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Northstars make adjustment to wood bats quickly in Hamilton

Despite the bats being made out of a different material, the Havre Northstars didn't seem to mind much. The Northstars, playing with wooden bats for the first time this season, adjusted quickly and finished with a 3-2 record at the Vester Wilson Wood Bat Tournament in Hamilton this past weekend.

Havre made the adjustment to wooden bats look pretty easy as it opened the tournament on Friday with an impressive 11-1 six-inning win over the Salmon (Idaho) Mariners. The Northstars pounded out 13 hits in the win. Havre exploded for seven runs in the first two innings, highlighted by Daine Solomon's two-run double in the first inning, and Dusty Heath's three-run home run in the second inning to grab control early.

Havre added four more runs in the sixth inning to end the game via the 10-run mercy rule. Tyson Roe slugged a solo home run while Cory Junck added an RBI single in the inning.

Chazz Hurlburt turned in a solid pitching performance, going all six innings. He allowed just three hits and one earned run while striking out 13 Mariners.

Roe finished 3-4 with a double and a home run while Solomon, Steve Heberly and Ian Spencer each had a pair of hits.

In their second game on Friday, the Northstars fell to perhaps the top Class A team in the state with an 8-3 loss to the Bitterroot Bucs.

Havre held a 3-1 lead after two innings, but was unable to hold the Buc hitters in check. Bitterroot scored three runs in the fourth inning and two in the fifth off of Northstar starter Brandon Morse to take a 6-3 lead.

After giving up the early runs, the Bucs' Evan Ringel settled in, allowing just one hit after the first two innings to notch the win. Morse took the loss giving up 11 hits but striking out eight hitters.

Havre was led offensively by Heberly, who had a triple and a two-run home run. Solomon, Roe, Mark Benjamin and Adam Jensen all had hits in the game.

The Northstars bounced back on Saturday with a 6-1 win over the Bitterroot White Sox, behind the solid pitching of Spencer. The Havre starter surrendered just one run on two hits in seven innings to pick up the win.

Offensively, Havre had nine hits in the game and won despite stranding 11 runners on base in the game. Heberly collected three hits and scored two runs to lead the Northstars. Solomon drove in three runs while Heath and Hurlburt each drove in runs.

On Saturday evening, the Northstars fell to budding rival the Bitterroot Red Sox 4-3, in their third meeting this season. Havre jumped out early, scoring three runs in the top of the first, thanks to an RBI single from Solomon and a two-run home run from Heath. But that was the extent of the Northstar scoring. Havre stranded six runs over the next five innings including the tying run on third base in the seventh inning.

Bitterroot answered the Northstars opening volley, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first on a two-run single from Kevin Lokken. The Red Sox took the lead in the fifth inning on RBI singles from Joe Franklin and Kyle Ihde.

Bitterroot's Brett Henry settled down after the shaky start to pick up the win. Henry allowed just three hits after the first inning and worked himself out of several jams.

Thompson took the loss despite pitching a strong game. He surrendered a respectable eight hits to the strong hitting Red Sox.

Solomon and Heath accounted for four of Havre's five hits in the game.

Havre took out its frustrations following the loss on the Gallatin Valley Outlaws on Sunday. The Northstars trounced the Outlaws for the third time this season with a 14-4 win in five innings.

Heberly and Roe combined on the mound to take the win.

The Northstars knocked out 12 hits and scored seven runs in the second inning to put the game away early.

Heath's hot hitting continued as he picked up three hits and a pair of RBIs. Hurlburt also had a strong game at the plate going 4-4 with an RBI. Morse also drove in a pair of runs in the game.

Havre's record improved to 24-14 on the season. The Northstars return to conference play today as they travel to Cut Bank to take on the Tri-County Cardinals in a conference doubleheader starting at 3 p.m.

Havre Northstars 340 004 - 11 13 0

Salmon (ID) Mariners 000 001 - 1 3 1

Chazz Hurlburt and Daine Solomon. Rob Koester, Casy Spears (2), Anthony Tolman (5) and C.T. Seaberg. W - Hurlburt. L - Koester.

NORTHSTARS - Heberly 2-2, Jensen 0-3, Solomon 2-5 (2 RBI), Heath 1-3 (4 RBI), Roe 3-4 (RBI), Spencer 2-3, Thompson 1-2, Benjamin 0-2 (RBI), Junck 1-4 (RBI)

MARINERS - Root 0-3, Koester 0-3, Seaberg 1-1, McCracken 0-3, Livingston 0-2, Spears 0-2, Tolanar 0-2, Felker 0-2.

2b - Roe

3B - none

HR - Heath, Roe

Bitterroot Bucs 100 320 2 - 8 11 2

Havre Northstars 120 000 0 - 3 6 1

Ringel and Becker; Morse and Jensen. W - Ringel. L - Morse.

Bucs - Perez 0-3, Shepherd 3-4, Edman 1-3, Person 1-2, Becker 3-4, Schroeder 0-4, Steuben 1-4, Ringel 1-4, Greenberg 1-4.

Northstars - Heberly 2-4 (2 RBI), Jensen 1-3, Solomon 1-4, Heath 0-3, Roe 1-2, Spencer 0-3, Thompson 0-3, Hurlburt 0-3, Benjamin 1-3.

2B - Shepherd, Becker, Steuben.

3B - Heberly.

HR - Person, Heberly.

Havre Northstars 003 200 1 - 6 9 1

Bitterroot White Sox 000 000 1 - 1 2 2

Cory Tintzman, David Hall (7) and Patrick McKay. Ian Spencer and Daine Solomon. W - Spencer. L - Tintzman.

Northstars- Heberly 3-4, Benjamin 0-3, Solomon 1-4 (3 RBI), Heath 2-3 (RBI), Roe 2-2, Thompson 0-3, Hurlburt 0-3 (RBI), Junck 1-4, Morse 0-2.

White Sox - Gardner 0-3, Evanoff 1-3, McKay 0-3, Anderson 0-2, Tintzman 0-1, Eccles 1-1, Hall 0-3, Franke 0-3, Jones 0-3.

2B - Heath

3B - none

HR - Eccles

Havre Northstars 300 000 0 - 3 4 1

Bitterroot Red Sox 200 020 x - 4 7 0

Tyler Thompson and Daine Solomon. Brett Henry and Kevin Lokken. W - Henry. L - Thompson.

Northstars - Heberly 0-3, Benjamin 1-3, Solomon 2-3 (RBI), Heath 2-4 (2 RBI), Roe 0-2, Spencer 0-2, Hurlburt 0-3, Junck 0-3, Morse 0-3.

Red Sox - Melton 2-3, Curran 0-2, Franklin 2-3, Kraude 0-2, Ihde 1-1, Lokken 1-3, Fisk 0-2, Tintzman 0-3, DeSantiago 0-3, Mousley 1-2.

2B - none

3B - none

HR - Heath

Havre Northstars 171 32 - 14 11 0

Gallatin Valley Outlaws 101 20 - 4 7 4

Heberly, Roe (4) and Solomon. Anderson and Chaffins. W - Heberly. L - Anderson.

NORTHSTARS - Heberly 1-1, Morse 1-1 (2 RBI), Benjamin 1-4 (RBI), Solomon 1-3, Heath 3-4 (2 RBI), Roe 0-2, Spencer 0-2 (RBI), Thompson 1-3 (RBI), Hurlburt 4-4 (RBI), Junck 0-2.

OUTLAWS - Dykstra 1-3, Smith 1-2, Knowles 0-0, Chaffins 1-3, Clark 2-3, Marx 0-2, Darlinton 0-2, Corbin 0-3, Anderson 1-3.

2B - none

3B - none

HR - none

 

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