Ryan Divish
Havre Daily News Sports Editor
rdivish@havredailynews.com
Their record over the weekend may not necessarily reflect it, but to head coach Andy Smith and the Havre Comets, their performance at the Havre Baseball Jamboree was a success.
The Comets finished the Jamboree with an 0-3 record, but picked up an exhibition win over the Havre Babe Ruth All-Stars on Sunday afternoon.
Despite top competition, the Comets were in every game and had opportunities to win two of their three losses.
"I was really happy with how the kids competed," said Smith. "We played hard and we were in every game against some of the top competition in the state."
On Thursday, Havre blew a 9-1 lead, falling to the Glasgow Reds 15-10 in a slugfest.
The Comets jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the bottom of the first on Glasgow starter John Emtman. Bryan Heath ripped an RBI double and Anthony Wirtzberger ripped a two-run single to highlight the rally, while Tanner Donovan, Jeremiah Moog and Tanner Abdallah each added RBI singles in the inning.
Glasgow answered with a run in the second off starter Logan Reichelt. But the Comets tacked o n two more runs in the second on an RBI triple from Ryan Callahan and Abdallah's second RBI single of the game.
With a 9-1 lead, the Comets appeared to be headed to the win. However, Glasgow chipped away at the lead, getting four runs in the third to cut the lead to 9-5. The Reds cut the deficit to 9-8 with three more runs in the fifth.
Havre tried to add some cushion to its lead, as Heath had an RBI single in the bottom fifth to push the lead to 10-8.
However, the Reds roughed up reliever Seth Jensen in the sixth. Michael Southern ripped a two-run double and Spencer Marsh added a run-scoring double. Torey Rasmussen added an RBI single, as Glasgow scored four runs in the inning to take a 12-10 lead. The Reds tacked on three more runs in the seventh to push the lead to 15-10.
After the initial scoring outburst in the first inning off Emtman, Rasmussen came in in relief and slowed the Comet bats. He held Havre scoreless in final two innings to secure the win.
Offensively, Havre was led by Heath, who finished with a game-high four hits and a pair of RBIs. Reichelt and Donovan added two hits each.
"Our offense has really come around and it started with all those runs we scored against Great Falls earlier in the week," Smith said. "The kids continued to be very selective and swing at good pitches."
The Comets took the day off Friday and returned to action Saturday, suffering a disappointing 10-7 loss to the defending Class A state champion Glendive Blue Devils.
Havre led for much of the game, but squandered a pair of leads late in the game to suffer the loss.
The Comets grabbed a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, as Mike Erickson ripped an RBI single and later scored on a wild pitch. Scott Vigliotti was hit by a pitch and later scored on a Glendive error.
Glendive tied the game in the top of the fifth when Joe Bakken's bases-loaded single to left off starter Jeremiah Moog got under the glove of Comet left fielder Seth Jensen and rolled to the wall. All three men on base scored.
But the Comets showed some resiliency, scoring four runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a 7-3 lead. Tanner Donovan ripped an RBI single and Moog helped himself with a two-run double to the left-center gap. He later scored on a Blue Devil error.
"I was happy with the way we came back after giving up that lead," Smith said. "We did a good job of battling back. Really, we could've folded up the tents after losing the lead, but we came back and got four more runs. We really competed."
Glendive took a big chunk out of the lead in the top of the sixth. Burback had an RBI single, and the Comets hurt themselves with a costly passed ball and a throwing error that led to two more runs, trimming the lead 7-6.
In the top of the seventh, the Blue Devils took the lead for good, as they loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a hit batsman. Moog then walked in a run, forcing Smith to bring in Abdallah for relief. Abdallah looked to be out of trouble when he got a ground ball back to him. He fired home to get the lead runner, however Callahan's throw to first hit the runner in the back, allowing two runs to score. Abdallah worked his way out of the inning, but the damage was done.
Moog was saddled with the loss, giving up eight runs, four of which were unearned. He allowed six hits, but was plagued by six walks and two hit batters. Offensively, Havre was led by Reichelt and Donovan, who had two hits each.
Havre closed out the Jamboree on Sunday with a tough 12-2 loss to a very good Gallatin Valley Outlaw team. Gallatin Valley jumped out to a 3-0 lead off starter Michael Erickson and never looked back en route to the six-inning win.
The Comets cut the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the second. Heath led off with a triple and later scored Richard Jarvis' single to right. Havre's other run came in the fourth when Jess McLain scored Heath with a single to left.
"We had our chances in every game," Smith said. "I thought that we raised our level of play with the tougher competition. Everybody that pitched this weekend did well. For the most part, we threw strikes and got ahead of hitters. These teams we faced were all good hitting teams."
The Comets will return to action today with a nonconference doubleheader in Glasgow, starting at 5 p.m.
Reds 15, Comets 10
Glasgow Reds 014 034 3 - 15 14 2
Havre Comets 720 010 0 - 10 14 2
John Emtman (1), Torey Rasmussen and Seth Combs; Logan Reichelt (5), Seth Jensen and Bryan Heath.
WP - Rasmussen; LP - Jensen.
REDS HITTING - Johnny Emtman 0-2; Cade Flaten 3-4 (RBI); Seth Combs 2-5 (RBI); Michael Southern 2-4 (4 RBI); Torey Rasmussen 2-5 (2 RBI); Cassidy Nelson 3-4 (3 RBI); Spencer Marsh 2-5 (2 RBI); Kyle Enebo 0-3; Billy Daggett 0-4.
COMETS HITTING - Logan Reichelt 1-3; Anthony Wirtzberger 3-4 (2 RBI); Tanner Donovan 1-3 (RBI); Bryan Heath 4-5 (2 RBI); Jeremiah Moog 1-3 (RBI); Ryan Callahan 1-3 (RBI); Mike Erickson 0-2; Tanner Abdallah 2-3 (2 RBI); Scott Vigliotti 1-3; Marshall Cartwright 0-1; Seth Jensen 0-1.
2B - Wirtzberger, Heath, Southern, Nelson, Marsh
3B - Callahan
HR - none
Blue Devils 10, Comets 7
Glendive Blue Devils 000 033 4 - 10 7 3
Havre Comets 030 040 0 - 7 8 4
Colin Radakovich and Jason Erickson; Jeremiah Moog (6), Tanner Abdallah and Ryan Callahan
WP - Radakovich; LP - Moog.
BLUE DEVILS HITTING - Robbie Radakovich 1-4; Evan Miller 0-4; Joe Bakken 1-3; Alex Tsomya 2-4; Colin Radakovich 2-4; Jason Erickson 0-1; Brandon Sheets 0-2; Andy Odenbach 0-4; Jess Wagner 0-2; Jordan Burba 1-1 (2 RBI); Logan Meiers 0-1.
COMETS HITTING - Logan Reichelt 2-4 (RBI); Anthony Wirtzberger 1-4; Tanner Donovan 2-4 (RBI); Bryan Heath 0-2; Jeremiah Moog 1-3 (2 RBI); ; Ryan Callahan 0-3; Mike Erickson 1-2 (RBI); Scott Vigliotti 0-1; Marshall Cartwright 0-1; Seth Jensen 0-2; Spencer Ivers 1-2; Richard Jarvis 0-1; Jess McLain 0-1.
2B - Moog
3B - none
HR - none
Outlaws 12, Comets 2
Gallatin Valley Outlaws 304 041 - 12 12 2
Havre Comets 010 100 - 2 4 3
Keith Frost and Taylor Blakely; Mike Erickson, Seth Jensen and Bryan Heath.
WP - Frost; LP - Erickson.
OUTLAWS HITTING - Kyle Clark 3-4; Ethan Elsbern 0-1; Shane Koski 0-4; Nate Anderson 2-4 (RBI); Toby Marx 2-4; Taylor Blakely 0-3; Brandon Oakes 1-3; Tyler Child 2-3; Gene White 1-4 (3 RBI); Brian Ward 1-4.
COMETS HITTING - Logan Reichelt 1-3; Anthony Wirtzberger 0-3; Tanner Donovan 0-2; Marshall Cartwright 0-1; Bryan Heath 1-3; Jeremiah Moog 0-2; Spencer Ivers 0-1; Richard Jarvis 1-3 (RBI); Jess McLain 1-3 (RBI); Tanner Abdallah 0-1; Mike Erickson 0-1; Scott Vigliotti 0-1.
2B - Clark
3B - Anderson, Heath
HR - none
