By Damion Martindale
The Havre Northstars faced the Great Falls Sparkies in a conference doubleheader Wednesday afternoon at Legion Field.
The Northstars jumped out to an early lead when Jordan Anderson knocked in Nate Baltrusch from second base. Anderson and Ricky Brown would also come around to score by the end of the first inning to give the Northstars a 3-0 lead.
The Sparkies responded in the top half of the second inning with three runs of their own to tie things up at 3-3 at the completion of two innings.
Things remained tied until the top of the seventh inning when the Sparkies' Josh Shaw hit a single to score Josh Calvert from third to give Great Falls a 4-3 lead.
The Northstars' Baltrusch led off the seventh inning with a base hit, but was thrown out at second. Anderson reached first on a fielders choice, bringing up Brown. Brown hit a ground ball at Sparkies' short-stop Joseph Fayden who when to second. The throw down to first just got Brown out to seal the upset for the Sparkies, 4-3.
In game two, the Northstars tried to get back on the winning side of things, and, in the first, Jared Boyce got the Northstars on the board with an RBI single, bringing in Anderson.
The Sparkies responded in the third inning, scoring two runs on four hits, to take an early 2-1 lead, but stranded three base runners.
In the bottom of the third inning, Sparkies' pitcher Shaw walked C. J. Reichelt with the bases loaded to score Anderson and tied things up at 2-2.
The Northstars regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth off the bat of Baltrusch, bringing Kyle Sheppard in to score for the 3-2 lead.
The Northstars' lead was short-lived, as the Sparkies scored two fifth-inning runs taking back the lead at 4-3.
In the bottom half of the fifth inning, the Northstars' Boyce scored on Sparkies' pitcher Shaw's wild pitch that got by the catcher to knot things up at 4-4. David Heberly then sacrificed in Reichelt to give the Northstars a one-run lead.
The Sparkies' Josh Calvert led off the seventh inning with a triple, but Northstars' pitcher Baltrusch, with two outs behind him, struck out Don Jacobs for the 5-4 win.
The Northstars will be in Williston (N.D.) Thursday-Sunday for the Williston Tournament.
Game one
Sparkies
030 000 1
6 4 1
Northstars
300 000 0
6 3 2
WP Robinson
LP Knight
Sparkies Curry 1-4, Shaw 2-4, Jacobs 1-4, Fayden 1-3, Wingerter 1-3.
Northstars Baltrusch 1-3, Anderson 1-3, Brown 2-3, Boyce 1-3, Heberly 1-2.
Game two
Sparkies
002 020 0
10 4 3
Northstars
101 120 x
6 5 1
WP Baltrusch
LP Tucker
Sparkies Curry 2-5, Calvert 2-4, Shaw 2-4, Jacobs 1-4, Fayden 2-3, Wingerter 1-3.
Northstars Baltrusch 1-4, Anderson 2-4, Boyce 1-3, Reichelt 1-3, Sheppard 1-2.
