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Blue Ponies open Central A play on the road

The Havre High softball team took the field for the first time last weekend in Great Falls, but Saturday will be the first time the Blue Ponies play in a game that matters.

That’s because Havre won’t just be playing in a jamboree like it did in Great Falls. Instead, HHS will be playing a Central A conference game, its first of the season. It will come on the road against Lewistown. The first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.

Like the Ponies, Lewistown was one of the three Central A teams to advance to the Class A state tournament last season and should prove to be one of the better teams in the conference again this year.

“Like us, Lewistown is kind of a young team,” McNally said. “But they have some good players, and they are going to be tough.”

Of course every regular season game is important, but in the Central A, conference games are even more key. Part of that is because with just five teams, there are only eight conference games to play, so each victory is important as teams jockey for position in the standings, which determine seeding for the divisional tournament.

“It is early in the season, but it’s an important game,” McNally said. “It would be a great way for us to start the season. We struggled against them recently, but hopefully we can change that.”

Like with any softball game, the outcome will be determined in large part by pitching. As far as the Ponies are concerned, J.J. Hassa, who started a number of games a season ago or Alex Barkus will take the mound.

“I still have some things to look at,” McNally said. “I want to think about who they saw last year and try to have them face a different speed than they saw before.”

As important as pitching will be in determining the outcome, defense and hitting are just as vital. Defensively, Havre will have Nicole Parsons behind the plate, as well as Jacy McDonald at first, Madison Tommerup at second, Camryn Huston at short, Barkus or Hassa, whoever doesn’t pitch in left, Jenae Boles out in centerfield and Madi Shennum in right. Third base will be played by either Lauren Kato or Kate Compton.

At the plate, Parsons will lead off for HHS, followed by Boles, Barkus and McDonald. Tommerup, Hassa and Huston will round out the order.

“With our batting order, we are doing it the reverse of how we did it last year at the top,” McNally said. “Last year, we had Jenae be the leadoff and Nicole batted second, but in Great Falls, we switched it and I liked how that worked, so we are going to go with it.”

Following their trip to Lewistown Saturday — first pitch 4 p.m. — the Ponies will host Browning April 13 in Havre before heading back to Lewistown for an invitational tournament April 14. The Ponies will host Lewistown for their second conference matchup April 17.

“We are getting into conference play quicker than we did last year,” McNally said. “But I don’t think it’s going to hurt us. Last year in the second week, we went to Belgrade and that tournament is like the one in Great Falls, where you don’t get full games. So we are playing Lewistown this week and then playing in a tournament in Lewistown next week, where we will play full games, so I think it will make us better in the long run.”

 

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