North Stars fight hard to split with Knights

When two teams are as evenly matched on the baseball diamond as the Havre North Stars and Medicine Hat Knights were, the difference between winning and losing can come down to just one or two runs, or key plays.

That was the case Sunday at Legion Field in Havre when the North Stars hosted the Knights for a Northern District doubleheader. The Knights took game one with a final score of 5-4. But the North Stars bounced back nicely in game two, and took the nightcap 5-4. The home split brings the North Stars’ overall record to 3-5, while they are now 2-2 in the district standings.

“What you saw today was two very evenly matched teams,” Havre head coach Dan Wirtzberger said. “We are still always trying to sweep at home and split on the road, but now we will have to try and sweep them up there in a month and a half. But Medicine Hat is going to be stronger the next time we see them. They were a good team today, but they will be better, they are young, and very well coached.”

In the win in game two of the afternoon, Havre got a pitching performance from starter Tyrell Pierce.

Pierce threw for all seven innings, giving up six hits and just two earned runs. Pierce also walked just three, as well as struck out another three. The Knights didn’t score a run on Pierce until the sixth inning when they scored one run on two hits. The other three runs came in the top of the seventh after Pierce gave up back-to-back hits to start the inning. Medicine Hat eventually scored three runs on two hits and one North Star error. One run was scored on a sacrifice pop fly, while the other two were scored on a Travis Roth error at second base on a hard hit grounder up the middle.

“Tyrell has been a strong pitcher for us all year,” Wirtzberger said. “And he showed that he is one of the top pitchers in the conference today. One thing he has struggled with is finishing the game, but he finally got to finish a game today, and that was good to see.”

The offense gave Pierce a 5-0 lead through five innings, and with that, the North Stars were able to hold on for the win, even after the late surge by the Knights.

Havre grabbed five runs on eight hits, including grabbing a two-run first inning and two-run fifth inning. In the fifth, Jeff Miller hit a two-RBI double down the right field line, scoring Spencer Ross and Jake Sedahl, the eventual game winning runs. Ross got on board with a walk, and Sedahl got on board with his first hit of the afternoon.

Travis Roth went 2-for-4 with an RBI to help lead the North Stars, while Gavin Gunderson, Ryne Antley, Denny, Sedahl and Miller all finished with one hit each. Denny and Carpenter both had one RBI, while Miller finished with the two RBIs.

“We are pretty strong in the front and middle of our lineup with consistency and hits,” Wirtzberger said. “But the bottom of our lineup came up with some big hits, and we wouldn’t have won without Jeff’s hit and his two RBIs. That was the biggest difference in getting that win in game two and not getting a win in the first game.”

In game one of the afternoon, the North Stars got just three hits, all three coming from Roth, Gunderson, and Denny at the top of the lineup. Pierce and Denny also had one RBI each, while the bottom of the lineup went hitless on a day starting pitcher Chris Vukasin needed the extra run support. Vukasin pitched four innings, but struggled early, giving up two runs in the first inning and two runs in the second inning on a combined five hits and two walks.

After going down 4-1, the North Stars found it difficult to comeback with limited hits. Their two late runs in the seventh inning came after Mike Loftus was walked and Dan Miller was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, while Loftus later scored on a pass ball, and Miller later scored on a wild pitch to come up short by just one run.

“Chris would be the first one to tell you that he pitched very inconsistently today,” Wirtzberger said. “We were just waiting from the very first inning to take him out, but he found a way to keep holding on for us, and he deserves credit for that. But in both games, by both teams, it was clean game defensively and that was fun to watch. But I love seeing that perseverance by our defense. The box score doesn’t look too bad in the loss, but they actually beat us by more than that by playing a fantastic game. Our defense bailed us out several times, and it is important for our pitchers to have confidence in our defense.”

Some key plays by the defense included a double play turned in the top of third inning and the top of the fourth. Sedahl caught a popped up bunt attempt and was able to throw out the runner after first base in the fourth.

Tuesday the North Stars will continue to work on improving. Havre will host one nine-inning game with the nondistrict Great Falls Volts senior Babe Ruth squad at 6 p.m. at Legion Field.

Medicine Hat 5, Havre 4

Medicine Hat 220 010 0 – 5 9 0

Havre 100 100 2 – 4 3 0

WP – N. Stark; LP – Chris Vukasin

Medicine Hat – Welford 1-4 RBI, Macdonell 1-3, Mccurdy 1-2, Futrell 1-4 RBI, Stark 2-4, Ropcean 0-3, Geiger 0-3 RBI, Andres 1-2, Schlacter 2-3.

Havre – Travis Roth 1-3, Gavin Gunderson 1-2, Tyrell Pierce 0-2 RBI, David Denny 1-3 RBI, Spencer Ross 0-1, Mike Loftus 0-1, Chance Pitkanen 0-2, Dan Miller 0-0, Jeff Miller 0-3, Jake Sedahl 0-2, Ryne Antley 0-1, Chris Vukasin 0-1, Dylan Carpenter 0-2.

Havre 5, Medicine Hat 4

Medicine Hat 000 001 3 – 4 6 0

Havre 210 020 x – 5 8 2

WP – Tyrell Pierce; LP – Futrell

Medicine Hat – Welford 0-4, Macdonell 0-3, Mccurdy 1-3, Stark 0-4, Andres 0-2, Geiger 1-3 RBI, Ropcean 2-3, N. Stark 1-3, Rayner 1-2 RBI.

Havre – Travis Roth 2-4 RBI, Gavin Gunderson 1-3, Ryne Antley 1-4, David Denny 1-3 RBI, Spencer Ross 0-1, Jake Sedahl 1-2, Dylan Carpenter 0-2 RBI, Jeff Miller 1-3 2RBIs, Chris Vukasin 1-3.