Northstars see their season end at Northern District tourney

The Havre Northstars American Legion baseball team was hoping to keep its season alive last Friday in the Northern A District Tournament in Conrad against Great Falls.

Yet, despite out-hitting their opponent for the second-straight day, the Northstars were eliminated at the hands of the Chargers by the score of 10-6 Friday morning. The loss included five errors, a number Havre reached for the second straight game at the district tournament. The loss dropped the Northstars’ final record to 20-24-1 after they were eliminated.

Despite coming into the tournament as the sixth seed, the Northstars had a three-run lead over Lethbridge in the opening round and grabbed an early lead against Great Falls, too, scoring a run in the bottom of the first to go ahead 1-0 on the Chargers when Austin Delarosa doubled to score Ethan Roberts.

The score stayed that way until the top of the fourth, when Great Falls scored seven runs to take a six-run lead. The Chargers drew four walks and got hit by a pitch in the inning. The Northstars also committed two costly errors, which helped engineer the big inning.

Havre added runs in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings, but still trailed by six runs, before scoring three times in the sixth. Jake Sedahl and Kennedy McKay each drove in runs on sacrifices, while Brendan Garden was hit by a pitch to score Roberts. That got the Northstars within three runs, but they wouldn’t score again and even after getting two runners on with two outs in the seventh, it wasn’t meant to be for the Northstars.

Tony Antley was given the loss for the Northstars after surrendering five runs on one hit in three innings of work. Gavin Mosbrucker came on in relief and surrendered five runs, three of them earned in just over three innings pitched.

Roberts had another strong day offensively for Havre, notching two hits and scoring two runs. Brenden Danielson drew three walks, got a hit and scored a run. Sedahl added a hit and a run scored in his final Northstars game, while Garden and Trey Murphy also notched a hit apiece.

Delarosa continued his hot streak at the plate, going 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored. His double was the only extra-base hit of the game for the Northstars. Quinn Reno also managed a hit and an RBI in the loss. McKay also added an RBI and Caleb Allestad pitched in with a run scored.

Even though the weekend didn’t go as planned for the Northstars, it wasn’t all bad news in Conrad, as two players Garden and Sedahl earned All-Conference honors. Garden earned All-Conference honors in the Northern A and also was named All-State for Legion A as a starting pitcher. The senior who will pitch for Rochester College in Michigan next season, started 15 games for Havre in 2018, posting a 6-4 record with a 4.22 ERA. Garden struck out 30 batters in those starts and walked only 27. He also led the Northstars in ERA and WHIP (1.56).

Sedahl earned postseason honors for his work behind the plate and also in the batter’s box. At the dish, Sedahl was stellar again in 2018, leading the Northstars with a .432 batting average. He also led the in RBIs with 51 and extra-base hits with 17. He led the team with an impressive nine triples and tied for the team lead in doubles with Roberts. Sedahl also struck out just six times this season, a team-low for anyone with 15 at-bats or more.

As good as Sedahl was with a bat in his hand, he was equally good behind the plate. Sedal had just four errors during the season and a .980 fielding percentage. He also allowed just 47 stolen bases in 75 attempts, throwing out 28 runners. He also registered a pickoff. Most impressively, the senior caught 250 innings in all this season for the Northstars, his fifth and final one with the club.