The high school spring sports season will begin in typical fashion for this part of the Rocky Mountains.

It will begin with a pair of postponements.

Butte High’s baseball team and Butte Central’s softball team will not start the season as originally scheduled.

The Bulldogs were set to open the baseball season Thursday against Gallatin at Three Legends Stadium. Because of a poor weather forecast, however, that opener was delayed one day. The Bulldogs will instead play the Raptors at 5 p.m. Friday.

This year marks the largest field of Montana high school baseball teams, with 43 schools now competing. That is up from 21 teams for the inaugural season of 2023. The teams will be broken up into classes this year, with all the Class AA schools competing other than Helena High and Helena Capital.

Butte High, which will host the Class AA State tournament May 28-30 at 3 Legends Stadium, will travel to Bozeman for a 2 p.m. game on Saturday before playing host to Butte Central at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31.

That game will be the opener for the Maroons, who will be looking to qualify for the State Class ABC tournament, which is May 28-30 in Polson.

The other postponement to open the season is the BC softball team. Central’s opener against Livingston set for Saturday has been pushed back because of a scheduling conflict for Livingston.

That game has been rescheduled for April 30.

BC will now open the season at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Three Forks. Central’s first home action is now set for April 14 when Stevensville comes to town for a Southwestern A contest at Stodden Park.

The Class A State softball tournament is this May 28-30 in Hamilton.

Butte High’s softball team will head to Bozeman to play its season opener against Gallatin. Butte High’s first home action will be next Thursday, April 2, against Flathead.

The Class AA State softball tournament will be held May 28-30 in Missoula.

BC’s track & field season begins Saturday with the 9 a.m. Blue Devil Invitational in Corvallis. The Maroons will host the annual John Tomich Invitational May 2, and the Western A Divisional is May 22-23 in Frenchtown.

The Class A State meet is May 29-30 in Laurel.

The Bulldog track teams will see their first action Tuesday when Missoula Sentinel and Hellgate come to town for a triangular on the Charlie Merrifield Track at Bulldog Memorial Stadium inside the Gene Fogarty Complex.

Butte High’s boys will host the Swede Dahlberg Invitational April 25, the same day the Bulldog girls head to Great Falls for the Optimist Invitational.

The Western AA Divisional meet will be May 22 in Helena, and the Class AA State meet will be May 28-30 in Missoula.

Butte High’s tennis teams are under new leadership with longtime tennis player/coach Paul Miranda taking over the helm of the Bulldog program. His teams will open the season Friday against Billings West and Missoula Big Sky at Stodden Park.

Butte will face West at noon before battling Big Sky at 3 p.m.

Divisionals will be held May 21-22 in Missoula, and the Class State meet is May 29-30 in Kalispell.

Central’s tennis teams do not open the season until April 7, when the Maroons host Stevensville.

The Maroons will host the Central A Divisional meet May 21-22 in Butte. The Class A State tournament is May 28-29 in Hardin.

Schedules for the Bulldogs and Maroons can always be found in the menu at ButteCast.com.