North Stars stay close in home stand

The Havre North Stars American Legion baseball club was ready for some meaningful games. And, during a six-game weekend home stand at Legion Field, the North Stars didn’t just get meaningful games, they got close ones, too.

Unfortunately, the North Stars were able to come up with just one win in six Northern District games this weekend at Legion Field. But Havre showed through some gritty performances that it has what it takes to compete with the rest of the conference this summer.

The home stand started with a doubleheader against the Tri-County Cardinals Friday night, where the North Stars lost 9-6, but bounced right back to win 6-0.

In the weekend opener, Havre stayed with the Cardinals early, as the score was knotted at 4-4 through three innings. But the Cardinals plated five runs in their half of the fourth inning, and while Havre battled, it wasn’t enough to pull off a comeback.

Dylan Carpenter, Gavin Mosbrucker and Kaiden Anez all took the mound for Havre in the loss, while the North Stars totaled seven hits, including a double by Ethan Roberts and two base hits by Brendan Garden.

And though the opening loss was tough, Havre shook it off quickly, especially on the mound where Kennedy McKay led a 6-0 shutout of the Cardinals in Friday’s nightcap. McKay surrendered just four hits over seven complete innings in an outstanding performance, while the North Stars struck early and often at the plate. Havre racked up nine hits on Tri-County pitcher David Kelleher, with Jeff Miller going 2-for-3 with a double. Garden, Roberts, Jerod Boles and Brendan Danielson also had key hits in the win.

The win was an exciting end to the first day of a busy weekend for the North Stars. However, it would also be their last win.

On Saturday evening, Havre opened a double-dip with the Fort MacLeod Royals with a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat. Boles was on the mound for the North Stars to start, and the Royals scored all three of their runs in the first two innings. Havre would rally as Roberts scored in the sixth inning, and Carpenter came across in the seventh, but that’s where the comeback ended. Havre finished with seven hits in the close loss, led by Jake Sedahl’s performance. Garden was also 2-for-3 in the first outing of the night.

In the second battle between the North Stars and Royals, Havre would again find itself on the short end of a one-run game as the Royals escaped with a 7-6 win. Danielson started the game for the North Stars, and pitched well, though the Royals led 4-2 after four innings. Havre battled and closed to within one run in the seventh, but couldn’t come up with a game-tying RBI. Sedahl was again clutch in the contest, going 3-for-3, while Boles was 2-for-2 in the tough loss to end Saturday night.

And the action continued to be close through Sunday afternoon with the Medicine Hat Knights in town.

In Sunday’s opener, Havre led 6-3 in the sixth inning, with Miller pitching well on the bump. However, Medicine Hat got four runs in the sixth, and Havre went three-up-and-three-down the rest of the way.

Miller was saddled with the loss for Havre, while the North Stars made seven hits, the same as the Knights got at the dish. Boles had two of those hits, but Havre also left seven runners on base.

And though it seemed impossible, the North Stars weren’t done with one-run games. In Sunday’s finale against the Knights, Havre fell 6-5, again watching a late lead go away. Garden started and finished the game for the North Stars on the mound, and he pitched extremely well.

After Medicine Hat took an early 1-0 lead, the North Stars scored two with Carpenter driving in Boles. The Knights came right back to take a 4-2 lead, but Havre would score three in the third as Miller, Carpenter and Trey Murphy, who laid down an exceptional bunt, all came around to score.

From there, Garden continued to pitch well, but the Knights were able to come up with one key run in the sixth to take the lead, and the North Stars weren’t able to answer.

In the final game of the three-day home series, the North Stars got six hits, including a double by Roberts.

And while Havre played well for much of the weekend, the North Stars came away with a 1-5 conference record and are now 3-7 on the season.

Havre will get right back to work Wednesday when it travels to Great Falls for a doubleheader with the rival Great Falls Chargers A, before returning home to host the Havre Jamboree Friday through Sunday at Legion Field.