Blue Ponies crush Glasgow in only softball game of the weekend

On a weekend where the Havre High softball program had four games scheduled, a break in the weather gave the Blue Ponies just one outing. On Saturday the hosting Central A Ponies defeated the Class B Glasgow Scotties 13-5 at the Sixth Avenue Memorial Softball Field. The single home game came after a weekend of cancellations both on the road and at home. HHS was supposed to face the conference opponent Browning Indians on Friday, as well as host the conference opponent Lewistown Golden Eagles and Class B Shelby Coyotes on Saturday during the Havre Invitational. "It was nice to get a game in, and it was nice to get a win," Havre High head coach Bob Evans said. "We needed a game, it's hard to go a couple weeks without playing and the girls really enjoyed it. When they heard Friday night at practice that we were going to play they were really excited." And once the Ponies took the field, their excitement transformed into highquality softball. In the top of the first inning the Scotties jumped out to a quick lead. Abigail Ita was on the mound for the Ponies and gave up a walk followed by a two-run homerun to Jess Mehling. The Ponies trailed 2-0, but also got quick production at the plate. In the bottom half of the first, Kelli Kelsey drove in Holly Cartwright who started the inning with a walk. And Chelsea Nottingham followed with an RBI single to tie the game at 2-2. Ita followed with a single of her own, and Roxanna Jensen, running for Nottingham, scored a run on a passed ball to bring the Ponies to a 3-2 lead. But the Scotties came right back in the second, and on one hit they scored one run to tie the ballgame at 3-3. HHS also answered back in the second inning. With one out Alex Herrig got the ball rolling with a double. And with two outs Cartwright drove in Herrig with an RBI single. Andrea Nault followed with an RBI single of her own and put the Ponies up once again, leading 5-3. Mehling came back in the third and earned a single for the Scotties. Then, with another powerful swing of the bat, the Scotties got another two-run homerun, this time coming from Shielda Pattison. The game was knotted up at 5-5, but the Ponies failed to answer in the third. And when Tabitha Myers came in to relieve Ita on the mound, the Scotties also failed to score any runs in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth the Ponies were facing a new pitcher as well. But the bats were back as they went on to score two more runs on a Herrig RBI single and a Myers RBI fielder's choice to take a 7-5 lead. The fifth inning was the most productive for the Ponies, as they strung together six hits for six runs. Ita started the inning with a double, while Ciara Donovan also had a single, Jasmine Chagnon had a two RBI single, Nault had an RBI single, Myers had an RBI single and Kelsey crushed a two RBI homerun to straight away center. The Ponies took a 13-5 lead, and closed out the remainder of the game with good pitching and solid defense, allowing zero runs from the Scotties remaining at bats. "Our girls hung in there and were ready to play," Evans said. "They came out and hit the ball hard in the first inning, and once I saw that I knew we would score some runs, and we did. And we didn't have to play too much defense because our pitching staff got a lot of batters." While Ita was on the mound she pitched three innings. She walked three batters, gave up four hits and struck out five. She also gave up five runs, four of which came from homers.. "She actually pitched pretty well," Evans said. "It's not the homeruns that hurt you, it's the walks ahead of the homeruns. She pitched fine except went three innings and had three walks. The walks kill you." In relief Myers pitched four innings. She walked only two batters and gave up one hit while striking out eight. And on defense the Ponies had no errors. Leading the offense, Nault and Ita both went 3-of-4. Ita scored one run, while Nault scored two and had two RBIs. Herrig was 2-of-4 with a double and also had one RBI. Nottingham was 1-of-4 with an RBI and Chagnon was 1-of-2 two with two RBIs. "It was a fun game," Evans said. "Everybody in the lineup played well." The Ponies improved to 8-5 overall and remain 4-2 in the Central A. And next up for the Ponies will be the Central A Eagles on Friday in Lewistown.