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Episode No. 344: Jamie Campbell
Jamie Campbell is a standup comedian who will be performing at Butte’s Covellite Theatre on Thursday, May 14.
Advanced tickets are recommended for this show because it just might sell out. (Click here to buy tickets.)
Jamie will bring his high-energy, storytelling and positive vibe to the Mining City all the way from Kansas City, where he is still getting used to that Midwest nice.
Known for finding humor even in life’s toughest moments, Jamie delivers sharp, relatable comedy that connects with audiences across the country.
You may recognize Jamie from his Drybar Comedy special Middle Man, as well as appearances on Chicago Fire, Hollywood Darlings, and the Emmy-nominated ABC series Boondoggle. His style blends heartfelt perspective with big laughs, shaped by a life story that proves comedy can shine light in even the darkest places.
Thursday’s show will be hosted by Brittani Ferris, owner of Uptown Comedy. Kane O’Neil will also be the opener, and Jamie will take part in a meet and greet at the 51 Below Speakeasy after the show, which is rated PG-13 and family friendly.
Earlier today, I met with Jamie over Zoom for a fun conversation.
Listen in to hear how he became a comedian in the first place. Listen as he talks about working with people like Damon Waynes, Jeff Garlin and Dana Carvey.
Listen as he talks about his comedy influences and how he wants audience members leaving his shows feeling good about themselves. Listen in to see that next Thursday will be a show that you do not want to miss.
Today’s episode is presented by Casagranda’s Steakhouse. Eat where the local’s eat. It is also available on YouTube:
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Holy buckets, we need to learn the rules
Boston Red Sox left fielder Manny Ramirez settled under the lazy pop fly in Fenway Park.
Manny being Manny, though, he did not catch it cleanly. The ball hit off his glove and bounced into the air. Then, after it looked like he was going to really mess up, Manny somehow snagged the ball before it hit the ground.
The batter was out, and Manny threw the ball to third base, where an opposing runner had been tagging up, for what I thought was an obvious double play.
The reason I thought that was because the runner left as soon as the ball hit Manny’s glove. By the time Manny actually caught the ball, the runner was several feet off the bag on his way home.
I jumped out of my chair, screaming at the television as the umpire signaled that the runner was safe. The run scored on a sacrifice fly.
But he left before Manny caught the ball, so I knew without a doubt that it should have been a double play. The runner cannot advance until the ball is caught. Right?
Well, wrong.
Just as I was about to completely lose it, Jerry Remy, the color man for the New England Sports Network, stepped in to settle me, and the rest of “Red Sox Nation,” down. He explained the “first touch” rule in baseball.
When a runner is tagging up on a fly ball, he can legally run once the outfielder first touches the ball. He does not have to wait until the catch is secured to leave on a tag play.
As my cousin Skinny put it, the rule was a rule back when the Yankees were called the “Hilltoppers” and the Dodgers were called the “Robins.”
If you think about the rule, it makes perfect sense. A skilled outfielder could just juggle the ball as he runs into the infield, preventing a runner from tagging up.
So, even after the pivotal run scored against my team, I accepted the obvious situation after it was pointed out by the best colorman in the history of sports.
For a minute, though, I was irate because I did not know that rule — even though I had already watched an obscene amount of baseball by that time.
So, it is understandable that Butte Central fans were a little mad when something kind of similar happed in the top of the fourth inning of BC’s game against Dillon April 15 at 3 Legends Stadium.
Unlike me, however, they were not in the comfort of their own home, and the umpires could hear them.
With one out and runners on second and third, Dillon first baseman Trenton Moreni hit a high fly ball to left-center field. Sawyer Tackett tagged up on third base, and Cohen Hartman tagged at second.
The ball bounced out of the mitt of BC leftfielder Tony Stajcar. However, Tony’s cousin, Trapper Stajcar, somehow snagged the ball out of the air for the out.
Tackett and Hartman ran as soon as the ball hit Tony Stajcar’s mitt. So, when Trapper Stajcar threw the ball in for what appeared to be another out, BC fans figured it was a obvious inning-inning double play.
So, too, did the field umpire, and BC fans cheered the great play by Trapper Stajcar as the Central players ran into the dugout to bat in the bottom of the fourth.
It did not, however, fool home plate umpire Bryce Carver, who is so often the punching bag of baseball fans, even though he works extremely hard to try to master his craft.
Carver got together with the field umpire, and they correctly ruled that the two runs scored, and the top of the inning would continue with two outs.
Like I did when Ramirez bobbled the ball that day a couple of decades ago, some BC fans nearly lost their minds.
Fortunately — or, depending on your perspective, unfortunately — the video on GameChanger captured the puzzlement and anger of the fans.
“It’s an out,” one fan yelled.
“The ball didn’t touch the ground,” another said. Then more comments rolled in.
“Are you sh–ing me?”
“So why isn’t the guy on second out? He didn’t tag at second.”
“Terrible. Oh, my goodness.”
“He caught it. In the air.”
“And both the runs count?”
And my favorite:
“Holy buckets.”
Unfortunately for the home fans, they did not have Jerry Remy there to describe the rule to them. So, you have to excuse the BC fans, to an extent, for their outrage. They genuinely thought the Central players were getting jobbed by the umpire, even if the BC coach did not argue after he got the explanation.
I can sympathize with those fans. I feel that way all the time when I’m watching my son play baseball, and I have yelled at some umpires who are friends of mine. I have yelled at football officials and baseball umpires who I have refereed basketball games with.
Every time, I feel like an idiot afterword, as I should.
The thing is, though, when you are yelling in public about a call, it is a good idea to know the rule. From my experience watching years of Little League, American Legion and high school baseball, most people do not learn the rules before the yell at the umpires.
You probably shouldn’t yell at officials in youth sports in general, but you really should keep quiet if you do not know why the call was made. There is, after all, a big difference between voicing your displeasure for a strike call on a ball that appeared to be way outside than there is arguing an obstruction call.
From my experience, I would say somewhere between 98 and 99 percent of the fans at youth games do not know the difference between obstruction and interference.
We saw that at a Butte High game this weekend. A Bulldog fan yelled at the same umpire because he gave the delayed signal for obstruction when the runner collided with the Butte High catcher, who did not have the ball.
I’m not sure why the fan yelled, and I’m pretty sure he didn’t know either. He was probably just confused when the ump briefly held out his left hand.
I think it might have been the same fan who yelled at a Butte High infielder to throw home on a two-out grounder in the junior varsity game. That is why the coaches tell the parents not to coach from the stands.
Luckily, the player did not listen to the fan, though similar screams from the crowd seemed to lead to a Butte High player throwing to the wrong base earlier in the JV game.
Too many fans also do not understand the balk rule, but they always want to argue that call when it goes against their team. I’ll admit it, I don’t always know why a balk is called, but I usually assume the umpire who is intently looking for a balk probably does.
Fans are always certain that they are right, and the umpire is wrong — even though they know that only one of them has read the rule book. Even worse, they often act like the umpire is dumb. But it not usually the umpire who looks like a fool when all is said and done.
Everyone has the right to fan how they want to fan, and umpires have the right to throw fans out of the game for getting out of hand — even if it rarely happens.
But it is a good rule of thumb to know the rules before you start yelling about a call. Otherwise, you are going to be the one who looks or sounds bad on the GameChanger video.
Like with the case on Manny’s bobble, the call on Trapper’s great catch was pretty dang obvious to anyone who ever read the rule book or listened to a good color commentator.
Holy buckets be damned.
— Bill Foley, who could tell you the difference between obstruction and interference, 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.
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Butte Sports Hall of Fame inductees
Following is a list of all 20 induction classes of the Butte Sports Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame was founded by the late Don Peoples Sr. and the late Pat Kearney. The first class was inducted in 1987, and a class was inducted every odd year until the COVID-19 pandemic pushed back the induction in 2021. The Hall of Fame will move forward with a class every even year moving forward.
The Class of 2026 will be enshrined July 24-25 at the Butte Civic Center.
1987 individuals
Sylvia White Blaine, Bob O’Billovich, Joe Kelly, Swede Dahlberg, Milt Popovich, Jim McCaughey, Jim Sweeney, Bob Hawke, Bill Cullen, Bob O’Malley, Judy Morstein Martz, Danny Hanley, Walter T. Scott.
1987 teams
1908 Butte High football, 1927 Butte High football, 1950 Butte Central basketball.
1989 individuals
Bob Brady, Ed Simonich, Jewel Gronley Lee, Dennis Ferriter, Matt Vucurovich, Robert Poore, Sonny Holland, Kenneth Duff, Eli Thomas, Tom Penaluna, Ed Gerry, Ed Zemljak.
1989 teams
1933 Butte High track, 1941 Butte High basketball, 1936 Butte American Legion baseball, 1945 Butte Central football.
1991 individuals
Bill Barry, Eso Naranche, Sam Jankovich, Helen Rotar Burt, George Sarsfield, Bob Koprivica, Ed Foley, Bill Hawke, Mare Bartholomew, Bob Petrino, Arthur Kiely, Tom DeSylvia, Glenn Welch, Tom Lester.
1991 teams
1917 Butte High football, 1956 Butte Central football, 1946 Butte American Legion Baseball, 1960 Butte High football.
1993 individuals
Frank Brown, Tom Mulcahy, Wilbur Johnson, Wes Dowling, Otto Simon, Bill Krum, John Good, Steve Sullivan, Charlie Judd, Georgia Byrne, Bill Roberts, Sas Keane, Connie Carelli Fisher, Bob Sparks, Sonny Lubick.
1993 teams
1949 Butte American Legion baseball; 1919, 1924, 1925, 1928, 1942, 1948 Butte Central football; 1900, 1901, 1903, 1904, 1907, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1918, 1923, 1924, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1935, 1937, 1940, 1941, 1951 Butte High football; 1924, 1925, 1928, 1932, 1933, 1943 Butte High basketball, 1905, 1909, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1931, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1943 Butte High track.
1995 individuals
Gene Allen, Dan Sullivan, Bill Peoples, John Frankino, Jim Wedin, Bob Renz, Bill Kambich, Charlie McAuliffe, JoAnn Carle, Ron Ueland, Bob Rae, Gus Janhunen, Forrest Wilson, Rose Stosich.
1995 teams
1951 Butte High football, 1952 Butte Central football, 1955 Butte Central football, 1957 Butte High basketball, 1953 Butte American Legion baseball, 1958 Butte High basketball, 1953 Butte Central football.
1997 individuals
Joe Antonietti, Frank Spear, Bob Moodry, Lue Jean Gronley, Don Ueland, Evan Roberts, Tom LeProwse, Hudson Willse, Jon McElroy, Liza Merrifield Dennehy, Helen Sprunger, Pat Ogrin, Ron “Swede” Kenison, Glen Welch, Frank Semansky.
1997 teams
1952 New Deal Bar softball, 1961 Butte High football, 1964 Butte High football, 1964 Butte Central football, 1963 Butte High track, 1965 Butte Central football, 1964 Butte High cross country.
1999 individuals
Jack Cavanaugh, Shirley Penaluna Shea, Jerry Olds, Jack Kyllingstad, Barbara Horst Williams, Mark Schulte, Sam Leeper, George Grant, Jim Street, Bill Salonen, Evel Knievel, Norman Ygnatowiz.
1999 teams
1966 Butte High track, 1968 Butte Central cross country, 1967 Butte High football, 1969 Butte Central football, 1968 Butte High football, 1970 Montana Tech football.
2001 individuals
Ray Becky, Bill Sever, Jim Kello, Gary Carle, Buddy Walsh, Veronica O’Brien, Doc Jordan, Cathy Gallagher-Brannon, Harry Shaffer, Ed Kelly, Gene Fogarty.
2001 teams
1908 Montana Tech football, 1969 Butte High girls’ swimming, 1964 DeLuxe men’s softball, 1970 Butte High girls’ swimming, 1965 Lucky Lager women’s softball, 1971 Butte Central football, 1966 DeLuxe men’s softball, 1972 Butte High girls’ swimming, 1968 Lucky Lager women’s softball, 1972 Butte Central football, 1969 Lucky Lager women’s softball, 1973 Butte Central football.
2003 individuals
Joe Antonietti, Jim Bertoglio, Mick Dennehy, Jim Hanley, Shawna Hanley, Mike Houlihan, Len Kelly, Don McAuliffe, Charlie Merrifield, Brian Morris, Sheila Penaluna, Joe Roberts, Dave Silk.
2003 teams
1944 Mines Navy V-12, 1945 McQueen, 1946 Silver Bow Parks, 1947 North Side, 1948 Silver Bow Parks, 1948 South Side, 1950 South Side, 1951 Miners Union, 1952 McQueen, 1953 Miners Union, 1954 Miners Union, 1957 McQueen and 1960 Copper League baseball teams; 1905 Butte High football; 1971 Butte Central boys’ cross country; 1972 Butte Central boys’ cross country, 1973 Butte Central boys’ cross country, 1974 Butte High boys’ track, 1975 Butte High boys’ track.
2005 individuals
Ron Collins, Bob Schulte, Tom Kelly, Paul Dennehy, Jack Whelan, Jim Patrick, Pat Foley, Tom Davis, Steve Stosich, Meg (Haran) Murphy, John Mike Downey, Anna Wherry.
2005 teams
1942 Butte High boys’ ski, 1943 Butte High boys’ ski, 1949-52 Butte Buzzies football, 1953 Butte High girls’ ski, 1977 Butte High football, 1978 Butte Central boys’ golf, 1978 Butte Central boys’ basketball.
2007 individuals
Gary Barker, Heidi Hemmert-Skelton, Mike Judd, Jim Sullivan, Don Peoples, Tom Pomroy, Don Rae, Brendon Rohan, Pete Schonsberg.
2007 teams
1947 Montana School of Mines basketball, 1980 Butte Central boys’ cross country, 1960 Butte High boys’ and girls’ ski teams, 1981 Butte High wrestling, 1961 Butte High boys’ and girls’ ski teams, 1981 Butte Central girls’ track, 1962 Butte High girls’ ski, 1981 Butte High boys’ track, 1980 Butte High wrestling.
2009 individuals
Jim Anderson, Bob Biastoch, Vicki Brown, Gitch Combo, John Dawson, Dan Hanley, Pat Kearney, Emmett Lyons, Bob Roach, Rick Sparks.
2009 teams
1942 Butte boxing, 1963 Butte boxing, 1965 Butte boxing, 1981 Butte High football, 1981 Butte Central girls’ basketball, 1982 Butte High wrestling, 1982 Butte High boys’ track, 1982 Butte Central boys’ track, 1982 Butte Central girls’ track.
2011 individuals
Louie Bartoletti, Bill Cords, Kelly Davis, Bob Green, Don Heater, Tom Kenney, Dan Mahoney, Holly Maloney, George Paul, Larry Richards, John Thatcher.
2011 teams
1966 Butte High boys’ ski, 1968 Butte High boys’ ski, 1971 Montana Tech football, 1982 Butte Central girls’ basketball, 1983 Butte High wrestling, 1983 Butte Central wrestling, 1983 Butte Central girls’ track.
2013 individuals
Todd Ericson, Jim Janhunen, Tami Mathewson, Dave MacDougal, Jim Michelotti, Tim Mueller, Josh Paffhausen, Wayne Paffhausen, Dick Roche, Dan Ueland, Dick Wilson.
2013 teams
Butte Independent Football League champions, 1984 Butte High wrestling, 1984 Butte Central boys’ basketball, 1984 Butte High boys’ basketball, 1984 Butte High girls’ golf, 1984 Butte High girls’ track, 1985 Butte High wrestling, 1985 Butte High girls’ golf.
2015 individuals
Bert Markovich, Deann Johnson, Jack O’Billovich, Joe Simonich, John Metz, Kellie Johnson, Mick Delaney, Monte Sever, Bernie Boyle.
2015 teams
1986 Butte High wrestling, 1987 Butte High wrestling, 1988 Butte High wrestling, 1986 Butte High girls’ track, 1987 Butte High girls’ track, 1989 Butte Central boys’ golf, 1996 Butte Central girls’ softball, 1997 Butte Central girls’ softball.
2017 individuals
Randy Street, Jamie (Wolstein) Toivonen, Eric Dunmire, Rick Lyons, Marck DeVore, Joe Petroni, Mark Johnston, Anna Fabatz, Dan Hodge, Fraser MacDonald.
2017 teams
1992 Butte High softball, 1988-89 Bute High wrestling, 1991 Butte High football, 1991-2 Butte Central boys’ basketball.
2019 individuals
Tom Hauck, Tom Pomroy Sr., Krystal Ackerman-Carlson, Walter Lonner, Kathy (Bender) Means, Paul Riley, Bob Rowling, Jason Street, Barry Sullivan.
2019 teams
1979 Montana Tech football, 1981 Montana Tech volleyball, 1989-90 Butte High wrestling, 1994 Butte High volleyball.
2022 individuals
Tony Banovich, Corey Bolton, Ron Collins Sr., Don Douglas, Deanna Dugdale, the late Hoot Gibson, Bob Given, Ray Jay Johnson, Gary Kane, Julie (Leary) Nadeau, the late Don “Lefty” Orlich, Tom Roberts, Debbie Silk and the late Ed Yeo.
2022 teams
1982 Montana Tech volleyball, 1983 Montana Tech football, 1990-91 Butte High wrestling, 1995 Butte High softball, 1996 Butte Central-Anaconda swimming.
2024 individuals
Steve “Coachie” Schulte, Ron Richards, Matt Buckley, Martha (Apostel) Lonner, Wanda Jean (Matteson) Olson, Linda (Lyons) Paull, Dan Lean, Erin Popovich, Kyle Smith, Don Tamietti, Bruce Sayler, Betty Merrifield and John Rickman.
2024 teams
1983, 1984 and 1985 Montana Tech men’s basketball, 1988-89 Butte High boys’ basketball, 1991-92 Butte High wrestling, 1996 Butte High softball, 1999 Butte Central softball.
2026 individuals (to be inducted July 24-25, 2026)
Brian Bolton, Bernie Brophy, Shirley Chesterfield-Stanton, Susie Hogart-Harrington, John Kovacich, Scott Paffhausen, Kevin Parvinen, the late Jane Pascoe, Don Peoples Jr., the late Greg Salo, Butch Starin and Chunky Thatcher.
2026 teams (to be inducted July 24-25, 2026
1972 Mile High All-Star baseball team, 1976 Northwest All-Star softball team, 1995 Butte High wrestling team, 2000 Butte Central softball team and 2009 Butte High girls’ track team -
Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week: Kendallyn Schad and Jacob Galle
Butte High junior Kendallyn Schad and Butte High senior Jacob Galle are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week.
Schad takes home the girls’ honor after leading Butte High to an 8-3 win over Billings Skyview Friday in Billings. The first baseman went 3 for 5 with a run scored and four RBIs in the victory.
Schad belted two-run singles in each of the first two innings as the Bulldogs built a 5-0 lead.
Through 12 games, Schad leads the Bulldogs with a .405 batting average. She also leads the teams with 10 RBIs and 11 runs scored. Schad, who has three doubles on the season, carries a .952 fielding percentage at first base.
She has also been a key contributor for the Butte High basketball team.
Galle takes home the boys’ honor after winning both hurdles races at Butte Central’s John Tomich Invitational Saturday at Bulldog Memorial Stadium. He posted personal-best times in both events.
Galle won the 110-meter hurdles in 15.28 seconds. He won the 300-meter hurdles in 41.57 seconds. The 110 time reached the qualifying mark for the Class AA State meet. That was the third time he reached that standard this season. His 300 time missed the qualifying mark by 7 hundredths of a second.
Galle, who was a key contributor to the Butte High defense last football season, competed at the Class AA State meet in the 110 hurdles last year.
For the fourth year, Leskovar Honda, home of the non-commission sales staff that always has your back, is teaming up with the ButteCast to honor the finest student-athletes from the Mining City to encourage more children to get up, get out and try all kinds of sports and activities.
Photos of Schad and Galle courtesy Alycia Holland Photography.
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KC basketball schedule
Following is the Knights of Columbus Athletic Club’s four-man basketball schedule for the week of May 4.
Monday
7 p.m. — Rosary Rattlers vs. Washington Generals
8 p.m. — Poi Time vs. Parish
9 p.m. — Parish vs. HoopballasTuesday
7 p.m. — Crib Crew vs. Someday Starters
8 p.m. — Moof’s Dawgs vs. Poi TimeWednesday
7 p.m. —ButteSports vs. Hoopballas
8 p.m. —Someday Starters vs. Washington GeneralsThursday
7 p.m. —ButteSports vs. Rosary Rattlers
8 p.m. —Someday Starters vs. Moof’s Dawgs
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Five 49s lead Week 3 of trap league
Riley Rigby, Ken Rustad, Garrett St. Clair, Larry St. Clair and Jake Taverna each broke 49 out of 50 targets to top individual standings during Week 3 of the Butte Trap Club’s spring league.
Rich Long, Tim Cassidy and Dean Vesco each broke 48 targets, while Kohlton Fultz, Les Anderson and James Little each shot a 47. (Results)
Anna Ledden’s 45 topped women’s shooters. Michelle Andrene shot a 41, while Andrea Largent shot a 33.
Taverna’s 48 led wobble scores. Mel Kie and Chris Andersen each shot a 41 on the wobble.
Through three weeks, Triple S Construction sits atop team scratch standings at 562. WET 1 is next at 539, followed by Pro Repair at 535.
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Episode No. 343: John Kovacich
John Kovacich is going to double dip this summer as the Butte Sports Hall of Fame inducts its 20th class.
John will finally go in as an individual inductee during the July 24-25 ceremonies at the Butte Civic Center. He was voted into the Hall by the selection committee earlier this year.
John will also go in as a member of the 1972 Mile High All-Star baseball team. That team is still Butte’s only 12-year-old (and under) Little League baseball team to win a state title and advance to the West Regional in San Bernardino, California.
Oh, and John was a member of the 1977 Butte High state championship football team that was inducted into the Butte Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. John was a first-team All-State defensive back and a second-team All-State punter on the team that finished the season with an 11-0 record. The Bulldogs gave up just 20 total points that season, and it was named as Butte High’s best team of the 20th Century by Pat Kearney.
John, who also started two seasons on Butte High’s basketball team, took his talents to the University of Montana. He helped the Grizzlies win the 1982 Big Sky Conference football title.
Today, John is retired and living in Missoula, though that’s not how he puts it. He says he’s from Butte and vacationing in Missoula.
Earlier today, I met with John inside the Vault at the Metals Sports Bar & Grill for a fun conversation. Listen in as John talks about playing for championship teams in Little League, high school and college.
Listen as he talks about many of his coaches and teammates and how he is still connected with so many of those great people. Listen as he talks about joining so many of them in the Butte Sports Hall of Fame.
Today’s episode is presented by Thriftway Super Stops. Download the TLC app and start saving today.
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No. 342: Shirley Chesterfield-Stanton
Shirley Chesterfield-Stanton will be inducted into the Butte Sports Hall of Fame this July.
She is one of the many overdue members of the Class of 2026. While some might not have recognized that name when the class was announced in February, Shirley was well known in Helena.
The retired physical education teacher spent 40 years coaching at Helena Capital. She coached gymnastics and track, and her teams won multiple state titles in both sports. She also served as announcer for Helena Capital football, basketball and volleyball.
Shirley was a star in track, gymnastics and volleyball at Montana State University from 1972 through 1976. She qualified for the National Track & Field Championships in 1975. She was also a part of four state championship softball teams.
That athletic career got its start in the Mining City, after her parents moved to town when she was in the sixth grade. In the days before Title IX, Shirley grew up dreaming of competing in sports. There were not a lot of opportunities for girls, however.
She played volleyball at Emerson Elementary before competing in track, gymnastics and cross country at Butte High. Then, the girls had to wear smaller letters on their letter jackets, as not to offend the boys.
Today, girls have all kinds of opportunities in sports. That is largely because of the determination and perseverance of people like Shirley, who dedicated her life to athletics.
Shirley was inducted into the Montana Coaches Association Hall of fame in 2002, the Helena Sports Hall of Fame in 2009, and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2018. The Montana Coaches Association awarded her the National Distinguished Service award in 2024.
This July, she will finally take her rightful place in the Butte Sports Hall of Fame.
Today’s episode is presented by the Kvichak Fish Co. Think of it as salmon and halibut gone Girl Scout cookie. Place your order today.
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Ryan Hanson shines at Top 10 meet
Maroons grab wins on diamonds
MISSOULA —Ryan Hanson was not intimidated by the top competition Tuesday at Missoula County Stadium.
The Butte High senior posted a pair of personal-best marks to lead Mining City athletes at the Russ Pilcher Top 10 Meet. (Results)
Hanson won the long jump with a mark of 21 feet, 6 ¾ inches. He beat second-place Tamret Savik of Bigfork by a half an inch.
Hanson also reached a personal-best by clearing 6 feet, 4 inches to place second in the high jump. That is his best mark while officially competing for the Bulldogs. He also cleared 6-4 in an indoor meet in early March.
Landon Richards of Superior won the event by clearing 6-8.
Both of Hanson’s marks Tuesday would have qualified him for the Class AA State meet. Of course, he already reached qualifying standards in both events.
Fellow Butte High senior Camden Houchin placed fourth in the 1,600-meter race. The future Montana State Bobcat finished with a personal-best time of 4 minutes, 29.33 seconds.
Also for Butte High’s boys, senior Jacob Galle took seventh in the 110-meter hurdles, junior Brady Walsh took ninth in the long jump, and Colt Stenson finished 10th in the discus.
Butte High’s 1,600-meter relay team of Raeder Grey, Galle, Reece Cunneen and Houchin placed 10th.
Butte Central’s Danny McCartthy ran to ninth place in the 100.
On the girls’ side, Bulldog junior Cadence Graham ran to fifth place in the 300 hurdles and sixth in the 100 hurdles. She posted a personal-best time in each event. She finished the 100 hurdles in 15.99 and 46.61 in the 300 hurdles.
Both times qualified Graham for the Class AA State meet.
Graham also ran a leg of Butte High’s 1,600-meter relay team, which placed eighth. Evelyn Smth, Sophia Houchin and Wakely Burelson also ran a leg for the Bulldogs.
Butte High will compete at Butte Central’s John Tomich Invitational Saturday at Bulldog Memorial Stadium. The Bulldogs will also send a team to Friday’s Western AA Frosh Meet in Missoula.
McCarthy, Kellicut, Tippett win at Boulder track meet
BOULDER — Butte Central’s Danny McCarthy, Palmer Kellicut and Evyn Tippett posted wins to lead Butte Central’s track teams Friday at the Jefferson Invitational. (Results)
East Helena ran away with the boys’ title, scoring 153 points. Townsend took second at 91, finishing four points better than the host Panthers. Central placed sixth at 36,
On the girls’ side, Boulder won with 139 points. Townsend was second at 72, and Manhattan Christian placed third at 63. The Maroons took eighth in the 11-team meet with 19 points.
McCarthy, a junior, won the 100-meter race with a time of 11.44 seconds. He placed second in the 200.
Kellicut won the 110-meter hurdles, cross the finish line in 15.85 seconds. He also ran to third place in the 300 hurdles.
Also for the BC boys, freshman Henley Mansanit took fifth in the high jump.
Tippett, a freshman, won the girls’ 100-meter race, finishing in 13.88 seconds. She placed fourth in the 200.
Senior Caden Tippett placed fifth in the shot put for the Maroons, while freshman Harper McGree placed sixth in the 200.
Maroons rally for win
A seventh-inning rally carried Butte Central’s softball team to a 6-4 win over East Helena Tuesday in East Helena. (Boxscore)
The Maroons scored three runs in the top of the last inning. Natalie Osterman started the rally by working a walk. Kenzie McQueary was hit by a pitch before Kodee Badovinac reached on a one-out error, and Osterman and McQueary scored.
Badovinac raced home on a second error on the play.
Braelynn Schelin got the Vigilantes to go down in order, preserving the victory. Schelin pitched the distance, striking out 14 Vigilantes to get the win.
BC’s offense used five hits and took advantage of six East Helena errors. Blake Smith, McQueary, Badovinac, Zayonna Otherbull and Ryan Olson singled in the win. Badovinac drove in two runs. Olson knocked in one.
The win came three days after the Maroons split a pair of Southwestern A games in the Bitterroot Valley. Central went to Stevensville for a 7-5 win before falling 9-8 at Hamilton.
Luci Fantini blasted a home run, and Schelin hit a double and a single to lead the Maroons in the win over Stevi. (Boxscore) Schelin drove in a pair of runs.
Osterman poked two singles, while Smith hit one. Schelin pitched the distance, fanning nine in the win.
Emma Tan homered and Maddix Yaeger hit a pair of doubles and a single to lead the Yellowjackets.
Central’s rally in Hamilton came up just a little short. (Boxscore) One week after falling 15-0 to the Broncs, BC scored four runs in the top of the seventh.
Mariah Johnson went 3 for 3 with a walk, and RBI and four runs scored from the leadoff spot to lead the Broncs. Addalyn Henderson doubled, and Hayleigh Savage and Dawsyn Ekin each hit two singles for Hamilton.
McQueary, Osterman and Otherbull doubled to lead the Maroons. Smith and Schelin each added a pair of singles. Fantini and Badovinac also hit a single.
McQueary drove in a pair of runs. Osterman, Badovinac, Schelin and Otherbull knocked in one.
The Maroons are back in action Thursday when they welcome Livingston to Stodden Park for a 3 p.m. game. That game was originally scheduled for March 28.
Bailey blast Bulldog softball
Bailey Bridger belted a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning Monday, lifting Missoula Sentinel to a 9-8 over the Butte High softball team. (Boxscore)
The game-winning blast came after the Bulldogs took an 8-7 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the inning.
Alyssa Hanninen, who struck out nine in the complete-game win, also homered for the Spartans. Payton Taylor hit two doubles, while Ella Wingo and Gigi Nimlos each hit one.
Kendallyn Schad went 3 for 4 with a double and three RBIs to lead the Bulldogs in the loss.
Ally Godbout, Gracie Jonart and Mattie Stepan added doubles, while Brittyn Klima, Allie Becker and Brea Henderson each hit a single. Cliry Conway worked a pair of walks, while Reese Johnson walked once.
The loss came after the Bulldogs split a pair of Western AA games in Kalispell.
Butte High beat Flathead 1-0 on Friday. (Boxscore). Less than 24 hours later, Butte High dropped a 12-5 decision to Glacier. (Boxscore)
Klima singled in pinch runner Savannah Stosich with the game’s only run in the top of the first inning against Flathead.
Henderson took over from there. The freshman pitcher struck out eight batters and allowed just three hits in the complete-game win. She walked one.
Butte High got four hits off Flathead pitcher June Stickney, who struck out eight in the hard-luck loss. Jonart, Becker and Conway added singles for the Bulldogs.
A nine-run fourth inning sunk the Bulldogs in Saturday’s battle with Glacier.
Ava Grady hit a home run and two doubles to lead the Wolfpack. She drove in five runs. Addyson Cunningham also homered in the win, and Olivia Warriner struck out 11 Bulldogs.
Schad hit a double and a single to lead the Bulldogs. She also worked a walk. Jonart and Klima each hit a single and drove in two runs. Becker singled in one run.
Butte High will head to Billings later this week for three non-conference games. The Bulldogs play Billings West on Friday. They will stay overnight to take on Skyview and Senior on Friday.
BC grabs pair of wins
Butte Central once again saw its game against Butte High washed out by wet weather on Monday.
The Maroons, though, still picked up home victories since last report.
The Maroons pounded Townsend 16-4 Tuesday afternoon at 3 Legends Stadium. (Boxscore) That came three days after Saturday’s 10-6 win over Livingston. (Boxscore)
Tuesday’s victory over Townsend was called after five innings by the run rule.
Colt Hassler and Kelton Berger each went 2 for three with three RBIs to lead BC’s 10 hit attack against Townsend. Leadoff hitter Trapper Stajcar went 3 for 4 with two RBIs. He also joined Hassler, Gunnar O’Brien, Jack Nagle and Beau McGree with two runs scored.
Nagle and Berger tripled in the win.
McGree and O’Brien singled for the Maroons. Cohen Stajcar worked a pair of walks. Drew Kachmarik, Nagle, O’Brien and McGree each walked once.
Hassler, Nagle and Kelsen Brackett pitched in the win.
Keaton Boylan tripled and singled to lead the Bulldogs, who managed five hits. Traven Chamberlin hit two singles, and Luke Tullos added one.
O’Brien had a big game at the dish and on the bump to lead BC past Livingston. He pitched six innings to grab the victory. He struck out four and worked around six walks.
At the plate, O’Brien went 3 for 3 with a walk and three runs scored.
Brackett and Berger doubled, while McGree hit two singles to knock in two runs. Berger also hit a single, as did Nagle and Cohen Stajcar. McGree, Berger and Nagle each knocked in two runs.
Hassler got the last three outs on the mound, helping O’Brien complete the three-hit win.
Ben Cipriani, Lliam Edwards and Brentin Allgood hit singles for the Rangers.
The Maroons are back in action Friday when they head to East Helena to take on the Vigilantes.
Dogs back in action
Thanks to Monday’s postponement with Butte Central, Butte High’s baseball teams did not play since last Tuesday’s loss at Missoula Big Sky.
Butte High is primed for two home games this week, and it looks like the weather forecast will cooperate this time as the Kalispell schools come to town for Western AA games at 3 Legends Stadium.
Butte High will host Flathead at 2 p.m. Friday before taking on Glacier at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
The Bulldogs split with the Kalispell teams earlier this month in Kalispell. Butte High rolled to a 21-5 win over Flathead before falling 1-0 to the Wolfpack.
A makeup date for Butte High’s game against Butte Central has not yet been set.
Tennis teams set for home matches
No reports from recent action from the Butte High and Butte Central tennis teams have been received in time for this report.
The Maroons were set to play Saturday in Anaconda, while the Bulldogs were headed to ta Western AA meet in Missoula.
Butte Central’s teams will be at home Friday to take on Lewistown at Stodden Park. Butte High’s junior varsity teams will get in on that action.
The Bulldog varsity teams will head to Missoula Saturday to play with Glacier, Flathead and Missoula Sentinel. Butte High will be at home next Tuesday as Missoula Big Sky, Sentinel and Belgrade come to town.
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These 17 keep Mariah’s message alive
When you tell somebody that you quit drinking, you will get immediate compliments and congratulations.
People you hardly know will be taken aback, and they will be proud of you. I know this because I quit drinking alcohol 18 and a half years ago.
My last drink came early in the morning of Oct. 28, 2007. It was two weeks before the birth of our second child.
I was also on a collision course with a divorce because I did not have an off switch when I drank alcohol. One was too many and 24 was not enough. I needed to quit, but I did not know that I needed to quit.
Until Oct. 28, that is.
That, however, is not a date I celebrate because there is nothing good about that date in my eyes. Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007 was when my good friend Leo McCarthy lost his daughter.
I spent that Saturday working for The Montana Standard. I covered Montana Tech’s Senior Day football game against Montana Western.
After writing the story of Tech’s 28-21 win over the Bulldogs, I helped put the sports pages together before sneaking out the front door of the paper to unwind at Maloney’s Bar just before midnight. Co-workers heard the call over the police scanner not long after I left.
The call was for three 14-year-old Butte girls who were hit by an underage drunk driver as they walked on a trail along Blacktail Lane. Mariah McCarthy was flown to Missoula, where she was pronounced dead.
Her friends, Valerie Kilmer and Kaitlyn Okrusch, suffered injuries that kept them in the local hospital for several days. Their physical wounds eventually healed, but the emotional scars will likely be there forever.
Before that night, I was perfectly content living a dangerous and destructive lifestyle. I was fine with our culture that accepted drunk driving and underage drinking as something we all just do sometimes.
When someone we knew got arrested for driving drunk, we would blame the police officer. Our first question would inevitably be, “Who was the cop?” We would turn into defense attorneys, feeling sorry for ourselves and our friends as we put our lives — and the lives of strangers — in jeopardy because it was too tough to take a cab ride home.
That one October night, tough, changed everything.
The news that my friend lost his daughter, who was 10 years older than my oldest daughter, hit me hard. The sad days in the aftermath of the tragedy completely took away my desire to drink.
Instead of picturing myself in the shoes of the driver of the crash, like we too often do, I could only see myself in Leo’s shoes. I kept hugging and kissing my daughter to the point that I was bugging her that Sunday and the rest of the following week.
Several days after the tragedy, I made a promise to my little girl that I would never drink again, and I have lived up to that promise for nearly two decades.
That promise was made because the death of Mariah made me take a long, hard look in the mirror. I decided that if my children were going to grow up to drink and drive, they would not learn it from me.
Following the lead of Leo, I decided I was going to do my part to break the destructive cycle.
Along with his wife, Janice, and daughter, Jenna, Leo started Mariah’s Challenge. At Mariah’s funeral, Leo promised Mariah’s friends that if they did their part to break the cycle, he would have scholarship money for them to go to college.
He thought he was talking to just a few friends, but it turns out an entire community was listening. In April of 2009, the first Mariah’s Challenge Scholarships were awarded to 31 high school seniors.
Since then, Mariah’s Challenge has doled out a half a million dollars, $1,000 at a time. This May 21, we will see 17 more “Mariah’s Messengers,” as Leo calls them, awarded a scholarship at a ceremony at Montana Tech.
Those recipients are Xaiden Daly, Ava Field, Ally Godbout, Preston Jensen, Kylah Johnson, McKenna LeCoure, Peyton Liva, Jaydyn Mason, Caden Phillips, Reece Zahler and Ziggy Okrusch of Butte High; Molly Peck, Will McGree, Ryan Peoples and Caden Tippett of Butte Central; Brayden Villasenor of Anaconda; and Butte native Marcus Schutey of East Helena.
They will be honored for living by the ideals of Mariah’s Challenge, which means refraining for drinking under age and never getting into a vehicle driven by someone who is impaired.
That is no easy task.
My sobriety, which followed a decade and a half of partying hard, actually came easy for me. That is because I had so much positive reinforcement.
Sure, it took several weeks to convince my friends and coworkers that I was really giving up the booze. Eventually, though, they knew that I meant it, and they were proud of me.
My wife was proud of me, and so was my little girl. As our next two children started to grow up, they, too, were impressed that they never saw me with a drink in my hand. They never saw me drunk, and I think they all know that I made the change for them.
My parents were proud of me, and so were my grandparents before they passed. People I don’t even know were proud of me.
To this day, if I bring up, even strangers will tell me how proud they are.
Literally every day of my life, I find some sort of positive reinforcement to stay away from alcohol. There is plenty of negative reinforcement, too, because I still remember how destructive of a lifestyle I was living.
But it is the positive support that makes the difference.
What these 17 Mariah’s Messengers have accomplished, however, has come despite experience the exact opposite. They live every day under constant peer pressure to drink. They often must sacrifice friendships because they are standing by their convictions.
I saw that firsthand when my oldest daughter went to her last prom four years ago. After pictures and dinner with friends, she came home for an hour or so to wait for the dance to start.
She did that because all her friends were going to a hotel room to drink. The room was booked by some parents of her friends, and I think they might have provided the booze, too.
Delaney stayed away from that because of the pact we made in the days after Mariah’s death. It was a decision that could not have been easy. It was a decision that cost her friends.
That is the kind of decision the 17 scholarship winners from 2026 must make all the time. While I believe that the younger generations are light years ahead of mine when it comes to avoiding drinking and driving, alcohol still plays a very dominant role in our culture.
These young men and women were not around to when the tragedy that took Mariah shook our community, so their commitment is probably much more difficult to live up to than the first classes of scholarship winners.
Making things worse is that we offer very little for our teenagers to do a night. We lost our indoor movie theater, and we have no mall or teen center for them to gather.
Butte has turned into the town from the great Hal Ketchum song “Small Town Saturday Night.” We are basically daring our kids to go to the outskirts of town and drink, and the clock is only ticking on the next inevitable tragedy.
That is why these 17 Mariah’s Messengers — and the 500 or so who preceded them — are so special. That is why their commitment is so important.
If one of these 17 is on your graduation list, double the amount you were planning to put in that graduation card.
More importantly, tell them how amazing they are and how much you admire their dedication, strength and courage. Give them that same positive reinforcement that you would give to a stranger who told you he quit drinking.
Tell them thank you for keeping Mariah’s message going strong 18 and a half years after she left us.
— 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.
