Another big weekend at home for the Northstars

After a two-week hiatus, the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club returns to Legion Field this Sunday to play a doubleheader. The Northstars started the season undefeated but got swept by the Bitterroot Bucs in a doubleheader the last time they played. Havre hopes their two-week break has allowed them to improve in order to rebound against the Glasgow Reds and Helena Reps this weekend.

"We've had a couple weeks to recover from that and we've had a couple good weeks of practice mixed with rest and trying to get everybody back to 100 percent," said Havre head coach Patch Wirtzberger. "I expect them to come out and play really well."

The Northstars will begin the doubleheader with a game against Glasgow. The Reds return the majority of their players from last season and have a good coach in Jack Sprague, so Wirtzberger believes his Northstars will need to execute in order to avoid a three-game losing streak.

"They're going to be tough and they've got a good coach over there," Wirtzberger said. "It's a team that's probably not going to beat themselves."

The Northstars will then play Helena in the second game of their doubleheader Sunday. Unlike Glasgow, the Reps have had a lot of turnover on their roster from last year, so Wirtaberger does not know what to expect from them.

"Helena is a team that we don't know much about," Wirtzberger said. "We don't really know what to expect except for they're going to be a solid group of young baseball players and they're not going to beat themselves so we're going to have to go out there and play well."

The Northstars head into Sunday's doubleheader with a 5-2 record. Every time they have played this season, it has been a doubleheader against one team. With this doubleheader being against two teams, Wirtzberger will have to make more adjustments than usual in the short time between games.

"It's something that we don't do very often so it is a little bit different," Wirtzberger said. "You still have to go out there and hit the ball and catch the ball and throw the ball and hopefully we can go out there and do that."

If Havre is going to get back in the win column this weekend, they will need their defense to step up after they gave up 16 runs and 12 runs in their games against Bitterroot. The Northstars' leading pitcher is Carson Lunak, who has pitched 14 innings in three games this season. He has a 3.500 earned run average and has recorded 12 strikeouts and 10 walks. Brody Nanini has pitched 10 innings for Havre this season, recording a 2.100 ERA, 13 strikeouts and one walk. However, Wirtzberger believes the Northstar's fielding was what doomed them against Bitterroot last time out.

"I don't think the pitching did really terrible in that game. I thought the pitching was solid," Wirtzberger said. "If the defense goes out there and makes plays and we don't give extra outs every inning, that stuff will take care of itself and I think we can do that."

The Northstars will need production at the plate to help their pitchers out. Nanini could have another strong day at the plate as he leads Havre with nine RBIs this season. In order to drive in runs, he will need men on base such as Eli Cloninger, who leads the team with a .429 batting average and .652 on-base percentage.

With two weeks between games, rust might be a concern for Havre heading into their games this weekend. Wirtzberger hoped to keep his team in a rhythm with intrasquad scrimmages in practice that simulate real games for his batters and pitchers.

The Northstars will also play Friday night at 6 p.m. at Legion Field in the Havre Northstars Alumni Game. This year's Northstars squad will compete against Northstars from years past as part of a fundraiser event that also includes dinner, a silent auction and games.

Despite all these opportunities to play to stay in rhythm during their hiatus, Wirtzberger believes that the Northstars need to improve their fielding in order to win this weekend.

"We really need to get better at fielding the ball," Wirtzberger said. "We just need to go out there and make the plays that come to us and that will really help us get better and have shorter innings."

The Northstars will play Glasgow at Legion Field Sunday at 1 p.m. They will then play Helena later that day at about 3 p.m.