Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com
Things couldn’t have gone any better for the Havre Northstars this past weekend in the Billings American Legion baseball tournament. Their execution was flawless and in fact the only thing that slowed them down at all was the weather. The Northstars were supposed to play four games in the round robin tournament, but were forced to play only three after their final game against Lewistown scheduled for Sunday was canceled due to rain, However, before the rain came, the Northstars dominated. They beat both the Billings Blue Jays and the Billings Cardinals handily on Saturday by the scores of 8-4 and 8-2, respectively. Then on Sunday morning, Havre took care of familiar foe Tri-County 12-2. The Northstars sound 8-4 defeat of the Blue Jays was thanks in large part to the right arm of starting pitcher Seth Jensen and the potent bat of centerfielder Logan Reichelt. Already holding a 2-1 lead, the Northstars got a big boost of momentum when Reichelt hit a home run in his firs plate appearance in the second inning, to make the score 3-1. Reichelt came through even bigger in the top of the seventh when he belted a two-run triple that took a two-run lead and made it four. Jensen did his part by earning a complete-game victory after allowing just four runs on 10 hits, while notching five strikeouts. The win pushed Jensen’s current record to 6-4. Havre got off to another quick start in its second game of the tournament against the Cardinals, taking a 2-0 lead off of a two-run homer by Bryan Heath in the top of the first inning. Entering the top of the sixth, the Northstars clung to a 4-2 lead, but blew the game wide open with RBI singles from Scott Ladenburg and Ryan Callahan as well as a two-run double from Anthony Wirtzberger that made the score 8-2. For the game, Wirtzberger was 3-for- 4 at the plate with a pair of singles to go along with his double. Starting pitcher Sean Peterson (6-2) was also extremely effective on the mound, giving up just two runs none of them earned on seven hits with seven strike outs in a complete-game victory. In their final game of the tournament, the Northstars used an explosive offense to completely demolish Tri-County. Ahead 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning, the Northstars lead expanded to 6-0 following an RBI double by John Christian, an RBI single by Callahan, a run on a wild pitch and a runscoring sacrifice fly by Heath. Tri-County put up two runs in the bottom of the fifth to make the score 6- 2, but Havre answered in the bottom of the sixth, when RBI singles by Christian, Callahan and Wirtzberger led to a five-run inning that increased the lead to 11-2. Havre tacked on an insurance run in the top of the seventh to make the final score 12-2. Andrew Lindquist (5-1) was the winning pitcher for the Northstars after five strong innings of work, in which he allowed two runs on seven hits, while striking out two. Wirtzberger relieved Lindquist in the sixth inning and closed out the game by tossing two scoreless innings. Callahan was outstanding throughout the game at the plate going 4-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored. The three victories pushed Havre’s overall record to 35-11. The team will be in action next on Wednesday afternoon when they play host to Vauxhall at Legion Field, in a crucial conference doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
