HHS fastpitch heads to Laurel

It has come down to this. For the Havre High School softball program it has come down to one last weekend, four more games and the hopes of ending the season on a high note.

The young Central A Blue Ponies' squad will not make the trip to state this year, but their season is not over.

Havre Daily News/Nikki Carlson

Havre High's Andrea Nault runs the bases during a Central A girls softball game earlier this month in Havre. The Blue Ponies wrap up their 2011 season with four games over the next two days in Laurel.

Today and Saturday the Ponies (3-7, 6-11) will be in Laurel for their final four games of the season. Today the Ponies will face the Glendive Red Devils and the Laurel Locomotives. And on Saturday, they will face the Lewistown Golden Eagles and Hardin Bulldogs. Though Lewistown is a conference opponent, this will not be a conference matchup.

The field of competition will be tough for the Ponies, but it will also be a very familiar one.

"They have all of those conference games to finish between Sidney, Miles City, Glendive and others," Havre High head coach Mike Thill said. "So that kind of fouled things up for us on who we would get to play. We didn't get much of a selection, but it's going to be nice to rematch with Laurel, and we just played Hardin and it will be nice to see if we can duplicate a win there. And Lewistown is always a great match despite what other people think. This will be the third time we see them and it will be nice to see if we can improve on those first two outings."

The Locomotives, Bulldogs and Eagles will all force the Blue Ponies to play good softball.

HHS will actually look to turn the tables on the Locomotives. In the Ponies' opening weekend, the Locomotives defeated the Ponies 6-4 at the Great Falls Jamboree. The Ponies held a 4-0 lead, but let the game slip away as Laurel scored six unanswered runs.

The Eagles have handled the Ponies with no problem twice already this season. But the Ponies are looking forward for the third opportunity, as they are looking to avenge two losses of 16-6 and 14-1.

And the Bulldogs, the Ponies are coming off of a win over them last weekend in Butte. HHS defeated the Bulldogs 5-4, and would like to build on that performance with another win over the Bulldogs on Saturday.

Glendive is the only team the Ponies have yet to face, but they are looking forward to the opportunity. The Red Devils are a very tough squad with all around talent. They are right in the middle of a race to reach the state tournament and have been putting up a lot of runs over the last several games.

The Blue Ponies know they don't have an easy outing in their last four games, but they know they can compete. The Ponies have been playing their best softball in the final stretch of their season and are coming off of a 2-2 split last weekend in Butte.

"We just need to keep building on what we did last weekend," Thill said. "We came out with some pretty positive results, and so if we come out with that same confidence we played with last weekend in Butte, we should be in good shape for this weekend."

HHS isn't looking to do anything specific this weekend. They have been getting better all year long and know it is just going to take two good days of sound softball to come home with at least a couple wins.

Davee McLeod has been a sound pitcher all year long for the Ponies and should look to perform well again. The offense and defense will also need to maintain a high level of play, meaning the limiting of costly errors and smart at bats. Dylann Williams is coming off of a solid weekend at the plate with five hits in four games. And Alex Herrig, McLeod and Andrea Nault also grabbed four hits in four games for the Ponies last weekend. They have been amongst the Pony leaders all year and will give the Ponies a major boost if they solid play continues.

"All the girls are now at the point where they are doing things to help the team instead of trying to build their own individual stats," Thill said. "They all know what to do and when to do it and they have been doing so all along. They are just getting better and better."

But even heading into the last weekend of the season, the Ponies may still enter less than 100 percent healthy. Michaela Boles (ankle), Roxanna Jensen (knee) and Clarissa Martin (knee) are all still nursing their injuries, but are hopeful for this weekend.

But if they can't take the field, freshmen Sydne Huston, Liz Facio, Katie Beck and Jacinta Finneman will be ready to go. Huston has played second base several times this season, while Beck has tried her hand at pinch hitting and Finneman has been at first base off and on as well as been used as a base runner. Facio has recently transferred to HHS from New Mexico, and while she has spent time with the junior varsity, has recently been utilized as the courtesy runner for catcher Chelsea Nottingham.

"This is their (Boles, Jensen and Martin) last weekend," Thill said. "They're going to the best they can and try to suck it up. If there is any way possible to get them on the field we will. We will see how the cards fall."

As the up-and-down season finally winds down, the Blue Ponies are still hungry for a few more wins. They have done a lot of growing up from the beginning of the season until now, but still have four more games to get better.

"I can't fault the players," Thill said. "If anybody gets the blame it's the head coach and that's me. The players have done everything I have asked, and I couldn't ask anymore of the players or coaching staff. We want to go down there and come out with some positive results to end the season."

The Ponies will play their last four games of the 2011 season today and Saturday in Laurel.