Blue Ponies head on the road for conference slate

The Havre High softball team is off to a strong start this season and is looking to continue that with a road trip this weekend. The Blue Ponies will play Sidney Friday night and will then play Glendive in a doubleheader Saturday. As they get into the thick of their conference schedule, HHS head coach Tony Vigliotti looks forward to seeing how the Ponies perform on the road.

"If we want to compete in the Northeast A, we got to go on the road, and we're going to have to beat Sidney and Glendive," Vigliotti said. "We expect to go down and compete and win."

The Ponies will first face Sidney Friday to begin the road trip. Last season, Havre went 2-0 against Sidney with a 21-2 and a 15-0 win. Sidney brings an inexperienced squad into this season, so Vigliotti expects the Ponies just to focus on themselves this Friday.

"Sidney's awfully young so we'll go down and worry about us," Vigliotti said. "Hopefully, we'll keep throwing strikes, we'll keep making plays and put the ball in play. If we do that, we'll be fine."

The Ponies continue the weekend with a doubleheader against Glendive Saturday. Last spring, the Ponies also swept Glendive with 21-18 and 10-0 wins. Glendive lost one of its best players from last season, but the Ponies still need to play well in order to continue improving as a team.

"I know they lost their pitcher from last year so again, for us right now, it's just getting reps," Vigliotti said. "If we do that, we should be able to go down and win three games."

The Ponies enter the weekend with a 5-1 record this season. They are already off to a 2-0 start in the Northeast A this season after sweeping Miles City in a doubleheader at home Monday.

If the Ponies want to remain undefeated in conference play, their best players will need to continue their strong starts to the season. On the mound, Elle Verploegen will look for another strong game at pitcher. In her three starts this year, she has a 2-1 record with 28 strikeouts, 11 walks and a 3.50 ERA. Rachel Jette should also get some time at pitcher as she has a 3-0 record, nine strikeouts, four walks and a 1.75 ERA this spring.

Many Ponies have gotten rolling at the plate this spring and will look to continue that this weekend. Avery Carlson is off to a strong start as she has a .550 batting average, a .654 on-base percentage, 12 RBIs and two home runs this season. Camille Keeley has also been playing well with a .455 batting average, two home runs and a team-high 16 RBIs.

After winning the Northeast A Divisional title last season, the Ponies are off to a strong start this season. If they continue to roll this weekend, they should prove themselves to, once again, be contenders for that divisional title.

The HHS softball will play Sidney on the road Friday at 5 p.m. The Ponies will then face Glendive on the road Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m. to wrap up the road trip.