Northstars stay hot with sweep of Stallions

The Great Falls Dodgers are the hottest team in baseball right now, winning their first 10 games of the season. But Wednesday afternoon in Great Falls, the Havre Northstars were the story.

Backed by key hitting by Daine Solomon, the Northstars swept the Great Falls Stallions 5-0 and 4-3. The two wins keep the Northstars perfect in conference games this season.

Solomon blasted a leadoff home run to start the sixth inning in game one. The Northstars scored four runs in the inning to pad their lead. Solomon doubled and scored Havre's first run in the fourth inning and added a single in the seventh. In game two, Solomon pinch hit in the fourth inning and belted a double.

After Solomon's solo shot in the sixth inning, Dusty Heath and Cory Junck hit back-to-back singles, setting up a two-RBI double by left fielder Doug Ireland. Ireland also scored in the inning, giving Havre a 5-0 lead.

Tyler Thompson pitched all seven innings and allowed six hits and one walk for the win. Thompson struck out four and only allowed two batters to reach second base.

After taking an early 1-0 lead in the top half of the first inning in the second game of the doubleheader, the Northstars gave up two runs in the bottom of the inning to fall behind 2-1.

The Stallions had two hits in the inning and capitalized on one Northstar error. They left two on base.

Havre came back in the second inning, scoring one run to tie the game. Junck reached on an error and later scored on a ground-out by Eric Lipp. Junck drew a bases loaded walk in the third inning, plating Danny Wirtzberger to give Havre a 3-2 lead.

Great Falls' Kyle Kakalecik smashed an RBI double in the third to tie the game once again. Mark Benjamin singled and scored on a passed ball in the fourth to give the Northstars a 4-3 lead that would hold.

Steve Heberly pitched six innings and gave up seven hits and three runs only one earned for the win. Heberly walked two and struck out two. Ireland came on and pitched the seventh inning to pick up the save. Ireland struck out two as the Stallions stranded a runner at third base.

The Northstars are in Shelby today, taking on Tri-County. The teams will play two seven-inning games, beginning at 3 p.m.