Comets fall to Lewistown; Both Havre teams face Billings Blue Jays tonight at Legion Field
For the second time in six days, the Havre Comets American Legion baseball team was shown a thing or two about the game of baseball by the Lewistown Redbirds. The two teams met at Legion Field on Tuesday afternoon to make up the second game of a doubleheader that was rained out last Thursday. And the Redbirds dominated the game from start to finish and walked away with an easy 16-5 Northern District victory. The Redbirds torched Havre’s pitching to the tune of 15 hits and 16 runs, with just 10 of the runs being earned. Comet’s starter Shane Kemmer was hit with the loss against the Redbirds for the second straight game after being pulled after just two innings. Kemmer surrendered five runs on four hits. Lewistown starter Logan Mossey earned his second consecutive win over the Comets with a solid outing that spanned seven innings. In all, Mossey gave up nine hits, which led to five runs, four of them earned to get the win. Mossey also struck out four and walked four. Adding to the struggles of the Havre pitching staff was a defense that committed six errors in defeat compared to just one error by Lewistown. “This is a developmental program and I am seeing gains in a lot of areas and I am also seeing the areas that we need more practice in,” Comets head coach Danny Wirtzberger said. “Actually I was not unhappy with our pitching staff, they were throwing outs. But the defense behind them did not come through at big times. They can improve with a little rest, in the last seven days we have had a total of 10 games. That doesn’t work well when you only have four starting pitchers.” The lone bright spot in the game for the Comets was the bat of Kyle Miller. Miller was stellar at the plate, going 4- for-4 after ripping four singles in the loss. Kemmer added a single and two RBIs, while Dylan Patterson also notched a hit and an RBI in the game. “Kyle Miller is really starting to hit the ball well. It is not many times that a player can go 4-4. It is quite an accomplishment. We just need some guys in front of him that get on base,” Wirtzberger said. Lewistown got production from just about everyone in the lineup, as five different players accumulated multiple RBIs in the game for the Redbirds. Dillon Fugate led the way for the Redbirds offense, going 3-for-6 at the plate with a pair of doubles and two RBIs. Chance Corry, Tyler Quinlan and Mossey all pitched in with two hits and two RBIs apiece, while A.J. Weir added two RBIs on a single in the top of the sixth inning. After managing just one run on three hits in the top of the first inning, the Redbirds took over the game in the second inning. Already ahead 2-0, Corry made the Redbird lead 4-0 when he ripped a two-run single that scored Orien Pyra and D.J. Kamp. The Redbirds added another run in the second on an error by Paul Jensen to make the score 5-0. The Comets showed some fight, scoring twice in the bottom of the third when Kemmer came home on a fielder’s choice by Nick Nault and Jensen scored on a passed ball. Trailing 8-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Comets showed signs of life again as Kemmer belted a single with the bases loaded and one out, scoring Miller and Josh Haas. Nault scored later in the inning, following a double by Patterson, cutting the Redbirds lead down to 8-5. Unfortunately, the Comets failed to score another run and watched helplessly as Lewistown scored the final eight runs to take the game going away. The Comets will be back in action tonight at 7 when they host the Billings Blue Jays. The Havre Northstars will also play the Blue Jays in the second game of the doubleheader at Legion Field.
