Northstars come up one win short at districts

The Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club sure did make it exciting.

At last weekend’s Northern A District Tournament in Lethbridge, Havre rallied from a day-one loss to Tri-County with three straight wins.

On day one of the tournament, the Northstars fell to the Cardinals 13-6 as Tyson Brandon and Tanner DeLarosa led the way at the plate.

From there, however, Havre responded to having its back against the wall.

Head coach Patch Wirtzberger’s club responded on Friday with a 9-5, elimination game win over Fort MacLeod. Terek Shipp and Asher Sawdy pitched a combined gem for the Northstars, while Chason Mader had three hits.

The win pushed the Northstars into a Saturday elimination game against Lewistown, and with their backs against the wall again, Havre came through. Havre beat the Redbirds 7-4, as Connor Essert and Teegan Solomon provided a spark at the plate for the Northstars.

The victory over Lewistown gave Havre a chance to keep going, as that the Northstars did as they beat Medicine Hat 9-5 in a third straight elimination game.

The Knights led 4-0 early on, but Mader came up clutch and the Northstars stormed back for the huge victory, a win that catapulted them to a semifinal game against host Lethbridge.

The ride however, came to end on Sunday morning as Havre fell to the host Miners 10-0.

Pyle led the team with two of the five Havre hits, including a double in the first inning, However, Havre couldn’t plate any runs as the Miners advanced to the championship game against the Vauxhall Spurs.

Havre finishes the season with a 29-23 overall record, coming within one win of reaching their fifth straight Class A State Tournament. That tourney starts today in Polson.