Northstars finish Glendive tournament with two wins
The Havre Northstars faced early deficits in both games of an American Legion doubleheader against Fort MacLeod Sunday at Legion Field, but both deficits were of little consequence to the Northstars.
Havre defeated the Royals 8-3 in the opener and completed the sweep with an 8-6 win in the nightcap.
In the first game, Fort McLeod scored two runs in the first inning off Havre starter David Knight, but the Northstars quickly seized the lead in the second inning.
Garrett Hanson hit a two-run single, and Tyler Vandermars scored on a wild pitch to help Havre grab a 3-2 lead.
The Northstars added three more runs in the third to take control of the game with a 6-2 lead. Doug Ireland had an RBI double, and Kevin Jurenka drove in a run with a single one batter earlier to highlight the inning.
Fort MacLeod slightly cut into Havre's lead with a run in the sixth to make the score 6-3, but the Northstars closed the game out with two more runs in the bottom half of the inning on Dusty Heath's run-scoring sacrifice fly and an RBI double by Kyle Sheppard.
Hanson finished 2-for-3 with two RBI, and Jurenka added two hits for the Northstars.
In the second game, Fort MacLeod scored three runs in the second to take a 4-3 lead.
But once again Havre was able to strike back, this time with three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth.
In the fifth, the Northstars trailed 5-3 but got a run back on Knight's RBI single to cut the gap to one. Mike Kellam then followed with a two-run double two batters later to give his team a 6-5 lead.
The Royals did not give up, though, scoring a run in the sixth to tie the game at 6-6.
In the bottom half of the inning, however, Sheppard hit a run-scoring double, and Knight had an RBI single to produce the final margin.
In Havre's three-run first inning, Jordan Anderson had an RBI single and two more runs scored on an error.
Jared Boyce was 3-for-4 with three runs scored, and Sheppard and Knight each had two hits for Havre.
HAVRE FINISHES 2-1 AT GLENDIVE TOURNEY
The Northstars were able to defeat Miles City's AA team and a squad from Cody, Wyo., but couldn't get their bats going in a 3-1 loss to host Glendive.
Havre defeated Miles City 6-5, but not before the Northstars were given a major scare in the late innings.
Havre scored four runs in the first inning to take an early lead.
Knight hit a two-run double, and C.J. Reichelt also drove in a run in the big inning.
The Northstars took advantage of three Miles City errors to add two more runs in the third to take a six-run lead.
Miles City scored two runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth to cut the lead to 6-5. The team got a leadoff basehit in the seventh, but were unable to get a runner past first base to have the rally thwarted.
Boyce, who earned the win on the mound, was also 2-for-4 at the plate.
Havre also defeated Cody 10-3 behind timely hitting and Eric Lipp's three-hitter.
Havre blew the game open with a late surge that included three runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth.
The Northstars scored three runs in the second inning and led 3-2 going into the top of the fifth.
Knight and Hanson had back-to-back RBI singles, and Reichelt drove in another run with a sacrifice fly to punctuate the three-run burst and give Havre a 6-2 lead.
Cody cut the deficit to 6-3 with a run in the bottom half of the inning before Havre put the game away in the sixth.
The Northstars scored four runs on two hits, three walks, a hit batter and an error to provide the final tally.
Danny Wirtzberger was 3-for-4, and Boyce had two hits for Havre.
Lipp, meanwhile, was simply dazzling on the mound, striking out 10 batters, including seven in a row at one point and eight of nine batters overall between the first and fourth innings.
In the 3-1 loss to Glendive, Havre was simply unable to mount much of an offense against Blue Devils pitcher Bret Nellermoe.
Nellermoe held the Northstars to just three hits, including just one after the fourth inning.
Glendive's Brian Clausen had a two-run single for the Blue Devils in the third to help his team gain a 2-0 lead.
Reichelt helped Havre rally with an RBI single in the fourth inning to make the score 2-1, but Paul Stickel increased Glendive's advantage back to two with an RBI single in the fifth.
