By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
In summer softball, tournaments are won and lost on Sunday. So no matter how well or how poorly you are playing going in, you still have a chance on Sunday.
Such was the case for Havre girls fast pitch club team. The Havre girls didn't exactly play their best softball of the season on Saturday, in the pool play round of the Hall of Fame Tournament in Lewistown, finishing with a 1-2 record.
What a difference a day can make.
On Sunday, Havre was virtually perfect, reeling off four consecutive wins to capture the tournament championship.
"It was just a great weekend," said coach Bob Evans. "The intensity the girls played with on Sunday was the difference. I told them that maybe we don't have all the abilities of the established teams, but we can still do two things - think the game and hustle. And they did that all weekend for us."
The start of the tourney was far from auspicious. Havre opened with a solid 6-4 win over the Glasgow #1 squad in just four innings due to time limit. Kim Collins swatted a two-run triple in the bottom of the third to break open a 4-4 game. Brittany Callahan added two hits and scored two runs for Havre. Sjanetee D'Hooge picked up the win on the mound, allowing four runs on five hits.
But after the opening win, Havre dropped a 12-5 decision to Basin State Bank of Lewistown and the Glasgow #2 squad.
With a 1-2 record going into Sunday's championship round, Havre was far from the favorite to win. But the girls opened with an 8-3 win over Jimmerson Motors of Lewistown and picked up some early momentum.
Havre exploded for five runs in the first inning, powered by a two-run single from D'Hooge and an RBI single from Whitney Barnekoff, and never looked back. Starting pitcher Kristin Evanson, who missed part of the pool play, looked sharp allowing just three runs with only one of the runs being earned.
Tara Borst drove in a run in the third, D'Hooge added an RBI double in the fifth and Katie McLeod chipped in with a run scoring single in the sixth for insurance runs. D'Hooge finished with three of Havre's nine hits, while Barnekoff and McLeod add two hits each.
In its next game, Havre scored its second win over the Glasgow #1, 13-1. The Havre offense erupted for 15 hits and took advantage of eight Glasgow errors in the big win.
After getting a run in the first inning on a Callahan RBI single, Havre exploded for six runs in the second inning with Borst, Barnekoff and Erika Briese all banging out hits. The inning's big hit came from Kelsey Evans' two-run double.
Havre added another run in the fourth inning and three more in the fifth and sixth. Evans, Callahan, Briese and Borst all had two hits each. Evans added three runs scored in the game.
D'Hooge picked up her second win of the tournament on the mound. She allowed just one run on five hits while striking out five batters and walking just two.
"Sjanetee pitched great for us this weekend," Evans said. "It was really big to get a couple wins out of her on the mound. I told the girls at the beginning of the tournament that someone is going to have to step up and pitch well for us because we can't rely on Kristin to pitch every game."
Havre's defense also sparkled, committing just one error in the game.
In the semifinals, Havre met a familiar foe in Sidney. Basically the same Sidney squad defeated Havre twice during the high school season, but Havre got its revenge with a 12-6 win.
Havre broke open a 6-6 game in the top of seventh inning, scoring six runs on six hits to take a 12-6 lead. Casey Benner came up with a two-run single to get the rally going. Evans followed up with another RBI single and Callahan ripped an RBI double. Collins capped the inning with another run-scoring single.
Evanson held Sidney scoreless in the bottom of the seventh to secure the big win.
After allowing four runs in a rough first inning, Evanson settled down and held Sidney to just two runs in the final six innings.
"That was a big win for our girls," Evans said. "Sidney's an established program that beat them twice this year. For us to win like that, really shows how far they've come. They were really excited."
The Havre girls carried that excitement over to the championship game, where they avenged a pool play loss to Basin State Bank with a 10-2 win.
Havre capitalized on a pair of first-inning Basin errors and a Evans double to take a 3-0 lead. Havre got RBI doubles and an RBI triple from Whitney Schwan in the second inning to take a 6-0 lead.
With Evanson holding the Basin hitters at bay, Havre added two runs in the fourth and two in the fifth to secure the win. The Havre ace allowed just one earned run and six hits, while striking out four batters in the game.
"Kristin through strikes and our defense made the plays," Evans said. "They found out that if you throw strikes and play defense you are going to be in every ball game with a chance to win."
Havre got two hits each from McLeod, Evans and Schwan in the win.
"All of the girls played well this weekend and everyone contributed," Evans said. "We had some big hits from Casey Benner and Kelsey Evans played great defense at shortstop. Everyone did something great this weekend."
With the recent push to get fast pitch softball as a sanctioned sport at Havre High, Evans hopes this weekend's performance will only show that Havre can be competitive.
"This past spring was huge for our school," Evans said. "It got them excited to play and this weekend only added to it. I know that other schools like Lewistown and Livingston are hoping we get approved so they can follow in our footsteps."
Regardless of the outcome, Evans was most pleased with this weekend's performance.
"The girls played very hard and hustled," Evans said. "It was just a lot of fun to be around."
Saturday Pool Play
Havre 6, Glasgow #1 4
Havre 312 X - 6 3 4
Glasgow 211 0 - 4 5 5
Sjanetee D'Hooge (WP) and Kim Collins.
GLASGOW HITTING - not available
HAVRE HITTING - Casey Benner 0-2, Kelsey Evans 0-1, Brittany Callahan 2-2, Kim Collins 1-1 (2 RBI), Sjanetee D'Hooge 0-1, Tara Borst 0-1, Whitney Barnekoff 0-2, Erika Briese 0-1, Katie McLeod 0-0, Whitney Schwan
2B - Collins
3B - none
HR - none
Basin State Bank 12, Havre 5
Basin State Bank 212 00 - 5 9 8
Havre 230 43 - 12 6 4
Whitney Barnekoff (LP) and Kim Collins.
BASIN HITTING - Mallory Nelson 0-2, Hannah Birdwell 0-3, Kaycee Mantooth 2-2, Devin Nelson 1-4, Kendra Niday 0-3, Lindsay Rash 1-3, Kari Conner 0-2, Cierra Rash 0-2, 1-3.
HAVRE HITTING - Casey Benner 2-3, Kelsey Evans 0-1, Brittany Callahan 1-3, Kim Collins 1-2, Sjanetee D'Hooge 2-3, Tara Borst 0-3, Whitney Barnekoff 0-3, Erika Briese 1-3, Katie McLeod 1-2, Whitney Schwan 0-2.
2B - none
3B - none
HR - none
Glasgow #2 6, Havre 4
Glasgow 400 002 - 6 3 1
Home Team 002 020 - 4 4 3
Kelsey Evans (LP) and Kim Collins.
GLASGOW HITTING - not available
HAVRE HITTING - Casey Benner 0-2, Kelsey Evans 0-1, Brittany Callahan 2-3, Kim Collins 0-2, Sjanetee D'Hooge 0-3, Kristin Evanson 0-3, Tara Borst 0-3, Whitney Barnekoff 0-0, Erika Briese 0-2, Katie McLeod 0-2, Whitney Schwan 2-2.
2B - Callahan
3B - none
HR - none
Sunday
Havre 8, Jimmerson Motors 3
Havre 501 011 - 8 9 5
Jimmerson Motors 001 110 - 3 5 3
Kristin Evanson (WP) and Kim Collins.
HAVRE HITTING - Casey Benner 0-2, Kelsey Evans 0-2, Brittany Callahan 1-1, Kim Collins 0-2, Sjanetee D'Hooge 3-3, Kristin Evanson 0-3, Tara Borst 1-3, Whitney Barnekoff 2-3, Erika Briese 0-2, Katie McLeod 2-3, Whitney Schwan 0-2.
JIMMERSON HITTING - Brit Corry 0-1, Tina Cherry 1-3, Shenay Fornier 1-3, Emily 1-3 Gordon, Bobbi Sue Issacson 0-3, Kylie Jimmerson 1-3, Mallory McPherson 0-3, Jena Schnitzmeier 0-3, Darci Southworth 0-2, Melissa Sanford 1-2
2B - D'Hooge
3B - none
HR - none
Havre 13, Glasgow 1
Havre 150 133 - 13 15 1
Glasgow 000 001 - 1 5 8
Sjanetee D'Hooge (WP) and Kim Collins.
HAVRE HITTING - Casey Benner 1-4, Kelsey Evans 2-3, Brittany Callahan 2-4, Kim Collins 1-4, Sjanetee D'Hooge 0-3, Kristin Evanson 0-3, Tara Borst 2-3, Erika Briese 2-4, Katie McLeod 1-2, Whitney Schwan 0-3.
GLASGOW HITTING - not available
2B - Evans
3B - none
HR - none
Havre 12, Sidney 6
Havre 003 030 6 - 12 11 4
Sidney 400 020 0 - 6 9 3
Kristin Evanson (WP) and Kim Collins
HAVRE HITTING - Casey Benner 3-4, Kelsey Evans 3-4, Brittany Callahan 3-4, Kim Collins 2-4, Kristin Evanson 0-4, Tara Borst 2-4, Whitney Barnekoff 0-4, Erika Briese 0-2, Katie McLeod 2-3, Whitney Schwan 0-2.
SIDNEY HITTING - Chandra Torgerson 0-3, Kelsey Torgerson 0-4, Shanda Sweley 0-4, Natalie Roth 4-4, Michelle McPherson 3-4, Kayla Sorenson 1-3, Rayna Ramus 2-4, Amanda Lorenz 0-4, Katie Asbeck 0-4.
2B - Callahan
3B - Benner 2, Roth
HR - none
Havre 10, Basin State Bank 2
Havre 330 22 - 10 8 4
Basin 000 11 - 2 3 6
Kristin Evanson (WP) and Kim Collins.
HAVRE HITTING - Casey Benner 1-3, Kelsey Evans 2-3, Brittany Callahan 0-3, Kim Collins 0-3, Sjanetee D'Hooge 0-2, Kristin Evanson 0-3, Tara Borst 0-3, Whitney Barnekoff 1-1, Erika Briese 0-2, Katie McLeod 2-2, Whitney Schwan 2-2.
BASIN HITTING - Mallory Nelson 0-4, Tina Cherry 3-4, Kaycee Mantooth 1-3, Devin Nelson 1-3, Kendra Niday 0-3, Lindsay Rash 0-3, Kari Conner 0-3, Cierra Rash 0-1, Madeline Pearson 0-2, Melissa Sanford 0-1.
2B - Evans 2, McLeod
3B - Cherry, Schwan
HR - none
