Northwest Regionals finally coming to Havre

After several months of hard work, the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club will compete in the Northwest Regional Tournament this weekend. With the opportunity to host the tournament at Legion Field, Havre head coach Patch Wirtzberger and the Northstars are looking forward to showing out-of-state teams what they are capable of.

"It's an exciting time to host this big tournament. The boys are fired up to get out there in front of the home crowd and the tournament environment," Wirtzberger said. "They've dealt with it before the last two years hosting district and state but it's different in that it's the regional tournament and the competition will be ramped up a little bit. So overall, we're just excited for our boys to get out there and compete their butts off and show the region what we've got."

In the double-elimination tournament, eight teams from six different states will compete. The tournament will start Friday morning at 10 a.m. with a game between the Couer d'Alene Lumberman and the Service Cougars. Cour d'Alene qualified for the tournament after winning the Idaho state championship while Service won the Alaska state title.

The tournament will continue later on Friday with a 1 p.m. game between the Powell Pioneers and the Redmond Sunwest. Powell won the Wyoming state championship while Redmond captured the Oregon state title to qualify for the tournament.

Then at 4 p.m. Friday, the Belgrade Bandits will face the Idaho Falls Bandits. Belgrade qualified for the tournament after winning the Montana state championship and Idaho Falls finished second in the Idaho state tournament. Havre did play Belgrade earlier this season, but lost 14-5.

Friday will wrap up at 7 p.m. with a game between the hometown Havre Northstars and the Utah state champion Ridgeline Wolverines. While they have not faced the Wolverines yet this season, Wirtzberger knows the Wolverines will be a tough test to start the tournament.

"They can hit the ball and they've got some consistent pitching," Wirtzberger said. "They're a very good team, a very disciplined team and it's going to be a good challenge so we're looking forward to it."

The tournament will last from Friday to Tuesday. Regardless of the results Friday, the Northstars will play again Saturday at 7 p.m. The championship game is scheduled for Tuesday at noon.

With so many great teams at this tournament, Wirtzberger has a tough time deciding who should be favored to still be playing at the end of the weekend.

"Everybody's going to be tough so you're going to have to go out, earn the runs that you get, try and throw strikes and keep those guys off the board," Wirtzberger said. "So I'd say it's anybody's ball game."

The Northstars had an excellent season with an overall record of 43-18-1, but they went 0-2 at the state tournament in Laurel this past weekend. With the most important games of the season coming up, Wirtzberger expects the Northstars to rebound.

"This team is mature enough to understand that they've had a great season and things just didn't go our way last week," Wirtzberger said. "So hopefully, we'll learn that lesson and can really focus in and get our process correct so that we can play well this weekend."

If the Northstars want to play well this weekend and go on a deep run to end the summer, their best players will need to step up. Thankfully for the Northstars, they have a deep pitching staff they can turn to this weekend. Terek Shipp leads Havre with 61.2 innings pitched this season, where he has a 6-4 record, 53 strikeouts and a 2.270 ERA.

Kale Reno should also get some time on the mound this weekend where he has a 7-3 record and 43 strikeouts this season. Tanner Delarosa is another pitcher Havre can turn to as he has a 9-1 record, 51 strikeouts and a 1.898 ERA this season.

But the Northstars will need to produce at the plate if they want to pull ahead of the competition. Conner McKay leads Havre with a .382 batting average while also recording 37 RBIs and 44 runs scored this season. Ezra Pyle should also make an impact at the plate where he has a .366 batting average and 38 RBIs this summer.

Over the summer, the Northstars have worked hard in order to be the best team that they can be once the postseason rolls around. Now that the regionals tournament is finally here, Wirtzberger is excited to see how all the hard work that the Northstars have put in will pay off.

"The boys have been working hard, the coaches have been working hard and I know there's a lot of people that have been working hard to make this tournament happen," Wirtzberger said. "I'm just excited for these kids to have this opportunity and I'm excited to be a part of it and I hope that we can go out there and play really well."

The Northwest Regional Tournament will begin at 10 a.m. Friday at Legion Field. The Havre Northstars will start the tournament with a game against the Ridgeline Wolverines Friday at 7 p.m.