Northstars end regular season with a sweep

After several months, the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club wrapped up the regular season Sunday at Legion Field. In their final action of the regular season, the Northstars looked good with a 2-1 and a 6-1 win over the Vauxhall Spurs.

"Really solid on the mound and in the field. I couldn't be more proud of the effort," Havre head coach Patch Wirtzberger said. "We pushed runs across when we needed them. A very complete day of baseball for this team so I'm very proud of them."

The Northstars started Sunday with a 2-1 win over the Vauxhall Spurs. The Northstars took the lead early in the bottom of the first inning thanks to an RBI single from Conner McKay. Then in the bottom of the second, Ezra Pyle pushed the lead out to 2-0 with an RBI single to right field.

Vauxhall eventually scored in the top of the fourth to cut Havre's lead to 2-1. However, the Northstars held them scoreless the rest of the game to secure the win. Kale Reno pitched a complete game where he allowed three hits and one run and recorded four strikeouts.

"I just knew that I had to go pitch to my defense and that really worked out well because I know my defense has got my back," Reno said about his pitching performance.

In between the games on Sunday, the Northstars held their senior day to honor their senior class consisting of McKay, Reno, Drake Berreth, Brody Nanini and Lane Kinsella. While the Northstars will get to play at Legion Field again in the postseason, the seniors had mixed emotions about their final regular season games at home.

"It's been tough counting down the days, but it's still a good feeling that's going to be missed," Reno said.

"The emotions were bitter with this being the last regular season game here at home," Berreth said. "The crowds are always amazing here so it's always great to play here."

After the ceremony, the Northstars kept it rolling with their 6-1 win over the Spurs later Sunday. Just like the first game, the Northstars took the lead in the bottom of the first. After reaching third, Pyle scored on a sacrifice fly from McKay to give Havre the lead.

The Northstars did struggle to score through most of the game, but found momentum in the bottom of the fifth. With the bases loaded and no outs, McKay hit a single to left to drive in a run. Jevin Jenkins then hit a single to left to drive in another run for Havre.

A walk with the bases loaded drove in Pyle for another run to extend the lead to 4-0. McKay then scored on a groundout to keep it rolling. Later in the inning, Colter Solomon hit an RBI single to center to give Havre a 6-0 lead. After struggling on offense through most of the day, Wirtzberger liked what he saw from the Northstars in the fifth inning.

"We got the leadoff runner on finally and then we were able to execute some offense," Wirtzberger said. "You got to get runners in scoring position and really lock in and we came up with some big hits when we needed them."

The Spurs responded by scoring a run in the top of the sixth, but Havre held them scoreless the rest of the way to close out the win. Terek Shipp picked up the win on the mound as he allowed four hits, one run and four walks in a complete game for Havre. After allowing two runs across two games Sunday to end the regular season, Wirtzberger likes where his defense is at.

"I feel really good about the defense. Wherever we put those guys, they're confident enough to get the job done," Wirtzberger said. "The pitchers are locked in. They're not walking guys and they're making it difficult on the hitters. We're getting everything we can ask out of them and we're really coming into next week playing our best baseball of the season which is what we wanted."

With the sweep of the Spurs, the Northstars finished the regular season with an overall record of 39-16-1. Over the past couple months, the Northstars have found their stride as they have won 23 of their last 26 games of the season. As they are playing their best baseball of the season, the Northstars feel confident heading into the postseason.

"I feel like it's one of the best teams I've played on," Berreth said. "I feel like we're all gelling as a unit right now so I feel like we're going to be tough to beat."

The Havre Northstars will begin the postseason with the North District Tournament in Vauxhall Thursday through Sunday.

Havre 2, Vauxhall 1

VAU 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 1 3 1

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

WP - Kale Reno

LP - A. Maxwell

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

Havre 6, Vauxhall 1

VAU 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 1 4 0

HAV 1 0 0 0 5 0 X - 6 9 3

WP - Terek Shipp

LP - J. Pavka

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