Ryan Divish
Havre Daily News Sports Editor
rdivish@havredailynews.com
It was a pleasant surprise. Havre Northstars head coach Mickey Williams expected plenty of errors, miscues and mental mistakes in the opening doubleheader for his young squad. However, much to his delight, they really never came.
After a sluggish start in the opening game, the Northstars salvaged a split with the Class AA Great Falls Electrics with a 5-4 victory in the nightcap Sunday at Legion Field.
"I really am surprised with how well we played today," Williams said. "You usually expect the first games of the year to be pretty sloppy. But for the most part, we played pretty solid. We did have a few miscues in the first game, but we played pretty well."
In the opening game, Havre's two errors led to five unearned Electrics' runs in an 8-1 loss.
The Northstars trailed 1-0 after two innings, but things fell apart in the third inning, as a missed throw to second base resulted in three runs.
Great Falls tacked on another run to go up 5-0. Havre answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning when Ben Erickson scored Sean Peterson with a single to right. But that was the extent of the Northstars' offense. Havre scratched out just three more hits in the game.
"Offensively, we weren't very good," Williams said. "You expect your hitting to be a little behind early in the season. We're not going to be a big power team, but we need to hit the ball a little harder than we did."
Chase Castloo took the loss for Havre, pitching four innings, while John Christian came in for relief. Erickson had two of Havre's four hits, while Jeff Tibbals and John Christian recorded the other two hits.
Offensively, Havre wasn't much better in the second game, managing just three hits. But it was the Electrics' turn to make a few mistakes.
Down 3-0 in the fifth, Havre tied the game as Jeff Tibbals drove in the Northstars' first run with a single to right. John Christian added a bases-loaded walk and Bryden Vukasin drove in a run with a fielder's choice.
The Northstars took the lead an inning later, as Scott Ladenburg was hit by a pitch and Richard Jarvis drew a walk. Patch Wirtzberger was called on to bunt the runner over. His sharp bunt rolled past pitcher Curtis Bloomfield and was picked up by Shaun Tatarka. However, his throw went over the head of first baseman Kody Swartz, allowing Ladenburg and Jarvis to score.
With a 2-run lead, Austin Small survived a seventh-inning scare, allowing a one run, but hanging on to get the win in relief.
Havre still managed just three hits in the game, but did enough to get the win.
"Obviously, we didn't hit the ball the way we wanted to," Williams said. "But we got some walks and put the ball in play. Good things will happen when you do that."
Overall, Williams was pretty happy with his team's performance in its first games of the season.
"Defensively, we looked pretty good," Williams said. "Our pitchers did a pretty good job of throwing strikes. I am pretty pleased with how we played. It's a good start to the season."
Great Falls 8, Havre 1
Great Falls Electrics 104 021 0 - 8 11 0
Havre Northstars 001 000 0 - 1 4 2
Tyler Fayden and Jared Jacobsen; Chase Castloo (4), John Christian (3) and Patch Wirtzberger .
WP - Fayden; LP - Castloo.
GREAT FALLS HITTING - not available
HAVRE HITTING - Patch Wirtzberger 0-4, Jeff Tibbals 1-2, Ben Erickson 2-2, Austin Small 0-3, John Christian 1-2, Eric Fanning 0-2, Jess McLain 0-2, Chase Castloo 0-1, Sean Peterson 0-2, Josh Lowe 0-2.
2B - none
3B - none
HR - none
Havre 5, Great Falls 4
Great Falls Electrics 102 000 1 - 4 10 2
Havre Northstars 000 032 X - 5 3 0
Ryan Beecroft, Curtis Bloomfield and Jared Jacobsen. Sean Peterson (4), Austin Small and Josh Morse.
WP - Small; LP - Bloomfield
GREAT FALLS HITTING - not available
HAVRE HITTING - Patch Wirtzberger 1-3, Jeff Tibbals 1-3 (RBI), Ben Erickson 0-2, Jess McLain 0-1, Chase Castloo 1-3, Eric Fanning 0-1, John Christian 0-0 (RBI), Bryden Vukasin 0-3, Josh Morse 0-2, Scott Ladenburg 0-2, Richard Jarvis 0-1.
2B - none
3B - none
HR - none
