Havre softball heads to Butte to wrap up regular season

Last weekend, the Havre High softball finished off its conference slate in the regular season. After finishing the year 8-0 in the Northeast A, the Blue Ponies now look to wrap up the regular season as a whole as they will compete in the Butte Invite this weekend. The Ponies have gone 5-2 in their last seven games, so HHS head coach Tony Vigliotti expects them to continue playing well this weekend in non-conference competition.

"Right now we're playing well, so I just expect us to keep trying to get better," Vigliotti said. "We expect to go down, play well and win some softball games."

The Ponies start the weekend with a game against Butte Central Friday at 3:30 p.m. While Butte Central started the season with a losing record, Vigliotti believes they tend to improve over the course of the season and should be better this weekend.

"Towards the end of the year, they're always a good team," Vigliotti said. "They're coached well, so we'll have to play well."

The Ponies will play again Friday at 7 p.m. with a game against Ronan. While he does not know much about Ronan, Vigliotti expects Ronan to be another tough opponent this weekend.

The Ponies will then play Stevensville Saturday at 10:45 a.m. This is a rematch of a game earlier this season at the Frenchtown tournament. Stevensville jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, but the Ponies stormed back to win 18-7.

"We got some familiarity with them but we look forward to playing them again," Vigliotti said.

The Ponies will end the tournament Saturday at 2:15 p.m. against Libby. Just like all the other teams they will face this weekend, Vigliotti expects Libby to challenge them.

"Libby is always a good Class A program," Vigliotti said. "We expect all the games to be tough and we'll have to play well to win."

If they want a successful weekend, the Ponies will be looking to continue rolling at the plate. Molly Huse has been exceptional at the plate this season with a .651 batting average, .709 on-base percentage, 33 RBIs and five home runs. Alyssa Oliver has also put the ball in play with a .531 batting average, 27 RBIs and five home runs.

"I think all our girls right now are pretty confident at the plate so we'll just keep working on that," Vigliotti said about their offense this season.

Avery Carlson will look to play well at the plate and on the mound this weekend. At the plate, she has a .533 batting average and 15 RBIs this season. As the team's leading pitcher, she has a 6-3 record, a 5.544 ERA and 46 strikeouts this year. Elle Verploegen should also get time on the mound this weekend as she has a 3-2 record, a 4.098 ERA and 30 strikeouts this spring.

The Ponies will be looking to improve on their 10-6 record and their 2-6 record in non-conference games this spring. As they head into their final weekend of the regular season, Vigliotti also wants to see the team continue to improve in time for the postseason beginning next week.

"(We want to) continue to get better," Vigliotti said. "We'll just keep working and hopefully we're improving every time we step on the field."

The Ponies will begin the Butte Invite Friday at 3:30 p.m. with a game against Butte Central.