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Mike Spotorno could only hit the ball that hard so many times.

But, boy, was it overpowering. He was like a starting pitcher throwing 105 miles per hour every pitch. By the third inning, you would expect him to start to tire.

Spotorno used his powerful right arm to hit the little blue handball hard and low on his serve over and over. Butch Starin could not keep up in the quarterfinal of the 2000 Montana State Handball tournament in one of the dark, dingy courts at the Butte Elks.

With the booming serve, Spotorno won the first game, 21-5.

Making the mismatch seem even worse was the age of the two players. Mike was 32, and Butch, who was two years removed from his second state open title, was approaching his 51^st birthday.

But nobody could keep up that kind of power all day. Butch knew it was just a matter of time before Mike slowed down, even if just a little bit.

Spotorno, who sadly passed away at the age of 54 in 2022, also used that powerful serve to take an early lead in Game 2.

Eventually, though, that 105 mph heater dipped to about 102, and Butch finally returned one for a side out. Then he tallied a couple of points to steal the momentum, prompting Spotorno to call a time out.

Then Butch, with the cockiness of Nuke LaLoosh, smiled at Spotorno and said, “What, are you tired?”

It was a thing of beauty. It was Butch being Butch.

For all but a couple of serves in the match so far, Butch looked so overpowered by the guy who was nearly 20 years younger. He looked like a guy who was playing in the wrong division.

It looked like an unfair match. It looked like Butch should have played the masters or golden masters division. He was old enough for either one of them. But Butch was playing with the young men in the open division.

Yet it was Butch who took on the brash tone.

Butch knew he could compete. After all, just two years earlier, he beat the legendary Bill Peoples in a three-set semifinal match on his way to the state crown. Even at that stage of his career, Peoples was great. If you could beat him, you could beat just about anyone.

Butch also knew he could get into the head of just about anybody — in or out of the court.

That was part of Butch’s game. It did not always make him the most liked player in the tournament, but Butch did not care about that. He was there for one reason. To win.

Suddenly, that blowout was a match. Mike and Butch battled back and forth before Mike eventually closed out the victory with a nail-biting 21-20 win in Game 2. It was a dog fight where both players were giving it everything they had.

Butch did because that is just who Butch is.

“He’s scrappy. He never lets up,” Tom Pomroy Jr. told me when I wrote a story about Butch entering the 1999 state tournament as the defending champ. “He’s got the heart of a lion. He just out-competes people.”

Spotorno left everything out there, I suspect, for a couple of reasons. One, he was also a great competitor. Two, he knew he was in trouble if the match went to a tiebreaker.

Spotorno followed that victory with a 21-11, 21-15 win over Trent Gardner in the semifinals. The next day, he lost 21-17, 21-12 to his younger brother, Ryan, in the championship match.

Butch’s tournament was over two matches earlier than he wanted, and he didn’t stick around to talk about it. He did not take losses well.

Fortunately, for all of us, he usually won.

He won enough that he is finally going into the Butte Sports Hall of Fame this weekend. I say “finally” because I think he should have been there years ago. He was a starter who helped Butte High win back-to-back state titles in football in 1967 and 1968. He won an individual state wrestling title in 1969.

He was one of the best handball players in the state for three decades. His résumé is hard to beat. So were his moxie and pizazz.

Butch would surely want us to remember his career for all of his wins — especially the ones over Peoples or Pomroy. He probably wants us to talk about those great Bulldog football teams or the title on the mat.

That loss, though, is what stands out to me because it was just so Butch.

Butch would play head games so much that sometimes it was hard to tell when he was messing with you or if was just Butch being Butch. He would mess with opponents before they got in the court. He would mess with the tournament directors long before the tournament, looking to get a better seed.

He was never a model for sportsmanship, but he never cared. Whether he was in the handball court, on the wrestling mat, playing horseshoes or fishing, Butch was going to use all his tools to get the victory.

To those who do not know Butch, that was often off-putting. Some people do not know how to take him. To those of us who do get him, though, Butch is one of the most likable guys you will ever encounter. Nobody makes me laugh more, and nobody was prouder to be from Walkerville.

“The higher up on the Hill you live, the better looking you are,” he told me years ago. “I live on top of the hill, and I sleep on the roof.”

Butch also said that about being tough.

When I was a kid, he had me laughing by telling me his boxing nickname was “Kid Candle.” One blow and he was out.

There was never any middle ground with Butch. Either you like him or you do not. I always suspect that is why it took so long for him to be voted into the Hall of Fame. Enough people just did not like him, or they did not get him.

This time around, it was the Hall of Famers who voted Butch in. They are the ones who know best, and they selected Butch in a landslide the first time he appeared on their ballot.

That says all you need to know about the sports greatness of Butch Starin.

I always fell into the camp of those who really liked Butch. That is because I saw a different side of him. Of course, I see the side that always makes me laugh.

Also, I remember those phone calls from Butch that came really early in the morning. If my brother or I made the newspaper for any athletic achievement, Butch would call at 6 a.m. to tell us he was proud.

We must have been two of a couple of hundred young athletes who would get those calls from Butch over the years.

I also saw the work he did with Pomroy to give back to the sport of handball. Together, they built two outdoor three-wall handball courts at East Middle School. They called the summer tournament on those courts “Courts For Kids.”

Sadly, those courts were torn down during the recent renovation of the school, but not before thousands of kids were exposed to the great game of handball.

No matter the sport, Butch supported Butte kids when they competed. All of them. He still does. He always will.

To me, that makes him Hall of Fame worthy, too.

Now that he is finally taking his place alongside the other Butte sports immortal, you better believe Butch is going to revel in it. He might even be insufferable at times.

Butch is telling some of his friends that he is going to wear his Hall of Fame green jacket everywhere he goes. That includes when he’s driving his boat on Georgetown Lake. It includes playing those heated battles in the horseshoe pits.

Of course, we think he is joking. Nobody, though, would be surprised to see Butch donning his green jacket at the next Butte High football game.

We will just shake our heads and say it is just Butch being Butch.

— Bill Foley can be reached at foles74@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/Foles74 or Bluesky at @foles74.bsky.social. Listen to him on the ButteCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.