Northstars ready for another state tourney appearance

The Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club is not done yet as they have the Class A State tournament this week in Belgrade. The Northstars qualified for the tournament after finishing second in the North A District tournament last weekend, so Havre head coach Patch Wirtzberger feels confident heading into their most important games of the season.

"I feel like we played a really good week of baseball but I don't think we've played our best baseball yet," Wirtzberger said. "Hopefully, we can rally together and play our best baseball this week."

The Northstars will begin the tournament tonight at 4 p.m. with a game against the Butte Miners. The Miners should be a tough opponent to start the tournament as they have a 32-9 record and they are the South A District champions.

"They're one of the toughest teams in the state," Wirtzberger said. "It's a pretty good challenge for us but I think our guys are ready for it."

The Northstars have had a strong season to get to state. They have a 36-21-1 record this season and defeated the Vauxhall Spurs, 5-0, in an elimination game on Sunday morning to finish second in the tournament. If the Northstars want to keep up their strong play, their best players need to step up.

Brody Nanini has been the team's top pitcher as he has a 2.754 ERA in his 81.1 innings pitched this season. Trenton Maloughney has also been reliable on the mound with a 3.073 ERA and an 8-3 record. Along with other pitchers such as Kale Reno and Terek Shipp, Wirtzberger expects the pitching staff to be their biggest strength this week.

"Our pitching staff did a really good job (at districts)," Wirtzberger said. "If we can carry that into state, we're going to be in every game."

The Northstar bats also need to produce this week. Nanini leads the team with a .414 batting average and 68 RBIs this season. Eli Cloninger has also been strong at the plate with a .414 batting average, a .529 on-base percentage and 35 RBIs. Theron Peterson has been reliable with a .395 batting average and 48 RBIs this summer. Wirtzberger believes their offense slowed down at districts, so he hopes they can find that offense again this week.

"I'd like to see us hit the ball a little bit more consistently, especially with runners on base," Wirtzberger said. "In the games that we lost, I feel like we squandered a lot of opportunities that could have changed the game and if we're going to win games at state, those are the things we're going to need to do well."

Along with Havre and Butte, several other teams will compete for a state title this week. This morning, the tournament started with a game between the Billings Cardinals and the Bitterroot Red Sox.

The Billings Cardinals made the state tournament after going 34-17-1 this summer and finishing second in the East A District tournament. The Bitterroot Red Sox clinched a spot in the tournament after winning the West A District tournament. The Northstars have played the Red Sox twice this season as Havre won both games by scores of 9-3 and 5-2.

The tournament continued this afternoon with a game between the Laurel Dodgers and the Glacier Twins. The Laurel Dodgers went 37-12 this season and they won the East A District tournament. The Glacier Twins are 30-8 this season and they just took second in the West A District tournament.

After the Northstars and Miners play this afternoon, the Lewistown Redbirds and the Belgrade Bandits will play at 7:30 p.m. to wrap up the first day of the tournament. The Bandits are the No. 2 seed from the South and they have a 37-18 record this season.

The Redbirds enter the tournament after going 41-19 this season and defeating Havre, 8-6, in the North A District championship game this past Sunday at Legion Field. Over the course of this season, the Redbirds went 5-3 against the Northstars. With so many tough opponents, Wirtzberger believes anyone can make that run at a state title.

"I think it's a very solid field across the board," Wirtzberger said. "There's no gimme so we're going to have to come in and play our best baseball."

The double-elimination tournament will start today and go all the way through Sunday afternoon. It will be a long week with many tough teams, so the Northstars will need to have saved their best ball for the end of the year.

"The pitching staff needs to do what they've done all year," Wirtzberger said. "We need to not make mistakes in the field and we got to hit the ball more consistently. If we can do those three things, we're going to have a lot of success."

The Havre Northstars will begin competing in the Class A State tournament with a game against the Butte Miners tonight at 4 p.m. in Belgrade.