Ryan Divish
Havre Daily News Sports Editor
rdivish@havredailynews.com
The Havre 14-15-year-old All-Star team may not have been able to win a state championship on its home turf, but it fought all the way to the end at the Montana Babe Ruth 14-15-year-old State Tournament held at Legion Field this past weekend.
The All-Stars were eliminated by Kalispell on Saturday evening in the quarterfinals in a tough 3-1 loss.
Kalispell broke open a 0-0 game in the fourth, getting a run off of Havre ace Todd Roe to take a 1-0 lead. Kalispell then added two more insurance runs off of Roe in the fifth to push the lead to 3-0. Havre cut into the lead with a run in the sixth as Tyler Boyce reached on a walk and later scored on an error.
Havre's rally hopes ended in the seventh, as Tyler Reichoff relieved Kalispell starter Brian Sneck and shut down Havre in order in the seventh.
Roe took the tough loss, allowing just five hits in five innings of work. Jeremy Jensen pitched a solid inning of relief for Havre. Offensively, Havre managed just one hit - a Robert The Boy single - off the duo of Sneck and Reichoff.
"Kalispell is a very good team," said Havre head coach Dana Roe. "We played pretty well and were in it the whole game. We just couldn't get much going offensively."
Havre reached the quarterfinal round by finishing 2-2 in pool play, which started last Wednesday evening.
The All-Stars opened the tournament in dominant fashion with a 13-5 win over Glacier.
Havre jumped on Glacier early, scoring nine runs in the first inning, capitalizing on three walks and three hit batters. Nick Nault, Seth Handy, Paul Turner and Josh Haas all had run-scoring singles in the inning.
With a nine-run lead, Roe cruised along until the fourth, where he allowed three runs on just one hit. But Havre answered in the bottom half of the inning with four more runs, highlighted by a Handy double and a Turner RBI single.
From there Roe limited, Glacier to just one run over the final three innings to get the win.
"I though Todd pitched pretty well," Dana Roe said. "Their pitcher struggled a little in that first inning and we took advantage of it. It was good to get a big lead like that. It allowed us to relax a little."
Havre continued its winning ways on Thursday with a 12-8 win over Belgrade. The All-Stars fell behind 4-1 after the first inning, but rallied with three runs in the second to tie the game at 4-4. Haas, Jensen and Loren Mack each ripped RBI singles to spearhead the rally.
Havre padded its lead with four more runs in the third inning as Handy, Jensen and Cody Johnson all produced run-scoring hits. Havre added a pair of runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth. Jensen, Taylor Ita, Boyce and Roe all had big hits.
With a healthy lead, Jensen was efficient on the mound, allowing just four more runs after the rough first to get the win. He allowed seven hits and struck out eight batters in seven innings of work. He also helped his cause at the plate with three hits and three runs driven in. Roe, Handy and Johnson each added two hits each.
Havre's winning ways would come to an end on Friday in an 18-14 loss to Hi-Line West. The All-Stars' spirits were tempered early as scheduled starting pitcher Andrew Linquist went down with a severe leg injury before he threw a pitch. Without Linquist, Dana Roe was forced to juggle an already thin pitching rotation, moving Haas to the mound.
"Josh isn't the type of pitcher to come and throw a complete game," Roe said. "We just wanted to get some innings out of him and he's a competitor."
It didn't seem like it mattered who was going to pitch for the All-Stars. Their bats continued to sizzle as they jumped out to a 12-1 lead by the top of the second. Nault, Haas, Mack and Handy had two hits in the big scoring outburst.
Hi-Line West countered, scoring seven runs in the bottom of the second off of Haas to make it a game. While Hi-Line's bats were coming to life, Havre's faded as it managed just two runs over the next five innings.
"We had runners on base, but we couldn't get them in," Dana Roe said. "We just couldn't get the big hit with runners in scoring position."
Hi-Line took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth, scoring eight runs off of Handy, who relieved Haas. The All-Stars hurt themselves by committing five errors in the inning.
"Losing Andrew really hurt us," Dan Roe said. "Not only was he one of our key pitchers and it messed up our rotation, but he was one of our best hitters and was solid in the field. But you have to give Hi-Line West credit, they played well the entire tournament."
Havre ended its final game of pool play with a disappointing 9-0 loss to South Valley. South Valley pitchers Drew Brown and Landon Dellasilva combined on a four-hit shutout. Jensen took the loss.
Mack, Haas, Ita and The Boy had Havre's only hits in the game.
"I think we were a little fatigued in that last game," Dana Roe said. "We just didn't get anything going offensively and fell behind early."
Although he had hopes of going a little farther in the tournament, Roe was more than pleased with the way his team played.
"I thought it went really well," he said. "We got to play a lot of games and everybody got to play a lot of baseball. We faltered a few times, but the kids played hard. We scored 39 runs in the first three games, which is impressive. I was proud of the way the kids competed. I really couldn't ask for more from them."
Havre 13, Glacier 5
Glacier All-Stars 000 320 0 - 4 3 4
Havre All-Stars 900 400 X - 13 7 4
David Fauntleroy (1), Brandon Prescott (4), Mike Hader and Mike Hader, Shawn Watterud; Todd Roe and Loren Mack.
WP - Roe; LP - Fauntleroy.
GLACIER HITTING - Tyler Gardner 0-4; Brad Nielson 1-4; David Fauntleroy 0-3; Henry King 0-3; Ryan Bane 0-4; R.J. Beasley 0-4; Shawn Watterud 1-3; Mike Hader 1-3; Brandon Prescott 1-3.
HAVRE HITTING - Loren Mack 0-3; Jeremy Jensen 0-3; Josh Haas 1-4; Andrew Linquist 0-2; Nick Nault 1-4; Seth Handy 2-4; Paul Turner 2-3; Tyler Boyce 0-1; Taylor Ita 0-1; Todd Roe 1-4.
2B - Handy
3B - Hader
HR - none
Havre 12, Belgrade 8
Havre All-Stars 134 022 0 - 12 13 2
Belgrade All-Stars 402 000 2 - 8 7 3
Jeremy Jensen and Loren Mack; Michael Haderlie (3), Jeff Hoffman and Conner Schultz.
WP - Jensen; LP - Haderlie.
HAVRE HITTING - Loren Mack 1-4; Jeremy Jensen 3-4; Josh Haas 1-5; Andrew Linquist 0-4; Nick Nault 0-1; Todd Roe 2-5; Seth Handy 2-5; Tyler Boyce 1-4; Robert The Boy 0-2; Cody Johnson 2-3; Taylor Ita 1-1.
BELGRADE HITTING - Jordan Prester 0-3; Andy Freund 2-4; Michael Haderlie 0-3; Jeff Hoffman 1-3; Conner Schultz 0-4; Joel Barnett 0-1; Justin Halverson 3-5; Bryan Harris 1-4; Daniel Kristensen 1-3.
2B - Roe
3B - none
HR - none
Hi-Line West 18, Havre 14
Havre All-Stars 660 000 2 - 14 15 8
Hi-Line West 172 800 X - 18 13 2
Josh Haas (2), Seth Handy (2), Paul Turner (1), Robert The Boy and Loren Mack; Corey Smith (2), Myles Kittleson (5), Chase Casterline and Shawn Hopstad.
WP - Kittleson; LP - Turner.
HAVRE HITTING - Loren Mack 2-4; Jeremy Jensen 1-3; Todd Roe 1-4; Josh Haas 2-5; Nick Nault 2-4; Seth Handy 1-5; Taylor Ita 3-4; Tyler Boyce 2-3; Paul Turner 1-3; Robert The Boy 0-1.
HI-LINE HITTING - Evan Etchart 2-6; Jason Compton 0-5; Chase Casterline 1-4; Shawn Hopstad 2-4; Nathan Dale 2-5; Corey Smith 0-2; Myles Kittleson 2-4; Joey Bergtail 2-4; Danny Hagfeldt 2-3.
2B - Nault, Roe, Hagfeldt
3B - none
HR - none
South Valley 9, Havre 0
Havre All-Stars 000 000 0 - 0 5 2
South Valley All-Stars 014 103 X - 9 11 3
Jeremy Jensen (4), Todd Roe (2) and Loren Mack; Drew Brown (6), Landon Dellasilva and Brady Anderson.
WP - Brown; LP - Jensen.
HAVRE HITTING - Loren Mack 1-4; Jeremy Jensen 0-2; Todd Roe 0-1; Josh Haas 1-3; Taylor Ita 1-3; Nick Nault 0-2; Robert The Boy 1-3; Seth Handy 0-3; Paul Turner 0-3; Cody Johnson 0-2; Tyler Boyce 0-1.
SOUTH VALLEY HITTING - Danny Gates 1-3; Matt Hamlin 2-4; Drew Brown 3-4; Brady Anderson 0-4; Drew Shook 0-2; Andrew Jarvis 0-2; Landon Dellasilva 1-3; Garrett Morris 1-3; Justin Price 1-3; Nick Grenfell 1-2; Matt McCrossin 1-1.
2B - Gates, Brown
3B - none
HR - none
Kalispell 3, Havre 1
Havre All-Stars 000 001 X - 1 1 2
Kalispell All-Stars 000 120 X - 3 7 0
Todd Roe (5), Jeremy Jensen (1) and Taylor Ita; Brian Sneck (6), Tyler Reichoff and Reed Buckley.
WP - Sneck; LP - Roe.
HAVRE HITTING - Taylor Ita 0-4; Jeremy Jensen 0-3; Todd Roe 0-2; Josh Haas 0-2; Nick Nault 0-3; Loren Mack 0-1; Robert The Boy 1-2; Seth Handy 0-2; Tyler Boyce 0-2; Paul Turner 0-3.
KALISPELL HITTING - Jacob Scott 2-3; Reed Buckley 0-4; Pat Hergesheimer 0-1; Tyler Reichoff 1-3; Derek Keller 1-3; Brian Sneck 2-3; Greg Neils 0-3; D.J. Wilcott 1-3; Andy Mortenson 0-1; Zach Breston 0-1.
2B - none
3B - Buckley, Sneck
HR - none
