Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com
Despite venturing out of the friendly confines of Legion Field, the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball team looked right at home in back-to-back sweeps of Fort MacLeod and Medicine Hat. The Northstars began their four-game road trip on Friday in Fort MacLeod, and the outcome of the game was never really in question. Austin Small dominating on the mound, throwing six innings while giving up just seven runs and two hits to go along with eight strikeouts. However, the real dagger came in the top of the fourth inning. The Northstars already held 7-2 advantage when catcher Ryan Callahan stepped up to plate and clobbered a grand slam homerun, scoring Sean Peterson, John Christian and Scott Ladenburg to make the score 11-2. “He has kind of been struggling at the plate so it was nice to see him come through with such a big hit.” Havre head coach Steve Fanning said. Havre added another run in the sixth inning, making the final score 12-2. Besides Callahan’s big day, Logan Reichelt also had a good day at the plate going 3-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs. Peterson pitched in with three hits, one run and two RBIs. The second game of the doubleheader wasn’t much better the Royals, as the Northstars trounced Fort MacLeod by the score of 18-1 in five innings, thanks in large part to the hitting of Peterson and the strong pitching of Ladenburg. Peterson smoked a double to left field in the top of the third inning to score Anthony Wirtzberger, Small and Andrew Lindquist to push the lead to an insurmountable 12-0. For the game, Peterson had just one hit, but he drove in three runs, scored two runs and drew two walks. On the mound, Ladenburg was very strong for the Northstars, allowing just one run on five hits while striking out six batters and walking just one. Wirtzberger and Scott Vigliotti also did their part in the win, collecting three hits and two RBIs apiece. On Saturday, the Northstars traveled to Medicine Hat where they would find a much stiffer challenge. Trailing 6-5 in game one of the doubleheader, the Northstars’ offense came to life. After Small, Ladenburg and Peterson all managed to reach base safely, the Knights began to crumble, as an errant throw allowed Small to score and tie the game at 6-6. Then, with a sacrifice fly by Callahan, an RBI single by Bryan Heath, a sacrifice fly by Wirtzberger and an RBI double by Logan Reichelt in consecutive at-bats, the Northstars took a commanding 10-6 lead. The Knights put together a late rally in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring three times, but it wouldn’t be enough, as the Northstars hung on for the 10-9 win. Seth Jensen got the win in relief of Lindquist after giving up four hits and three runs in just two innings. He also struck out one and walked two. Lindquist went five innings, but was pulled after surrendering six runs, four of them earned on seven hits. He also walked six batters, while striking out just three. Callahan went 1-for-3 with two RBIs in the win. Heath was 2-for-3 with an RBI and Reichelt was also 2-for-4 with an RBI. The second game of the doubleheader was all about the pitching of Wirtzberger, who went seven strong innings without allowing a run. He gave up just five hits, walked one and struck out four to earn the complete-game shutout. “Anthony threw really well,” Fanning said. “He did a really nice job out there on the mound.” Small gave the Northstars their first lead in the top of the fourth inning when he singled to score Heath, making it 1-0 Havre. The score stayed that way until the top of the seventh when Callahan belted a double to center field, scoring Christian and Ladenburg and pushing the lead to 3-0. The four-game sweep pushed the Northstars’ overall record to 30-11 and their conference record to 15-3, putting them in second place just behind Vauxhall. The Havre Comets played in a tournament in Bozeman this weekend, but scores were not made available to the Havre Daily at press time. The Northstars will host Fort McLeod tonight at 6 at Legion Field. Northstars 12, Fort MacLeod 2 Havre 222 501 12 13 0 Fort MacLeod 000 200 2 7 2 WP Austin Small Havre batting Sean Peterson 3-4, John Christian 1-2, Ryan Callahan 1-3, Bryan Heath 1-3, Logan Reichelt 3-3, Anthony Wirtzberger 0-4, Scott Vigliotti 1-4, Seth Jensen 1-3, Scott Ladenburg 2-3. Northstars 18, Fort MacLeod 1 Havre 054 54 18 12 0 Fort MacLeod 000 01 1 5 4 WP Scott Ladenburg Havre batting Sean Peterson 1-3, John Christian 1-4, Ryan Callahan 2-5, Bryan Heath 0-4, Logan Reichelt 1-3, Anthony Wirtzberger 3-3, Scott Vigliotti 3-4, Austin Small 1-3, Andrew Lindquist 0-1. Northstars 10, Medicine Hat 9 Havre 131 005 0 10 12 4 Medicine Hat 131 010 3 9 11 1 WP Seth Jensen Havre batting Sean Peterson 2-4, John Christian 1-5, Ryan Callahan 1-3, Bryan Heath 2-3, Logan Reichelt 2-4, Anthony Wirtzberger 1-3, Scott Vigliotti 1-3, Austin Small 2-4, Scott Ladenburg 0-1. Northstars 3, Medicine Hat 0 Havre 000 100 2 3 5 0 Medicine Hat 000 000 0 0 5 1 WP Anthony Wirtzberger Havre batting Sean Peterson 0-2, John Christian 1-4, Ryan Callahan 1-2, Bryan Heath 1-4, Logan Reichelt 1-3, Scott Vigliotti 0-3, Austin Small 1-2, Scott Ladenburg 0-2, Seth Jensen 0-2.
