Local pitches a shutout

Dodson's Juliun Benson did something that can't be said of a Phillips County baseball player in a long time; he pitched a 5-0 shutout for the Havre Northstars against Lewistown on Tuesday, June 30.

The American Legion baseball season had been canceled for Malta because the team didn't have enough players, but that hasn't stopped Juliun and his older brother Jeramiah from traveling to Havre to play ball.

"They are most experienced because they play baseball more than the kids in Malta, but it has been pretty fun," Ju. Benson said.

The Northstars have played close to 20 of their 40 games this year, but their best ball may be yet to come.

"We started off really slow but now we are starting to win games," Benson said. "We have been playing more as a team."

Ju. Benson, who is a pitcher on Havre's rotation shared his approach to facing Lewistown. It would be the second game of the day. In the first game Benson had been trying to pitch around hitters and every once in a while a Lewistown player would knock the ball out of the park. Benson changed his approach.

"Just throw strikes and make them hit the ball," Benson said.

Lewistown has had a solid baseball team according to Benson and his father Frank Benson.

"They are really old," Benson said. "They have a lot of older kids mostly 18 and 19."

One batter in particular, Kyle Lee, had shown that he could hit the ball in the stands every time according to Benson.

He relied on his top two pitches, a fastball, and a knuckle-curve. That game, Benson and his team only allowed three runners on base, while scoring five runs.