Northstars sweep Tri County Cardinals at home

After just competing in the Havre Jamboree this past weekend, the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club faced the Tri County Cardinals in a doubleheader at Legion Field Tuesday night. While it was a long night for the Northstars, they swept the Cardinals by scores of 17-8 and 8-2. After some inconsistent play over the weekend, Havre head coach Patch Wirtzberger liked how the Northstars played against the Cardinals.

"This was a step in the right direction," Wirtzberger said. "We had more consistent at bats than over the weekend and previous weekend and it showed on the scoreboard."

The Northstars started the night with their 17-8 win over the Cardinals. Havre struck first in the bottom of the first when Drake Berreth scored on a sacrifice fly. Then in the bottom of the second, Berreth hit a single to drive in a run to make it a 2-0 game.

However, the Cardinals responded in the top of the third with a couple runs to tie the game 2-2. Then in the top of the fourth, the Cardinals got their offense going to score a couple runs to take a 4-2 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Northstars responded. After two walks to open the inning, Berreth hit a double to right to drive in a run. Kale Reno then drove in a run with a single to tie the game.

Berreth later scored on a groundout to give Havre the lead. Reno then scored on a passed ball to add onto the lead. After a single from Ezra Pyle, Colter Solomon drove in a pair of runs with a single to push the lead to 8-4.

"The guys just really started seeing the ball well and hitting it out there," Wirtzberger said about the Havre offense. "Their selection was huge. I feel like they were going after good pitches and when we got them, we didn't miss."

The Cardinals tried to keep pace as they scored a couple runs in the top of the fifth to cut Havre's lead to 8-6. But the Northstars kept rolling in the bottom of the fifth. With two runners on, Brody Nanini cleared the bases with a double to left. Terek Shipp then drove him home with a single to right. Shipp then scored on a single from Pyle to make it a 12-6 game.

Tri County scored a couple runs in the top of the sixth to cut their deficit to 12-8. Havre responded with another strong inning in the bottom of the sixth. Chason Mader started the inning by scoring on a groundout. Berreth then scored on a passed ball to push the lead to 14-8.

Later in the inning, Pyle drove in another run with an RBI single. Logan Kinsella followed that up with an RBI single of his own. Tyson Brandon capped off the inning with an RBI single to make it a 17-8 game. The Northstars then recorded three outs in the top of the seventh to secure the win.

Many Northstars had strong games at the plate. Berreth went 4-4 with two RBIs and Nanini went 3-5 with three RBIs. Shipp and Pyle both went 3-5 with two RBIs. On the mound, Tanner Delarosa picked up the win as he allowed four hits and no earned runs, and he recorded five strikeouts in 2.2 innings pitched.

The Northstars capped off the night with their 8-2 victory. The Cardinals struck first in the top of the second taking a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the third, the Northstars responded with an RBI triple from Berreth to tie the game.

The Northstars then took control in the bottom of the fourth. Nanini gave Havre the lead when he scored on a Tri County error. Shipp then scored on an error to extend Havre's lead. Later in the inning, Pyle scored on a balk and Delarosa scored on an error to give Havre a 5-1 lead.

The Northstars kept pushing in the bottom of the fifth. With a runner on, Nanini hit a double to left to drive in the runner. Later in the inning, a single from Shipp and an error allowed two runners to score to push the lead to 8-1.

Tri County scored in the top of the sixth to cut into their deficit. But the Northstars held them scoreless the rest of the way to secure the sweep. Reno picked up the win pitching as he allowed four hits, one earned run and recorded five strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched. After allowing eight runs in the first game, Wirtzberger believed Reno's pitching cooled the Cardinals in the second game.

"Kale pitched really well in that second game," Wirtzberger said. "He was making them miss a little bit more than we were in the first game."

With the sweep, the Northstars improved their record to 10-8-1 this season. As the Northstars move forward, Wirtzberger hopes there is one thing that his players can take away from this sweep.

"A little bit more consistency," Wirtzberger said. "It's a big arc and it's a long season so I just hope that each time we go out there, we can find a little bit more consistency."

The Havre Northstars will next compete in the Magris Invitational in Three Forks starting this Friday.

Havre 17, Tri County 8

TCC 0 0 2 2 2 2 0 - 8 13 3

HAV 1 1 0 6 4 5 X - 17 19 2

WP - Tanner Delarosa

LP - R. Taylor

Havre Batting - Drake Berreth 4-4, Kale Reno 1-4, Conner McKay 0-4, Brody Nanini 3-5, Terek Shipp 3-3, Ezra Pyle 3-5, Colter Solomon 1-2, Logan Kinsella 1-2, Tyson Brandon 2-3, Chason Mader 1-2.

Havre 8, Tri County 2

TCC 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 - 2 4 5

HAV 00 1 4 3 0 X - 8 5 0

WP - Kale Reno

LP - C. Wood

Havre Batting - Drake Berreth 1-4, Kale Reno 0-2, Conner McKay 0-3, Brody Nanini 1-3, Terek Shipp 2-3, Ezra Pyle 0-4, Tyson Brandon 0-3, Logan Kinsella 0-2.