Ponies finish the regular season in Butte

Momentum means everything in sports, and right now, the Havre High softball team has it. The challenge for the Blue Ponies will be keeping it.

Behind possibly its best offensive day of the season last Saturday, Havre went 3-0 at its invitational tournament and improved its overall record to 7-5-1. The three wins gave the Ponies some much-needed momentum, which they will look to build on this weekend in Butte at the Laverne Combo tournament. They will open the jamboree-style invitational Friday at 2:30 p.m.

“We played really well at the Havre Invitational,” HHS head coach Whitney McNally said. “We have some momentum now and hopefully, we can go to Butte and keep that going into divisionals.”

The Central A Divisional tournament (May 19-20 in Livingston) is the biggest reason why Havre is looking to play well in Butte. Beyond that, the four games HHS will play against Butte Central, Polson, Laurel and Frenchtown, won’t mean much in the grand scheme of things since they are all non-conference.

HHS will play its opening game against the Maroons Friday (2:30 p.m.) followed by a contest with Polson that evening at 6. Saturday, the Ponies will open the day against Laurel at 10:45 a.m., before closing out its weekend against Frenchtown at 2:45 p.m.

“It will give us a chance to play more with the group we have going to divisionals,” McNally said. “It’s nice because there are more substitutions so that will allow us to try some different combinations, but I think we are pretty close to knowing who those girls are going to be.”

Yet even though the games in Butte can’t help Havre improve its position in the Central A standings, the chance to add a few more wins and gain even more confidence heading into divisionals is motivation enough for the Ponies.

One area where the Ponies are feeling particularly good right now is at the plate. Scoring has runs has been an issue of late for Havre, but against Conrad in Shelby, it plated 11 runs per game and a total of 33.

“We really got things going offensively,” McNally said. “We hit the ball early in the game and that’s something that we need to keep doing.”

While there were a number of Havre batters that had a big weekend, nobody in the lineup is doing more than Jacey McDonald. The cleanup hitter for Havre went 6-for-7 over the weekend and belted two home runs. She also showed great plate discipline and got on base nine times in 10 at bats.

However, McDonald is far from the only senior that is stepping up. Nicole Parsons also went on a tear, getting an extra-base hit in each game and going 8-for-11 in all. Madison Tommerup has also been heating up and her defense at the hot corner has also been stellar and includes a game-sealing stop down the line in a win over Conrad.

Joining Parsons and McDonald near the top of the order is centerfielder Janae Boles and pitcher/outfielder Alex Barkus. The other starting pitcher for Havre is Jaycelyn Hassa, who beat Conrad and Shelby last weekend. She also plays in the outfield. Other key contributors include Lauren Kato, another key hitter for Havre, along with Tracyn LaBuda, Madi Shennum, Camryn Huston, Kate Compton, Peyton Brown and Sam Oliver.

Havre will open the Laverne Combo softball tournament Friday against Butte Central at 2:30 p.m. The Ponies will also play Polson Friday (6 p.m.), as well as Laurel and Frenchtown Saturday.