North Stars get just one of four at Legion Field

It was a busy week for the Havre North Stars American Legion baseball team. And when it was all said and done, even one of the worst storms in the history of Havre couldn't keep them from playing ball at Legion Field over the weekend.

After winning a pair of games over the Tri-County Cardinals by the scores of 11-3 and 6-4 on Thursday in Conrad, the North Stars hosted the Lethbridge Miners and Vauxhall Spurs in back-to-back Northern A district doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday at Legion Field. On Saturday, Havre split with Lethbridge, winning the first game 5-1 before falling to the Miners 14-3 in the nightcap. Then, Sunday, the North Stars were swept by the scores of 5-4 and 10-7 against the Spurs. After going 1-3 over the weekend, plus the sweep of Tri-County, the North Stars are 15-17-1 overall and 9-7 in district play.

"We were hoping we could win another game or two but we let some chances slip away from us," North Stars head coach Dick Fuzesy said. "But, I was proud of the way the kids fought. They played hard even when we were behind and we just have to keep trusting the process and working to get better. I keep telling the kids that baseball is a long season and we just have to keep improving."

Going back to Thursday, the North Stars played six games against conference foes starting with the two games against Tri-County. And after splitting with the Cardinals last Wednesday at Legion, Havre was determined to get two wins and started off brilliantly to that end in the first game with a six-run first inning.

After spotting starting pitcher Jeff Miller a six-run lead, Miller went to work and allowed just one run in five innings to earn the victory. Offensively, the North Stars got big efforts from Jake Sedahl, who was 4-for-5 with an RBI and Travis Roth, who was 3-for-5 with an RBI, as they totaled 11 runs. Tyrell Pierce and Miller each added two hits apiece.

After the eight-run rout of Tri-County, Havre completed the sweep with a 6-4 win in the second game of the two-game set. The North Stars got off to a blazing start for the second straight game with four runs in the top of the first inning, all of which came on a grand slam by Pierce, who actually hit two homers on the night and finished 3-for-4 with an incredible six runs batted in.

"I think you could tell down in Conrad that our kids were ready to take care of business," Fuzesy said. "They felt that they let a win get away from us when we played them up here (in Havre) and they were determined not to let that happen again. That was big for us."

While Pierce led the offense, Jerod Boles took care of business on the mound, earning the complete game win with a solid performance. Over the course of seven innings pitched, Boles allowed just four runs on six hits. He finished with three strike outs just three walks.

After the sweep of Tri-County, the North Stars returned home and hoped to make a move up the district standings with Lethbridge and Vauxhall on tap. In the first of four straight home games on Saturday, the North Stars got off to a strong start with a 5-1 victory.

Dylan Carpenter was on the bump for Havre and pitched a complete-game gem, allowing just one run. With Carpenter dominating on the mound, the North Star offense didn't need to do much, but it did more than enough to win.

Early in the game, Havre built a 3-1 lead thanks to some timely hitting and errors on the part of the Miners, but in the bottom of the sixth and the North Stars up just 3-1, Miller put the game on ice with an single that plated two runs and extended the Havre lead to 5-1.

However, the second game of the night Saturday against Lethbridge did not go as planned, as the Miners built an early lead against starting pitcher Gavin Gunderson, who was hit with the loss for the North Stars and never looked back. When it was all said and done, the Miners took a 7-3 lead in the fifth and turned it into an 11-run victory.

After the split against Lethbridge, the North Stars were looking to get at least that against Vauxhall on Sunday and looked to be in solid position to do just that in the opening game after scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 4-2 lead. Ryne Antley, Carpenter and Sedahl all registered RBI's in the inning, which gave Havre its first lead of the game after falling behind 2-0.

Yet, the Spurs tied the game with two runs in the top of the sixth inning, and tacked on another in the top of the seventh to reclaim the lead at 5-4. In the bottom of the seventh inning and down just one, Havre failed to muster any offense and could not mount a comeback. Pierce was hit with the loss after giving up five runs in seven innings of work. Antley and Carpenter both had two hits to lead the way for the North Stars in defeat.

In the second game, Havre grabbed a 1-0 lead with a run in the bottom of the first inning, but Vauxhall quickly took control of the game with a run in the top of the second, three in the top of the third and two more in the top of the fourth to go up 6-2. The Spurs added four more in the top of the sixth to make it 10-2.

Despite facing an eight-run deficit, the North Stars fought their way back into it with four runs in the bottom of the sixth and another in the seventh before the Spurs ended the rally in the seventh to wrap up the two-game sweep. Miller was the losing pitcher for Havre after giving up six runs in four innings pitched.

The North Stars have another busy week ahead of them as they will travel to Fort MacLeod for a doubleheader Tuesday and then to Lethbridge for a doubleheader Wednesday. They will also host the Great Falls Chargers for two games at Legion Field Saturday.