Northstars head to Lewistown for Harold Gjerde Memorial Tournament

The Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club is back in action this weekend with the Harold Gjerde Memorial Tournament in Lewistown. Across four days, the Northstars will compete in five games. As they look to continue to improve, Havre head coach Patch Wirtzberger knows the Northstars will have a challenge ahead of them this weekend.

"It's going to be very tough competition," Wirtzberger said. "This tournament always has a couple good teams from the south and some good teams from the west and we got three teams from the north in it this year. So we're excited to get a look at a couple of different teams."

The Northstars will start the tournament today with a game against the Belgrade Bandits. Last summer, the Northstars went 2-1 against the Bandits, but Wirtzberger knows they will be a challenge to start the tournament.

"They've got lots of pitching and a few guys returning from last year and some new ones, so it'll be a good challenge," Wirtzberger said.

The Northstars will then face the Butte Miners later in the tournament. Earlier this month, Butte defeated Havre 10-4. The Northstars will continue the tournament with a game against Whitefish.

The Northstars will then face the Lethbridge Miners in a non-conference game. Last season, the Northstars went 2-0 against their conference foe. The Northstars will wrap up the tournament Sunday with a seeded game. Their opponent in that game will depend on how they do throughout the tournament.

If the Northstars want to do well this weekend, their best players will have to perform well. Terek Shipp leads the Northstars with innings pitched this season as he has a 3-2 record, 32 strikeouts and a 2.484 ERA. Kale Reno should also get some time on the mound this weekend as he has a 3-2 record, 29 strikeouts and a 4.534 ERA this season.

The Northstars will also look to produce at the plate this weekend. Conner McKay is off to a strong start this season with a .451 batting average and 12 RBIs this season. Shipp has also produced at the plate this season with a .431 batting average and 20 RBIs. Reno can also make an impact at the plate as he has a .375 batting average and 14 RBIs.

The Northstars enter the tournament with a 15-10-1 record and are riding a three-game winning streak. On Tuesday night, the Northstars swept the Medicine Hat Knights by scores of 17-11 and 13-3. If the Northstars want to replicate that success this weekend, their offense will need to keep rolling.

"I thought we were really locked in at the plate," Wirtzberger said. "It starts and ends for us at the plate. If we're really good in our approaches and really focus there, it usually leads to good things on defense, too, so we're just looking to get better in that respect."

The Havre Northstars will begin the Harold Gjerde Memorial Tournament today in Lewistown. The tournament will last through the weekend all the way to Sunday.