Northstars finish second at Gallatin Valley tourney

The Havre Northstars wrapped up a successful weekend with a second-place finish at the Luzenac Baseball Tournament in Three Forks.

The Northstars dropped a 1-0 heartbreaker to the Glendive Blue Devils in the championship game Sunday afternoon.

Havre banged out six hits in the game, but stranded 10 baserunners in the loss.

Ian Spencer and Patch Wirtzberger had two hits each to lead the Northstars. The lack of offense overshadowed a solid pitching performance by Chase Castloo.

Castloo allowed just one earned run and four hits in seven innings of work. He struck out seven Glendive batters, walking just two. But the one walk scored in the sixth inning.

Havre opened the tournament on Friday with its second loss of the season to the defending state champion Bitterroot Red Sox. Bitterroot jumped out to a 5-0 lead after three innings and held off a pesky Northstar squad in a 6-4 win.

The Northstars rallied in the fourth and fifth innings on sacrifice flies from Brandon Morse and Trent Normandy. Havre tacked on two more runs in the sixth when Ricky Houim ripped a two-run home run to pull Havre within one. In its final at-bat, Havre got a single from Castloo.

The Northstars managed 11 hits in the game, but stranded a host of baserunners in the loss. Houim, Normandy and Jeff Tibbals had two hits each.

Cory Junck took the loss for Havre, surrendering six runs on five hits with just two runs being earned.

The Northstars rebounded later in the day to hand the host Gallatin Valley Outlaws a rare home loss with a 2-1 win behind solid pitching from Brandon Morse.

Morse gave up just two hits and one run to pick up his fourth win of the season. He struck out four batters and walked two in seven innings of work.

Offensively, Havre opened the game by taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Wirtzberger singled and promptly stole second. He moved to third on Normandy's fielder's choice, and scored on Spencer's sacrifice fly to left.

The game-winning run came in the top of the sixth as Tony Christian and Wirtzberger led off with back-to-back singles. A sacrifice bunt from Junck moved Christian to third, and Normandy scored him on a sacrifice fly to right field.

Wirtzberger had two hits to lead the Northstars.

On Saturday, Havre picked up a pair of wins, defeating Smithfield, Utah, 5-1 and the Bozeman Spikes 5-3.

Spencer picked up his fourth win of the season against Smithfield, going seven innings and allowing just one run on three hits while striking out eight and walking none.

Havre grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning on RBIs from Normandy and Tibbals and never looked back. Tibbals and Ben Erickson led the offense with two hits and an RBI each. Wirtzberger added a hit and two runs scored.

Bret Magelssen carried the solid pitching over against Bozeman, winning his team-high fifth game on the mound. Magelssen gave up three unearned runs and three hits in the game. He struck out six batters while walking none in seven innings.

Bitterroot 6, Havre 4

Havre Northstars 000 112 0 - 4 11 2

Bitterroot Red Sox 302 001 X - 6 5 1

Cory Junck (LP) and Ricky Houim

NORTHSTAR HITTING - Patch Wirtzberger 1-3, Jeff Tibbals 2-4, Cory Junck 1-4, Trent Normandy 2-3 (RBI), Chase Castloo 1-3, Brandon Morse 1-3 (RBI), Ricky Houim 2-3 (2 RBI), Ben Erickson 1-3, Eric Fanning 0-2.

RED SOX HITTING - not available

2B - Normandy

3B - none

HR - Houim

Havre 2, Gallatin Valley 1

Havre Northstars 100 001 0 - 2 5 1

Gallatin Valley Outlaws 010 000 X - 1 2 2

Brandon Morse (WP) and Ricky Houim.

NORTHSTAR HITTING - Tony Christian 1-3, Patch Wirtzberger 2-3, Cory Junck 1-3, Trent Normandy 0-2 (RBI), Ian Spencer 1-2 (RBI), Chase Castloo 0-3, Bret Magelssen 0-2, Ricky Houim 0-3, Jordon Patterson 0-3.

OUTLAW HITTING - not available

2B - none

3B - none

HR - none

Havre 5, Smithfield, Utah 1

Havre Northstars 200 000 3 - 5 6 3

Smithfield 000 001 0 - 1 3 1

Ian Spencer (WP) and Patch Wirtzberger.

NORTHSTARS HITTING - Tony Christian 0-1, Patch Wirtzberger 1-3, Cory Junck 0-3 (RBI), Trent Normandy 0-2 (RBI), Chase Castloo 1-3, Jeff Tibbals 2-3 (RBI), Ben Erickson 2-4 (RBI), Ricky Houim 0-4, Eric Fanning 0-2.

UTAH HITTING - not available

2B - none

3B - none

HR - none

Havre 5, Bozeman 3

Bozeman Spikes 000 012 0 - 3 3 2

Havre Northstars 203 000 X - 5 6 3

Bret Magelssen (WP) and Ricky Houim.

SPIKES HITTING - not available

NORTHSTARS HITTING - Tony Christian 1-4, Patch Wirtzberger 0-2, Trent Normandy 1-1 (RBI), Ian Spencer 0-0 (RBI), Jeff Tibbals 2-2 (RBI), Ben Erickson 1-3 (RBI), Brandon Morse 1-3, Ricky Houim 0-3, Jordon Patterson

2B - Normandy

3B - none

HR - none

Glendive 1, Havre 0

Glendive Blue Devils 000 001 0 - 1 4 3

Havre Northstars 000 000 0 - 0 6 0

Chase Castloo (LP) and Ricky Houim.

BLUE DEVILS HITTING - not available

NORTHSTARS HITTING - Tony Christian 1-4, Patch Wirtzberger 2-4, Cory Junck 0-2, Trent Normandy 0-4, Ian Spencer 2-3, Jeff Tibbals 0-3, Ricky Houim 0-3, Bret Magelssen 1-3, Jordon Patterson

2B - none

3B - none

HR - none