Perfect: Northstars complete 4-0 weekend

George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor [email protected]

With six games to play in a span of less than three days, the Havre Northstars American legion baseball team couldn't have gotten off to a better start. On Friday night at Legion Fields in Havre, the Northstars dispatched the Great Falls Sparkies twice to start a very busy week of. Havre belted out a combined 24 hits and scored 25 runs en route to victories of 12-1 and 13-1 over the Sparkies. Both games ended after the fifth inning because of the 10-run rule. In the opening game of Friday's doubleheader, Seth Jensen took the mound for the Northstars and set the tone for the night, taking care of the Sparkies early and handing the game over to the Havre bats. In the bottom of the second inning, the Northstars exploded, scoring four times to take a 4-0 lead. The onslaught started with a double by Jeremiah Moog, who had a big night at the plate. The double scored Bryan Heath and Anthony Wirtzberger. Two batters later, Sean Peterson smacked a double into the gap that plated Moog and Austin Small. In the next inning, the Northstars continued to hound Great Falls starter Greg Schroeder. Heath singled to move Ryan Callahan to third and Tanner Donovan singled in Callahan to make the score 5-0. Wirtzberger then drove in Heat and Logan Reichelt hit a sacrifice fly to score Donovan, making the score 7-0. Havre scored two more times in the third and three more runs in the fourth inning to lead 12-1 when the game ended. Moog led the way at the plate going 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Peterson was 2- for-4 with a pair of RBIs and Reichelt also drive in two runs. The Northstars got a 2-for-3 performance from Heath, who also scored three runs. And just as Havre's bats were dominant, so was Jensen. Jensen allowed just four hits and walked just one Great Falls batter on his way to a complete- game victory. With the game already in hand, Havre's bats showed the Sparkies no mercy in the night cap. The Northstars erupted for seven runs in the first inning on their way to an easy 13-1 victory. Heath started the scoring with a double that scored Reichelt, and Callahan reached home on a throwing error. Wirtzberger then doubled and second baseman Scott Vigliotti picked him and Moog up with a two-run double. Then, Scott Ladenburg added to the Great Falls woes with a single that scored Vigliotti. In the second inning, Moog tripled in Wirtzberger and Donovan and Vigliotti plated Moog to give Havre starter John Christian a 9-0 cushion. From there, Christian did the rest, allowing just one run on five hits while striking out nine in a complete-game gem. At the plate, Moog was again terrific, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Vigliotti also made a difference for the Northstars, going 2- for-3 with 2 RBIs and a run scored. Ladenburg also collected two hits and drove in a pair of runs in the game. On Sunday, the Northstars continued their offensive assault on the Northern District with a sweep of the Lewistown Redbirds in Lewistown. Havre hammered the Redbirds 14-4 in the first game, and the Northstars completed the sweep with a 5-2 win in the second game. The Northstars belted out 14 hits in the first game and got a strong combined outing from Andrew Lindquist and Austin Small on the mound. In the second game, the Northstars again terrorized Lewistown pitching, hammering 12 more hits in the easy win. Sean Peterson went the distance for Havre in Sunday's second game, striking out eight Redbirds while allowing two runs on just five hits. The Havre Comets were also in action on Sunday afternoon, splitting a two-game set with Northern District rival Medicine Hat in Medicine Hat. In the first game of the doubleheader, the Comets got a strong outing from Paul Jensen on the mound in a 5-3 come-from-behind win. Trailing 3-1 in the top of the seventh inning, the Comets rallied for four runs, including a three-run game-winning triple by Josh Haas. Havre got 3- for-4 performances from Dylan Patterson and Beau Briese and a 2-for- 4 game from Shane Kemmer. “Paul pitched a great game and his defense backed him, having no errors,” Comets head coach Danny Wirtzberger said. “Josh stepped up big with the triple in the seventh. I am impressed, because this team, no matter who they play, die hard.” The second game of the doubleheader in Medicine Hat proved to be just as exciting as the first. The Comets held a 7-5 lead in the sixth inning, but the Knights scored twice late to tie the game, and then one more run in extra innings to prevail 8-7. The Comets got a strong outing from starter Kyle Miller, and Kemmer and Jensen each went 3-for-4 at the dish. Aaron Olson was 2-for-3 as well. The Comets will back in action on Wednesday when they take on Lewistown in Havre. Meanwhile, the Havre Northstars return home today to finish off their six-game weekend with a doubleheader against Tri-County. Today's games begin at 3 p.m. at Legion Field.