Havre Northstars swept on the road in Helena

The Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club has been off to a solid start this season. But this past Saturday, the Northstars ran into the Helena Senators AA team, the defending state champions. In a doubleheader in Helena, the Senators got the better of Havre with a 12-2 and an 11-0 win over the Northstars.

The Northstars had their struggles against Helena on Saturday. In their 12-2 loss to Helena, the Northstars committed four errors. In the second game, Havre committed six errors on defense. While Havre head coach Patch Wirtzberger believes the Northstars competed hard, the errors throughout the day were the difference.

"At times we played really well and then we made some big mistakes that led to big innings for the other team," Wirtzberger said. "It's too bad that we weren't able to limit those mistakes and stay in those ball games."

The Northstars also had their issues on offense. In their second game especially, the Northstars were only able to record one hit. Along with the strong defense that the Senators played, Wirtzberger credited Helena pitcher Gavin Thennis for his performance on Saturday night.

"That pitcher did a really nice job. He threw a lot of different pitches and he threw a lot of strikes," Wirtzberger said. "We were putting the ball in play but couldn't find any holes and they made a lot of really good plays in the field. It was a lot of things working together that led to their success."

But the Northstars did have some strong hitting early in their first game on Saturday. After Eli Cloninger and Brody Nanini hit back-to-back singles to get on base, Jevin Jenkins hit a single to center field to bring home Cloninger for the 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

The Senators responded in the bottom of the second to tie the game. After Eric Cockhill worked his way to third, he scored on a lineout after tagging up. In the bottom of the fourth, Cockhill's base running again allowed him to score on a Havre error to give Helena a 2-1 lead.

The Senators added onto their lead in the bottom of the fourth. After a single and another Havre error, Trysten Mooney hit a single to center field to clear the bases and push the lead to 4-1.

The Northstars tried to work their way back into the game. In the top of the fifth, Colter Solomon scored on a groundout by Cloninger to cut the deficit to 4-2. But the Senators responded in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single from Walker Bennett and another Havre error to extend the lead to 6-2.

Things just got worse for Havre in the bottom of the sixth. The Senators started the inning with two straight singles, including an RBI single from Mike Hurlbert to add another run. Another Havre error allowed a Helena runner to score and continue to push the lead.

With the chance of ending the game early, the Senators continued to pile it on in the sixth. With the bases loaded, Bennett drove home a pair of runs with an RBI single to right field. Tycen Mooney then brought in another run with an RBI single to left. He then scored after tagging up on a lineout to give Helena a 12-2 lead to end the game early by run rule.

Nanini started the first five innings of the game where he allowed four earned runs and 11 hits. Only two Northstars recorded an RBI in the contest and Cloninger was the only one with more than one hit as he went 2-for-3 from the plate.

Looking to complete the sweep, the Senators took an early lead in the bottom of the first. Hunter Wallis got things started with a double before he scored on a Havre error to give Helena the 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the second, an RBI single from Brayden Beatty further pushed the lead to 2-0.

Helena continued to pile it on in the bottom of the second. Just a couple batters later with two men on, Hulbert hit a single to center field to clear the bases. Two batters later, Aaron Fuzesy hit a hard ground ball to left field for an RBI single. Will Lyng then scored on a fielder's choice to give Helena a 6-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third, Havre committed several errors that resulted in another pair of runs for the Senators. Wallis then brought home another run with an RBI triple to push the lead to 9-0. In the fourth, the Senators continued to use timely hitting to score and extend the lead to 11-0. The Senators then recorded three quick outs in the top of the fifth to win by run rule over the Northstars.

With the losses, the Northstars fall to 6-6 on the season. While the losses dropped them to .500, Wirtzberger hopes that the Northstars can learn from these games to clean up their errors in order to be more competitive.

"It's the little things that add up against really good opponents. We can't make critical mistakes and critical errors," Wirtzberger said. "It's just the smallest things that add up against you that will take you out against teams like that because they don't make too many of those."

The Havre Northstars will next play at home at Legion Field this Wednesday at 7 p.m. against the Great Falls Chargers AA team.

Helena 12, Havre 2

HAV 1 0 0 0 1 0 X - 2 5 4

HEL 0 1 0 3 2 6 X - 12 14 2

WP - Aaron Fuzesy

LP - Brody Nanini

Havre Batting - Drake Berreth 0-3, Eli Cloninger 2-3, Brody Nanini 1-3, Jevin Jenkins 1-2, Kale Reno 0-3, Ezra Pyle 0-2, Chason Mader 0-2, Tanner Delarosa 0-2, Lane Kinsella 0-1, Colter Solomon 1-1.

Helena 11, Havre 0

HAV 0 0 0 0 0 X X - 0 1 6

HEL 1 5 3 2 X X X - 11 12 0

WP - Gavin Thennis

LP - Kale Reno

Havre Batting - Drake Berreth 0-2, Eli Cloninger 0-2, Brody Nanini 0-2, Jevin Jenkins 0-2, Kale Reno 0-2, Lane Kinsella 1-1, Ezra Pyle 0-2, Chason Mader 0-1, Colter Solomon 0-1, Tanner Delarosa 0-1.