Breaking Sports: North Stars lose heartbreaker

The Havre North Stars were close, so close to creeping to within one win of a Class A American Legion state tournament berth Thursday evening in Great Falls. Instead, now the North Stars will face the daunting challenge of navigating the loser-out bracket at the 2011 Northern A District Tournament. Thursday in Great Falls, the North Stars fell 12-10 to the second-seeded Fort MacLeod Royals. It was a valiant effort by the North Stars, who were tied 10-10 late in the game. But after falling behind by two runs to the Royals, the North Stars had to contend with the Royals' ace pitcher, and he recorded nine straight outs to send Havre into Saturday morning's loser-out game against the Medicine Hat Knights. Justin Jensen pitched a strong game for Havre, while Brandon Smith and Colt Young did the most damage at the plate. But five erros by Havre's defense and timely pitching from Fort MacLeod was the difference. Havre now faces Medicine Hat at 9:30 a.m. Saturday and needs to win three straight games to reach Sunday's championship round.

For full details, see Monday's Havre Daily News.