Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com
Things definitely didn’t go according to plan for the Havre Comets at the John R. Harp Class A American Legion baseball tournament in Kalispell. The Comets, who have played well of late, stringing together some wins in their quest for a berth in the Northern A district tournament, went just 1-3 at the tournament and walked away with a fourth-place finish due to total runs allowed. The Comets opened the tournament on Friday against the Great Falls Black Sox Senior Babe Ruth team. The score was tied up at 1-1 in the top of the third inning when a baseclearing double by Craig Robertson gave the Black Sox a 4-1 lead. The Black Sox added a run in the top of the fifth inning, pushing the lead to four runs at 5-1. But the Comets answered with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, cutting the lead to just one at 5-4. However, Sox starting pitcher Kody Neil was able to hold the Comets scoreless over the final two innings, securing the 6-4 win for Great Falls. Neil earned the victory after allowing just four runs on seven hits in seven innings of work, Kyle Miller, despite pitching very well, was stuck with the loss after surrendering six runs on eight hits in the game. Paul Jensen had four hits in four plate appearances to go along with two RBIs despite the loss for Havre. Nick Nault added a hit and an RBI in the loss. In their second game of the tournament on Saturday afternoon against the Mission Valley Mariners at Griffin Stadium in Kalispell, the Comets were simply overwhelmed by Mission Valley starting pitcher Eric Locke in a 5-0 loss. Locke’s seventh victory of the season for the Mariners was quite possibly his most impressive. He notched 12 strikeouts and held the Comets to just three hits in a dominating complete-game performance. Comet’s starting pitcher Josh Haas held the Mariners scoreless for three innings, but the Mission Valley offense finally broke through in the fourth inning with two runs, followed by another in the fifth to take a 3-0 lead. Havre was still within striking distance going into the top of the seventh inning when Locke put the game out of reach with a two-run double that made the score 5-0. Haas got the loss after giving up five runs on eights hits to the Mariners. Cam Schilling, Adam Briese and Jensen were the only Comets that managed to get a hit off Locke. On Saturday evening, the Comets pulled out their only win of the weekend with a 4-0 victory over Glacier. The Comets finished up the tournament on Sunday with a 12-1 loss to the Great Falls Stallions in a nonconference game. Despite their 1-3 record, the Comets did walk away with a fourth-place finish. The Comets will be back in action on Tuesday in a non-conference game against Glasgow in Glasgow at 3 p.m.
