Ponies rule the Scotties at Sixth Avenue Memorial

The Havre High softball team was on a three-game winning streak heading into their Tuesday night matchup against Glasgow at Sixth Avenue Memorial Field.

Early on it looked like Glasgow may have a chance of ending that streak when the game was tied, 2-2, in the middle of the second inning. However, the Ponies scored multiple runs in every inning after that to pull away and win, 13-3, for their fourth straight win.

"We're putting the ball in play, we made the plays on defense," HHS head coach Tony Vigliotti said. "It seems like we're getting better every time out so just keep working on our stuff and trying to get better."

It initially looked like Glasgow had come to play in the top of the first inning when they took a 1-0 lead thanks to a wild pitch by Avery Carlson. The Blue Ponies responded quickly in the bottom of the first with two outs when a Quinn McDonald single got Lizzi Haney home to tie the game. The Ponies then took a 2-1 lead with a double from Alyssa Oliver to center left field that got McDonald home.

The Scotties tied the game in the top of the second when they scored a run off a Pony error. Havre responded again in the bottom of the second with another multiple-run inning to take a 4-2 lead. With two outs, Keylee Kline scored on a wild pitch and then a Lizzi Haney single to center field drove in another one.

The Ponies went on to score three runs in the third inning and two runs in the fourth to extend their lead to 9-2. Glasgow was able to score another run in the fifth to cut it to 9-3, but that was all they could muster as they could not get it going against HHS pitcher Carlson. She pitched every inning in the game, finishing with 11 strikeouts while only allowing three hits, three walks and one earned run. After losing her first start of the season, she has now won two straight starts for the Ponies.

"I was happy with Avery. She just needs to get innings in," Vigliotti said. "She showed herself that she can do it."

Havre ended it early in the bottom of the fifth by scoring four runs to make it 13-3 and invoke the mercy rule. McDonald had another strong day for the Ponies as she recorded a hit in all four of her at-bats to drive in three runs. Oliver also had a strong day for the Ponies by recording two doubles that drove in a pair of runs.

"I've been playing softball all my life, hitting's been the main thing I do," Oliver said. "Patience is pretty much key to all of it and I finally figured it out."

Many batters in the Pony lineup had strong days at the plate. Lizzi Haney recorded three hits on the night to drive in a pair of runs. Lexi Haney and Carlson also drove in a pair of runs each.

"We preach putting the ball in play," Vigliotti said. "We hit some balls hard tonight that weren't base hits but eventually that's going to even out so we just got to keep doing what we're doing."

The win improved the Ponies' record to 6-2-1 on the season. They will return to conference play this Thursday when they head on the road to play Lewistown. The Golden Eagles are 9-2 and hold first place in the Northeast A so this game will be an important matchup for the Ponies.

"We're ready. Lewistown-Havre is always a good matchup. It's a big conference game for us on the road," Vigliotti said. "We'll see if we can travel down and compete."

Havre will play at Lewistown Thursday at 5 p.m.

Havre 13, Glasgow 3

Glasgow 1 1 0 0 1 X X - 3 3 0

Havre 2 2 3 2 4 X X - 13 15 1

WP - Avery Carlson

LP - A Meland

Havre Batting - Avery Carlson 2-4, Lizzi Haney 3-4, Jocelyn Staples 2-4, Quinn McDonald 4-4, Alyssa Oliver 2-2, Lexi Haney 1-3, Keylee Kline 1-3, Paige Parsons 0-1.