Northstars split home stand to start July

In a home stand at Legion Field to begin the month of July, the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club yielded mixed results. On Saturday night against the Lethbridge Miners, the Northstars suffered a 6-3 and a 7-4 loss. However, they rebounded Sunday afternoon against the Fort Macleod Royals as they won 13-3 and 13-0. Shane Reno, who filled in as head coach for the Northstars, liked how the Northstars played to end the weekend.

"On Saturday, it was rough but they recovered and played way better (on Sunday)," Reno said. "It's a big difference when your pitchers are on, everything's working there and we're hitting the ball."

While Reno liked how the weekend ended, the Northstars did face some adversity in their first couple games of the weekend. They started their home stand Saturday night with a 6-3 loss to the Miners. The Northstars started strong as they took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning thanks to an RBI single from Jevin Jenkins. However, the Miners responded with a couple runs in the top of the second to take a 2-1 lead.

The Northstars eventually responded in the bottom of the fourth. With the bases loaded, a groundout allowed Drake Berreth to score to tie the game. Ezra Pyle then hit a single to left field to give Havre a 3-2 lead.

But the lead was short lived as the Miners retook control in the top of the fifth. With the bases loaded, a fielder's choice allowed a runner to score to tie the game. A Havre error then allowed another runner to score to give Lethbridge a 4-3 lead. The Miners then scored another couple runs to end the inning to push their lead to 6-3.

The Northstars had some opportunities to get back in the game. In the bottom of the sixth, the Northstars had the bases loaded with two outs. But a groundout ended the inning and squandered the opportunity for the Northstars. Havre then got a couple runners on base in the bottom of the seventh, but the Miners closed it out to secure the win.

Kale Reno started the game on the mound and allowed three hits, four earned runs and six walks in 4.0 innings pitched. At the plate, Pyle went 2-3 with an RBI and Conner McKay went 2-5 with an RBI.

Saturday night ended with Havre losing, 7-4, to Lethbridge. In the top of the second, the Miners put the ball in play to drive in the runs and take a 3-0 lead. In the bottom of the second, the Northstars responded when Logan Kinsella scored on a groundout to cut the deficit to 3-1.

But in the top of the fourth, the Miners got going again on offense to score a pair of runs to extend their lead to 5-1. Later in the top of the sixth, the Miners scored another pair of runs to push their lead to 7-1.

After going cold at the plate through most of the game, the Northstars finally responded in the bottom of the sixth. With the bases loaded, Berreth hit a double to center to clear the bases and cut Havre's deficit to 7-4.

But that was all the Northstar's had left as the Miners closed them out in the bottom of the seventh. Berreth went 1-3 with three RBIs, but the Northstars finished the game with only six hits as a team.

"They had good pitching and they were able to mix up their pitches that kept our kids off balance," Shane Reno said about the lack of offense. "It just kept them out of rhythm and we didn't hit the ball."

After two losses Saturday, the Northstars rebounded with a 13-3 win over the Fort Macleod Royals Sunday afternoon. The Northstars got started early as they loaded the bases in the bottom of the first. A walk then drove in Kale Reno for the score to give Havre the lead. Another walk then brought in Brody Nanini for a score. An error allowed McKay to score to give Havre a 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second, Havre increased its lead to 4-0 thanks to an RBI double from Nanini. The Royals scored a run in the top of the third, but the Northstars could not be slowed in the bottom of the third. Terek Shipp got the inning started when he scored on a passed ball. An RBI single from Colter Solomon and then an RBI double from Berreth brought in another pair of runs to push the lead to 7-1.

The Royals responded with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth to cut their deficit to 7-3, but Havre just kept rolling. Early in the bottom of the fifth, Pyle scored on an error. Tanner Delarosa then scored on a passed ball to push the lead to 9-3.

Solomon kept it rolling by scoring on another Fort Macleod error. Another error then allowed Berreth to score a run. Kale Reno capped off the inning by scoring on a passed ball to give Havre a 12-3 lead. Later in the bottom of the sixth, Delarosa scored on an error to give Havre a 13-3 lead to end the game early by run rule.

At the plate, Nanini went 2-3 with an RBI for the Northstars. Jenkins had a complete game on the mound as he allowed five hits and three earned runs and recorded six strikeouts in 6.0 innings pitched.

The Northstars carried their momentum later into Sunday afternoon as they defeated the Royals, 13-0, to end the weekend. The Northstars got it started in the bottom of the second. With two men on, Jenkins scored on a groundout to give Havre the lead. Tyson Brandon then drove in a run with a double to left to add onto the lead. Brandon then scored on a passed ball to make it a 3-0 game.

The Northstars continued to roll in the bottom of the third. With two runners on, Jenkins drove in a run with a single to left. McKay then hit a single to right to drive in another run for the Northstars. After loading the bases, Jenkins scored on a passed ball. McKay then scored on a sacrifice fly from Brandon to push the lead to 7-0.

Solomon kept it rolling with a double to right to drive in a run. Kinsella followed him with an RBI double to right. Kale Reno capped off the inning with an RBI single to left to give Havre a 10-0 lead.

Even with the big lead, the Northstars continued to pour it on. In the bottom of the fourth with the bases loaded, Brandon hit a double to left to clear the bases and push Havre's lead out to 13-0. The Northstars then closed it out in the top of the fifth to win the game early by run rule.

Several Northstars got going at the plate to end the weekend. McKay went 3-3 with an RBI while Jenkins went 2-2 with an RBI. Brandon made a huge impact as he went 2-2 with five RBIs in the contest. After slow goings against Lethbridge the night before, Shane Reno liked how the offense showed up Sunday.

"They changed their approaches at the plate," Reno said. "They had a more positive attitude on their approach and weren't afraid to put the ball in play."

On the mound, Quinn Elliot had a strong game for Northstars as he allowed no hits, no runs and three walks in 5.0 innings pitched. Along with Jenkins' pitching earlier in the day, Reno liked how the Havre pitching staff performed to end the weekend.

"Both Jevin and Quinn were right on," Reno said. "They worked their counts very well and were efficient with their pitches."

At the end of the weekend, the Northstars hold a record of 28-16-1 this season. With just under a month left of the regular season, the Northstars believe they are putting everything together in order to contend once the postseason rolls around.

"Hopefully, we're continuing to build for districts and state and regionals," Reno said. "That's kind of been our message to them. It's to continue to build and every day, add something to the value of the team."

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

Lethbridge 6, Havre 3

LET 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 - 6 5 3

HAV 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 - 3 9 2

WP - B. Weaver

LP - Kale Reno

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

Lethbridge 7, Havre 4

LET 0 3 0 2 0 2 0 - 7 9 0

HAV 0 1 0 0 0 3 - 4 6 6

WP - E. Honess

LP - Terek Shipp

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

Havre 13, Fort Macleod 3

FM 0 0 1 0 2 0 X - 3 5 10

HAV 3 1 3 0 5 1 X - 13 8 0

WP - Jevin Jenkins

LP - B. Olsen

Havre Batting - Drake Berreth 1-4, Kale Reno 0-4, Brody Nanini 2-3, Conner McKay 1-3, Terek Shipp 0-3, Ezra Pyle 0-2, Tanner Delarosa 0-2, Chason Mader 1-4, Colter Solomon 3-4.

Havre 13, Fort Macleod 0

FM 0 0 0 0 0 X X - 0 0 1

HAV 0 3 7 3 X X X - 13 13 0

WP - Quinn Elliot

LP - B. Wynder

Havre Batting - Drake Berreth 1-4, Kale Reno 1-3, Brody Nanini 1-3, Jevin Jenkins 2-2, Conner McKay 3-3, Terek Shipp 1-2, Tyson Brandon 2-2, Colter Solomon 1-3, Logan Kinsella 1-1.