This Week’s Leskovar Honda Athlete of the Week honors go to Peyton Poole and the Butte 13/14 Junior League All-Star baseball team.

Poole takes home the girls’ honor for her All-American performance in track & field. The 11-year-old Butte girl has been throwing the javelin since she was 3 years old and competing since she was six.

Over this last year, the soon-to-be Whittier Elementary sixth grader competed in the Big Sky State Games in Billings, the USATF State competition in Missoula and then the USATF regional competition in Idaho. After the regional competition, she qualified in the javelin, discus and long jump for the national competition in Eugene, Oregon.  

In July, she competed at Track Town USA in Eugene.  She placed sixth overall in the javelin event competing against more than 60 other 11 and 12 year olds. The top 8 in each event are considered “All American” and were presented with medals and honored on the big screen in the stadium.

Peyton is a hard worker and trains at the East Middle School track two to four times each week with her dad to prepare for her track events. She also is a member of the 12U Magic Softball Traveling team and plays for the Copper City Softball League.  In the off season, she plays basketball and volleyball and continues to maintain straight A’s in school. 

The Junior League All-Star team takes home the boys’ accolades after representing the Treasure State at the Western Regional Junior Tournament Aug. 2-10 in Bend, Oregon. That came after the Butte boys won the State title at 3 Legends Stadium.

Team photo courtesy Ashley Choquette

Team members are Noah Powers, Treigh Hollow, Camden Ingraham, Sawyer Casey, Calvin Cunningham, Bryson Hibbert, Koyde Kjerston, Tegan Duffy, Tucker Kissell, Miles Choquette, David Honer and Hugh O’Brien. Coaches are Mike Duffy, Chad Powers and Joe O’Brien.

Noah Powers No. 13 — Noah took the mound in 3 of 5 games in Oregon. He sturck out 19 batters in 12 innings and picked up the win against a touch Utah team. He also ripped a key RBI to put Butte up 5-4 over Arizona in the top of the 7th for the win.

Treigh Hollow No. 0 — Treigh kept an impressive .556 average at the plate while smacking 15 hits and managed to score 14 times in tournament play. He was a wall at short stop with 25 put outs and a .933 fielding percentage. Plus, he always looked cool.

Camden Ingraham No. 5 — Camden came around and really hit the ball well when needed and held a .481 on-base percentage while scoring 7 times. He gave everything he had to make sure he got a hit including an impressive Pete Rose into first.

Sawyer Casey No. 7 —  Sawyer crushed line drives for Butte while holding a .409 batting average and a .500 on-base percentage with several key RBI’s. He also held a .800 fielding percentage with some great defense in the outfield.

Calvin Cunningham No. 6 — Calvin held a blistering .748 batting average with 18 RBI’s and 14 stolen bases. He had stellar pitching to get the win in the regional opener against Alaska, giving up 1 run, 7 hits with 7 strikeouts and only 2 walks.

Bryson Hibbert No. 15 — Bryson hit .409 with 7 RBI’s and a .581 on-base percentage because he sure wasn’t afraid to take a pitch off the body. A dynamic reliever on the mound, Bryson got the win with a huge save against Arizona striking out 2 in 1 1/3 innings.

Kodye Kjerston No. 2 — Kodye held a .542 batting average and a .708 slugging percentage including laying down 2 beautiful bunt singles against Utah. He got the start on the mound against a very good Arizona team holding them to 4 runs for a 5-4 victory.

Tegan Duffy No. 10 — Tegan held a .448 batting average and a .655 slugging percentage which included 7 RBI’s, 4 doubles and a triple. He crossed the plate to score 12 times for Butte and was a brick wall at catcher. He caught 50 innings and allowed only 3 passed balls while throwing out 3 base runners.

Tucker Kissell No. 3 — Tucker played some amazing defense at 2 nd base with a .950 fielding percentage and held down a .348 batting average combined with a .483 on-base percentage. He knocked in 6 RBI’s while reaching home plate 4 times for Butte.

Miles Choquette No. 8 — Miles came through with some great defensive efforts at second base. He also came up with some big hits knocking in 5 RBI’s and crossing home plate 5 times for Butte. Several of his RBI’s came at key moments.

David Honer No. 1 — David played some impressive defense in both center and left field with a 1.000 fielding percentage and held down a .333 batting average. He had some great at bats battling at the plate and drawing 8 walks.

Hugh O’Brien No. 11 — Hugh was a force to be reckoned with at the plate carrying a .588 batting average and a .720 on base percentage. He knocked in 6 RBI’s for Butte while also crossing home plate 5 times.