Blue Ponies look to finish strong in Laurel

This weekend may hold the last regular season tournament for the Havre High softball program, but the Blue Ponies still have quite a few things to cross off their to-do list.

Friday and Saturday, the Central A Ponies (13-7, 7-2) will be in Laurel, where they will face four tough opponents.

Friday they will face conference rivals the Lewistown Golden Eagles at 11:45 a.m. and the Sidney Eagles at 3

p. m. And on Saturday the Ponies will face the Laurel Locomotives at 9:45

a. m. and the Hardin Bulldogs 2 p.m. "Lewistown is of course a game we want to win because it's a conference game," Havre High head coach Bob Evans said. "But the rest of the games, we are looking to experiment a bit." With the state tournament waiting just around the corner, the Ponies are looking to fine-tune and get a better look at their available varsity roster.

Roxanna Jensen, Davee McLeod and Mary Lyons will step up to the varsity lineup and get solid innings this weekend. Evans wants to see how well they can play defense and swing the defense against tougher competition.

He wants to see if they can compete at a high level and if they can benefit the team in any way come the state tournament.

And with Chelsea Nottingham not being able to participate on Saturday the lineup will see changes all over.

Shortstop Kelli Kelsey will move to catcher on Saturday, and second baseman Dylann Williams will move to short. Somebody else is going to have to step up and fill second base, and it could be a good opportunity for some of the younger Ponies to show Evans what they've got.

"We're going to play some different players," Evans said. "Get our pitchers some innings and all the kids will get some at bats. It's going to be a chance for everybody to get some playing time and to do some experimenting with some kids.

"To me it's only fair that we try to put the best team we can on the field," Evans added. "If we've got somebody there that we feel should be starting for us, that's what we have to do." But amongst the Ponies experimenting, they still have some tough games ahead of them. Sidney isn't a strong program this season, but besides the Eagles the Ponies have to deal with the tough play of from the Golden Eagles, Locomotives and Bulldogs.

The Blue Ponies have already faced Lewistown twice this season, but facing the Eagles for both games in Havre, only one game counted towards their conference records. Now, on a neutral field, there isn't much expected to change except for the fact this is a must-win if the Golden Eagles hope to make the state tournament.

"It's a bigger game for them than it is for us," Evans said. "They are in a battle for third place, so this game will be huge for them. They should come out and come after us pretty hard." And with HHS coming off of win over the Bulldogs just last weekend, the Locomotives should be the toughest source of competition. The Locomotives are the No. 1 team out of the East, and have racked up quite a few impressive wins this season.

"I know they are a good team," Evans said. "But it will be fun to really get a look at them and see how they are." HHS has played a tough schedule all season long, and it appears it will continue right down to the last game of the regular season. But with the state tournament drawing near, the Ponies welcome the challenge, hoping to still improve with every game.

"You don't get too many easy ones anymore," Evans said. "But that's all right, it's good for the kids. If we play well I don't see any reason why we can't win a couple games. We are going down there confident and if we play well we should be able to compete." The Ponies will be in Laurel Friday and Saturday where they will play four games. Friday they will face the Golden Eagles at 11:45 a.m. and the Eagles at 3 p.m. And on Saturday the Ponies will face the Locomotives at 9:45 a.m. and the Bulldogs at 2 p.m.