(Havre) – The Havre Northstars were home on Sunday afternoon for a double header against the Lethbridge Miners. Havre took game 1 12-2 and the late afternoon game demanded an extra inning but saw the Northstars emerge victories 17-16.
Game 1 saw the Northstars score 5 runs in the bottom on the first inning and entered the fifth inning with a 5-2 lead before a 7-run explosion ended the game early for a 12-2 Northstar win.
Tanner DeLarosa pitched all 5 innings, gave up 3 hits, and 2 runs. Ezra Pyle and Tyson Brandon lead the team in hits with 2 a piece, while Micheal Thompson collected 4 RBI’s to lead the Northstars. Head Coach Ryan Divish Praised the team’s performance.
“It was great to get the early lead and let Tanner pitch with a lead. We knew we were going to keep hin short too, he was only going seventy-nine pitches, with pitch count rules. We were able to get some early runs and then add late and get it over with quickly.”
Game 2 saw the Havre fall down 4-1 after 2 innings, but responded with 3 runs in the third. Both teams showed their patience, but Havre entered the top of the seventh with a 13-9 advantage. Lethrbridge demonstrated their poise and put up 4 runs in the top of the seventh, to force an extra inning.
In the 8th Lethbridge put the pressure on Havre with a 3 run inning to take a 16-13 lead. The trend continued for Havre and they game back to score 3 runs in the 8th for a 16-16 tie before Ezra Pyle was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded giving Havre the 17-16 victory. New media broadcasters spoke with Northstar head coach Ryan Divish postgame on the comeback.
“These guys are really resilient, they aren’t afraid to play from behind and you can really feel the energy when they are coming back and they just kept fighting and grinding it out. We were grinding out at bats and making their pitchers throw a lot of pitches. That was really kind of how we did it. We just found a way to get runners on base and put pressure on them and when we do that, we’re pretty good.”
Tommy Lewis collected 4 hits and 4 RBIs to lead the team.
Up next for the Northstars is a road to trip to Lethbridge for another double header against the Miners on Wednesday July 2nd.
