build on that more this weekend as they continue to build toward the postseason which starts in a few weeks.

"I think the guys have bought into the mentality that we just need to keep on working to get better every day and that's why we've seen improvement from week to week," Wirtzberger said. "If we keep doing that, we'll keep building on that momentum and hopefully be playing our best baseball here in three or four weeks."

The Havre Northstars begin their doubleheader against the Tri County Cardinals tonight at 5 p.m. at Legion Field. The Northstars will then play the Lethbridge Miners in a doubleheader at Legion Field Saturday at 5 p.m.