North Stars return to district play at home

The Havre North Stars have spent the last two weekends taking part in non-conference tournaments. But this week, the games count for real as Havre's American Legion baseball team gets set for eight games in the Northern A District in the next five days.

The North Stars, who are 5-3 in league play, will open the eight-game stretch tonight, with a home doubleheader against the Great Falls Chargers. The first pitch will go out at Legion Field at 5 p.m.

From there, Havre will hit the road for two games against the Medicine Hat Knights Wednesday and two more against the Vauxhall Spurs Thursday. Each of those road doubleheaders will also start at 5 p.m. Then, following an off day Friday, the North Stars will be back home Saturday for another conference doubleheader Saturday against Lethbridge. That will start at 2 p.m. at Legion Field.

"It's a big stretch for us," North Stars head coach Dick Fuzesy said. "I knew it was going to be tough for us with our pitching, but in the end, I think that it will make us stronger."

Currently at 11-13, the North Stars have taken their lumps in recent weeks, but posted a 2-2 record at last weekend's tournament in Whitefish. Yet this week will provide a whole new test as Havre gets ready to face teams it hasn't seen all season. Thus far, The North Stars have only played Tri-County, Lewistown and Fort MacLeod in district play.

With all five of their district wins coming against Tri-County or Fort MacLeod, two teams near the bottom of the standings this season, the North Stars still have a lot to prove and will know how they stack up against the rest of the district by week's end.

"This is when we are going to find out about ourselves," Fuzesy said. "Most of these teams have been splitting with each other so it's hard to know. Ideally, we would like to go 6-2, with four at home and four on the road, but if we can get five or even four, we will be in good shape."

Of course, pitching is always going to be important in these district doubleheaders and because of that, Fuzesy will need to be careful with how he manages his staff. At the same time, though, with pitch limits and different rules in place to protect hurlers this season, he is going to need all the arms he can muster to make it through the week.

Brendan Garden has been the most consistent pitcher for Havre, winning three of his five starts and posting an ERA of 3.76. Austin Delarosa has also thrown well in nine appearances. He has one win in two starts, to go along with a save and a team-best ERA of 2.06. Ethan Roberts, who also has two wins under his belt, has an ERA of 3.67, while Brenden Danielson and Gavin Mosbrucker have also pitched quality innings when needed. As a team, the North Stars have an ERA of 5.9.

"We are really going to have to manage it," Fuzesy said. "We will see how it works. Some guys if they are throwing good, we might just use them as much as we can. Others we will try to save. But we might have to put a new guy in there."

The pitching has been up and done for the North Stars, which means the offense will need to do its part to find the winner's circle. So far this season, the offensive output has been solid as Havre is scoring 5.9 runs per game and is batting .344 as a team.

Trey Murphy continues to lead the North Stars at the plate with a team-high batting average of .438. He also leads the team in on-base percentage at .518. Tony Antley is also having a solid campaign at the plate, hitting .404 with a team-high 13 RBI. He is tied for the lead in runs batted in with Jake Sedahl, who also has 13. Sedahl is also tied for the team-lead in extra base hits with six and triples with three. Danielson, who also has six extra-base hits, has been a nightmare on the basepaths for opponents and leads Havre with 18 runs scored.

The North Stars open their busy week tonight, with a doubleheader against the Great Falls Chargers. The action is scheduled to start tonight at 5 inside Legion Field.