Northstars remain undefeated in conference

Quality pitching, clutch hitting and a little precipitation from Mother Nature helped keep the Havre Northstars undefeated in the Northern District games.

The Northstars swept a doubleheader from Medicine Hat on Tuesday, won the opening game of a doubleheader in Lethbridge on Wednesday and saw a possible loss rained out.

On Tuesday, the Northstars had little trouble with he Medicine Hat Knights. Havre opened with a 13-4 win as Bret Magelssen picked up his team-high ninth win on the season.

Magelssen worked all seven innings, allowing seven hits and four runs earned to get the win.

"Bret did a nice job of keeping the ball down," said Northstars head coach Mickey Williams. "We probably should have closed them out in five innings, but we made a few mental mistakes and couldn't put them away."

The extra two innings just allowed Havre to score more runs. The Northstars grabbed an early 7-1 lead after the third inning. Jordon Patterson's RBI double and Ricky Houim's two-run single provided the early spark. Havre continued to cruise along picking up runs in every inning.

Trent Normandy led the Northstars with four hits and two RBIs. Daine Solomon had three hits, three stolen bases and three runs scored.

In the nightcap, Havre's bats cooled some, but with Cory Junck's pitching it didn't matter much.

Junck allowed just one run and four hits in seven innings to pick up his fourth win of the season. After allowing one run in the second inning, Junck allowed just one hit the final five innings and didn't let a baserunner get past second base.

"Cory looked strong," Williams said. "He was pretty overpowering at times."

Indeed, Junck finished eight strikeouts and didn't walk a batter.

"It was good thing Cory was so tough because we weren't scoring many runs of our own," Williams said.

Havre banged out a respectable 11 hits in the game, but left a small village of baserunners stranded in scoring position.

Ben Erickson gave Havre an 1-0 lead in the second inning, drawing a bases-loaded walk. Medicine Hat answered in its next at-bat with its lone run of the game. The Northstars finally broke open the 1-1 tie in their final at-bat of the game, scoring runs in the top of the seventh. Solomon led off the inning with a walk and promptly stole second. Patch Wirtzberger scored Solomon with a single to center.

Ian Spencer kept the hits coming with a double scoring Wirtzberger. Normandy continued his ridiculous hitting pace, slamming an RBI triple for his fourth hit of the game. Jordon Patterson culminated the inning by scoring Normandy on hard ground ball.

"We got the hits when we needed to in that last inning, but there is no way that game should have been that close," Williams said. "We left way too many baserunners on in scoring position."

Normandy had four hits for the second consecutive game to lead the Northstars. Wirtzberger and Tony Christian added two hits each.

"Right now, Trent is our most consistent hitter," Williams said. "He gets hits when we need baserunners and he drives in runs when there are runners on. He is really seeing the ball well and hitting hard it every time."

On Wednesday, Havre faced its nearest rival in the Northern District standings in the Lethbridge Miners. The Northstars came into Lethbridge with a 20-0 conference record with the Miners only holding four conference losses on the season - two of them coming in Havre earlier this season.

The Northstars seemed poise to keep their conference record perfect with a 4-1 win in the opening game.

Chase Castloo put together one of his best pitching performances of the season to lead Havre to the win.

Castloo worked all seven innings, allowing just two hits and one run, to notch his fourth win of the season.

"Chase pitched fantastic," Williams said. "It was his second good outing in a row. He really kept them off balance and walked only two batter in the game."

Havre grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Patterson doubled home Spencer. Lethbridge answeredwith one of its two hits. Brent Wirzba slammed a solo home run in the second inning. But that was the last hit Lethbridge would get.

Havre took the lead in the fourth as Wirtzberger drew a walk, stole second and scored on Normandy's RBI single.

The Northstars tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the sixth with Normandy ripping an RBI triple and later scoring on Patterson single.

For the third straight game, Normandy had four hit while driving in pair of runs. Patterson added two hits and two RBIs for the Northstars.

"Trent has had some big games for us this season," Williams said. "We knew he was a solid fielder, but his hitting has really come around."

In the nightcap, Havre came out flat and the Miners rolled to a 7-1 lead before a huge rain storm washed the game out in the third inning, canceling the game.

"We looked like we were headed to a loss," Williams said. "We were flat and Lethbridge had some momentum. I wasn't exactly unhappy to see the rain come."

Havre will open a stretch of five home doubleheaders starting on Saturday against the Great Falls Stallions at 1 p.m.

Havre 13, Medicine Hat 4

Havre Northstars 205 131 1 - 13 13 2

Medicine Hat Knights 100 120 0 - 4 7 2

Bret Magelssen (WP) and Ricky Houim; Archer (LP) and Lanz.

NORTHSTARS HITTING - Daine Solomon 3-5, Patch Wirtzberger 1-3, Ian Spencer 1-5 (RBI), Trent Normandy 4-5 (2 RBI), Jordon Patterson 1-4 (RBI), Jeff Tibbals 1-3, Cory Junck 1-2, Ricky Houim 1-4 (2 RBI), Eric Fanning 1-4.

KNIGHTS HITTING - McCrae 2-4, Lanz 0-3, Reeder 2-4, Van Ham 0-4, Ozden 0-3, Blezand 0-4, Camerson 1-4, Knibbs 1-3, Archer 0-1.

2B - Normandy 2, Patterson, Tibbals, Junck

3B - Spencer, Reeder

HR - none

Havre 5, Medicine Hat 1

Havre Northstars 010 000 4 - 5 11 1

Medicine Hat 010 000 0 - 1 4 4

Cory Junck (WP) and Patch Wirtzberger; Cameron (LP) and Ahner.

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

KNIGHTS HITTING - McCrae 0-3, Lanz 0-3, Reeder 0-3, Van Ham 0-2, Knibbs 0-3, Reinbolt 1-3, Borshess 1-2, Ahner 0-2, Ozden 0-2.

2B - Solomon, Spencer, Normandy, Christian

3B - none

HR - none

Havre 4, Lethbridge 1

Havre Northstars 100 102 0 - 4 7 0

Lethbridge Miners 010 000 0 - 1 2 0

Chase Castloo (WP) and Ricky Houim.

NORTHSTARS HITTING - Daine Solomon 1-5, Patch Wirtzberger 0-3, Ian Spencer 1-2, Trent Normandy 4-4 (2 RBI), Jordon Patterson 2-3 (2 RBI), Jeff Tibbals 1-3, Cory Junck 0-3, Ricky Houim 0-4, Ben Erickson 0-4.

MINERS HITTING - Aiken 0-3, Kristjanson 0-3, Tamayose 1-3, Hirsche 0-3, Trautman 0-3, Gilchrist 0-3, Wirzba 1-3 (RBI), Kaskier 0-1, Zemp 1-2.

2B - Normandy, Patterson

3B - Normandy

HR - Wirzba