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Bulldogs keep postseason hopes alive with white-knuckle victory in Dillon
Butte High evens record with third straight win
Butte High’s postseason hopes in baseball still have a pulse.
That comes after the Bulldogs went to Dillon to avenge an earlier loss with a 2-1 South Conference victory on Cubs Field at Ray Lynch Park.
The victory lifted Butte High to 8-8 on the season. While updated standings are hard to track down, the Bulldogs believe that their hopes of reaching a play-in game for the State tournament are still alive.
With three games, left, the Bulldogs will likely need to win all three, and possibly get some help. But there is apparently still a chance after the Bulldogs won their third straight game.
Senior third baseman Matthew Donaldson came through with a two-run single, scoring Will Stepan and Tegan Duffey to put the Bulldogs up 2-0 in the top of the third inning.
Thanks to some outstanding pitcher by Jaxon Williamson and Brooks Vincent, that hit stood up for the victory.
Williamson went five scoreless innings for the win. He gave up just two hits, struck out six and walked five. Vincent got the final six outs for the high-leverage save.
Andrew Bartlome hit a two-out single to bring in Taylor Handlos to cut the lead in half in the sixth. Trenton Moreni added a single moving Handlos to third, and Cohen Hartman worked a walk to load the bases.
But Vincent got Marcus Lagunas to pop out to Donaldson to end the threat. Vincent also stranded a runner in the bottom of the seventh.
Hartman and Will Hansen held Butte High to four hits, but that proved to be enough for the Bulldogs.
Karsen McEwen joined Stepan with a double, while Gunnar Bushman joined Duffy and Donaldson with a single. Donaldson also worked a pair of walks in the crucial win.
The Bulldogs will now have a little break before they pick up their schedule Monday with a game against Lone Peak, which will be the home team, a 3 Legends Stadium. Butte High will then host Missoula Sentinel for a Senior Day battle next Thursday. They close the regular season Saturday, May 17, in Livingston.
The victory over Dillon followed home wins over Lone Peak and Livingston Friday and Saturday. Butte beat Lone Peak 7-2 before walking off with a thrilling 5-4 win over the Rangers.
In Saturday’s thriller, the Rangers tied the game at 4 when a bad hop led to a run and an unfair blown save for Vincent in the seventh.
But Logan Carden led off the bottom of the inning with a walk and a stolen base. Tocher Lee then hustled down the line to beat out an infield single. His speed forced an errant through that allowed Carden to score the winning run.
The hit was the third of the game for Lee, though the boxscore kept by an app incorrectly called his third hit an error.
He was the only Bulldog batter with a hit against lefty freshman Carter Anderson. But Butte High took advantage of 10 walks, a hit by pitch and three errors.
Lucas Harris-Huerta walked three times, while McEwen and Carden each walked twice.
Vincent got the vulture win by getting one out.
That came after chase Lubick ran into the pitch count limit with two out in the top of the seventh. Lubick put in a yeoman effort, striking out three and working around seven hits and six walks.
A day earlier, Harris-Huerta struck out nine batters and went the distance in the win over Lone Peak. He scattered five hits, gave up two earned runs and walked one.
Harris-Huerta also singled and drove in two runs. Stepan tripled and Donaldson hit a double. Duffy, McEwen and Kodye Kjersten singled.
BC rally falls short of Big Horns
Butte Central rallied for five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday at 3 Legends Stadium.
Unfortunately for the Maroons, that was not enough because Lone Peak put up a five spot in the top half of the inning. The result was an 11-8 win over the Maroons.
Sid Morris went 3 for 4 with two RBISs, while Ebe Grabow homered and doubled to lead the 13-hit Lone Peak attack.
Morris also pitched six innings, fanning seven and walking one to get the win.
The Maroons poked nine hits in the loss. Jack Nagle and Tony Stajcar each hit a double and a single to lead the Maroons.
Trapper Stajcar added two singles and four stolen bases, while Gunnar O’Brien, Kelon Keene and Treigh Hollow each added a single for BC.
That loss came after an up-and-down week that saw BC beat Dillon 5-4 on Thursday and lose to Belgrade 19-0 on Saturday. Both games were played at 3 Legends Stadium.
O’Brien pitched six and two thirds inning and Kelton Berger got the final out for the save as BC upset the Beavers on Thursday.
Colt Hassler doubled and drove in two runs, while Beau McGree and O’Brien each singled and registered an RBI. Trapper Stajcar also singled for BC.
Hartman struck out seven in the hard-luck loss for Dillon. Moreni hit a double and a single, while Hartman and Garrett Tackett each hit two singles.
Saturday’s game was one the Maroons would just as soon forget. Belgrade used 15 hits to do their damage. Chance Stephens doubled in a three-hit game to highlight the Belgrade attack. Brandt Turcotte also added three hits, while Andrew Hazen doubled and singled while knocking in four runs from the No. 9 hole.
Fay Wells-Minthron pitched the distance and struck out five in the game that was called by the run rule after four innings.
Trapper Stajcar accounted for both of BC’s hits. Both were singles, and Stajcar swiped two bags.
The Maroons will celebrate Senior Day when they take on Townsend Thursday at 3 p.m. at 3 Legends Stadium. BC then closes the season Friday at Lone Peak.
Beavers deny Central softball
The Dillon Beavers jumped out to a 7-0 lead and downed Bute Central 14-4 Tuesday in a Southwestern A softball game in Dillon.
Kylie Konen and Kinzy Creighton both hit home runs to lead the Dillon 12-hit attack in the win. Creighton went 3 for 4 with three RBIs. Konen also drove in three, as did Bailey Blake.
Tymber Barnes, who hit a triple and a double, pitched the distance, striking out eight in the win. The game was called after six innings by the run rule.
Braelynn Schelin hit a double and a single to lead the Maroons. Natalie Osterman added two ingles. Cambri Campbell, Kenzie McQueary and Sophia Gelling each added one.
The battle with Dillon came after BC went 1-1 in conference games Saturday in the Bitterroot Valley. BC fell 10-0 at Hamilton before bouncing back for an 18-10 win at Corvallis.
Schelin struck out 11 batters to get the win against Corvallis. She also hit two doubles, drove in two runs, scored two runs and swiped two bases.
Osterman hit a double and two singles, and McQueary added three singles. Campbell and Evyn Smith hit two singles, and Kodee Badovinac, Zayonna Otherbull and Stajcar each hit one. Osterman and Otherbull joined Schelin with two RBIs.
In the morning game, Mel Race held the Maroons to four hits as the Broncs won the game that was called by the run rule after five innings.
Marly Mansanti, who later left the game with an injury, tripled, and McQueary doubled. Schelin and Stajcar singled.
Central will play four games as it hosts the Laverne Combo Invitational Friday and Saturday at Stodden Park.
Howard one-hits Bulldogs
Butte High could not parlay Saturday’s Senior Day win over Missoula Hellgate into a winning streak Tuesday in Helena.
Instead, the Bulldogs ran into Faith Howard. The Helena High ace struck out 13 batters and held the Bulldogs to one hit as the Bengals topped Butte High 4-0.
Keira Campbell and Heidi Ricketts each poked two hits to lead the Bengal offensive, which took advantage of five Bulldog errors. None of the runs were scored against Butte High starter Ashlinn Mullaney were earned.
Mullaney pitched five innings, while eighth grader Brea Henderson, who picked up the in in the junior varsity game, pitched one.
Mullaney, who singled for Butte’s lone hit, struck out eight in the complete-game win on Saturday. She also helped her own cause with two doubles. Allie Becker also hit two doubles. She joined Madisyn Swanson with three RBIs.
Swanson, Kendallyn Schad, Gracie Jonart and Mattie Stepan singled in the win.
The Bulldogs broke the game open with seven runs in the bottom of the third inning.
Thursday in Missoula, the Bulldogs dropped a 6-4 decision to Sentinel
Sydney Goldbar homered and joined Kai Gillis with two RBIs in the win for the Spartans. Gillis doubled.
Reese Johnson smacked two hits and drove in three runs from the leadoff spot to lead the Bulldogs. Ferriter joined her with two hits. Both hit doubles. Stepan and Schad added singles for the Bulldogs.
Bute High will Thursday at Helena Capital before closing the regular season Saturday at Missoula Big Sky.
BC boys take second in Dillon
Butte Central’s track teams put up impressive performances Friday at the Dillon Invitational at Vigilante Field. (Results)
The Maroon boys took second in the 10-team meet, scoring 127.2 points. The host Beavers won with 138.4.
Central took fourth on the girls’ side with 34 points. Dillon dominated the meet, scoring 284 points for the win. Leadore, Idaho took second at 47, and Whitehall finished third at 42.
Senior Keefer McGree and sophomore Danny McCarthy both picked up a pair of victories to lead the Central boys in the meet.
McGree won both hurdles races, with BC freshman teammate Palmer Kellicut placing third in the 110 hurdles and second in the 300. McGree won the 110-meter hurdles in 16 seconds flat, once again eclipsing the qualifying standard for the Class A State meet. He won the 300 hurdles in 42.5 seconds.
McCarthy picked up wins in the 100- and 200-meter races. He won the 100 in 11.4 seconds, edging BC senior Patrick Stimatz, who finished in 11.6 seconds. McCarthy then won the 200 in 24 seconds flat. Junior Will McGree picked up a victory for the Maroons. He jumped 35 feet, 9 inches to claim the triple jump title. He also took fourth in the javelin.
Senior Justus McGree won the long jump with a leap of 19-7 ¼. He took third in the high jump.
Central also swept the relay titles. Keefer McGree, Stimatz, Kellicut and McGee ran the short relay, while Will McGree, Grady Button, Berkley Lakkala and Teghan Sparks ran the long relay.
Senior Michael Peck took fourth in the shot put and discus. Maroon sophomore Ayden Abraham scored points for BC by placing sixth in the 100 and 200.
The Tippett sisters had a big day to lead the BC girls.
Eighth grader Evyn Tippett placed second in the 200 and third in the 100. Junior Caden Tippet took second in the shot put with a personal record of 31-3.
Junior Lexa Thompson placed fourth in the 1,600, while classmate Nicolina Galindo took fifth in the 800 and 1,600. Junior Morgan Hardy placed sixth in the 800, and classmate Molly Peck took sixth in the discus.
The Maroons will compete at a meet in Livingston on Saturday. That will be the final tune up before the May 16-17 Western A Divisional meet in Polson.
Dogs pick up wins against Big Sky
Team scores were not kept Thursday as the Butte High Bulldogs sent a big team to Missoula for a dual meet with Big Sky. (Results)
Butte High, though, returned with eight first-place finishes in their lone meet of the week.
Five of those titles were posted by Bulldog girls, with freshman Berkli Salusso, eighth grader Sophia Houchin, and seniors Mylee Demarais, Catherine Sholey and Brityn Stewart all putting up wins.
Salusso won the 400 meters with a personal-record time of 1 minute, 11.29 seconds. Houchin also put up a PR to win the 1,600 in 5:44.69.
Demaris won the shot put in 29 feet, 6 inches, Sholey took the discus with a PR of 92-10, and Stewart won the Javelin in 115. Sholey also put up a PR of 94-4 to take second in the javelin.
Butte High got second-place showings from Dylann Bartoletti (100), Milee Stillwagon (1,600), Cadence Graham (300 hurdles) and Emma Johnson (discus).
Graham reached the qualifying standard in the 300 hurdles with a personal-record time of 48.22 seconds.
Saege Grey (100) and Wakely Burleson (200) placed third for the Bulldogs.
On the boys’ side, seniors Dylan “Bobby” Bache and Brett Polich posted wins, as did junior Camden Houchin. All three reached qualifying marks.
Bache popped off a personal-best jump of 21 feet, 3 ½ inches to win the long jump. Houchin won the 800 with a PR of 1:59.45.
Polich didn’t reach a PR, but he again passed the standard with a mark of 48-10 in to win the shot put.
Junior Jacob Galle posted two PRs to take second in both hurdles races, while classmate Ryan Hanson took second in the high jump and long jump. He placed fourth in the triple jump.
Senior Sam Sampson ran to second in the 100 and 200.
Junior Blaire Hamry (3,200) and sophomore Jaeger Hansen (javelin) also placed second for Butte High. Hansen posted a personal record in 146-7.
Charles Killebrew (800), Matthew Marsenich (long jump), Tyler Olson (pole vault) and Preston Jensen (200) placed third. Jensen also took fourth in the 100.
The Bulldogs will head to Belgrade on Friday before hosting the Western AA Divisional meet May 16-17 at the Charlie Merrifield Track.
Vigilantes edge Maroons on court
East Helena topped Butte Central Thursday in a dual meet at Stodden Park.
The Vigilantes won eight of the 12 matches that were played on the day. East Helena’s boys turned back the Maroons 5-3, while the Vigilante girls won 3-1.
Owen McPartland and Aidan McPartland picked up straight-sets wins for the Maroons in singles. Owen McPartland also teamed with Jim Bradshaw for a straight-sets victory in doubles competition.
Central’s girls a thrilling doubles win from Presli Smith and Logan LeProwse. They edged Emma Stanley and Abby Daum in a 3-6, 6-2 (10-6) battle.
The Maroons were scheduled to play host to Stevensville Saturday at Stodden, but results from those matches have not yet been submitted.
BC will play at the Fergus Invitational Friday in Lewistown.
BOYS
East Helena 5, Butte Central 3
Singles
Owen McPartland, BC, def. Walker Young, E. Helena 6-2, 6-2
Dylan Burkarl, E. Helena, def Jim Bradshaw 6-0, 6-2
Aidan McPartland, BC, def. Gabe Ruth 6-4, 6-1
Gabe Ruth, E. Helena, def. Emmitt Foley
Ali Makhometov, E. Helena, def. Karter Lindau
Doubles
Jim Bradshaw/Owen McPartland, BC, def. Cory Ryman/Kourtland Smith 6-4, 6-4
Damon Young/Gene Cardwell, E. Helena, def. Aidan McPartland/Connor Hardy 6-1, 3-6 (10-8)
Ali Makhometor/Gene Cardwell, E. Helena def. James Holmes/Conan Holmes 4-6, 6-1 (10-7)GIRLS
East Helena 3, Butte Central 1
Singles
Taylor Hadley, E. Helena, def. Presli Smith 6-1, 6-0
Dempsey Hadley, E. Helena, def. Mackenzie Cupp 6-0, 6-4
Doubles
Presli Smith/Logan LeProwse, BC, def. Emma Stanley/Abby Daum 3-6, 6-2 (10-6)
Jordan Mungel/Brooke Hauer, E. Helena, def. Mackenzie Cupp/Sloan Peterson 6-1, 6-0
Eagles sweep Bulldogs at Stodden
Missoula Big Sky walked away with a sweep of Butte High’s tennis teams Tuesday at Stodden Park.
The Eagles won 6-2 on the boys’ side and 5-3 in girls’ play.
Bryce Gratton grabbed a straight-sets win for the Bulldogs at No. 4 doubles The other Bulldog boys’ win came from James Pearston and Max Pearston, who won a 7-6, 7-6 battle over Austin Anderson and Oliver Green.
In girls’ play, Murphy Sullivan picked up an impressive straight-sets win at No. 1 singles. Carliegh Donaldson did the same at No. 3. Butte also got a tiebreaker victory from Allissa Pennock at No. 4 singles.
Tuesday’s action came after a solid day for the Bulldogs Saturday in Missoula. Butte High fell 7-1 and 8-0 to Kalispell Glacier. Butte’s boys, though knocked off Kalispell Flathead 6-2, while the Bulldog girls played the Bravettes to a 4-all tie.
Against the Braves, Butte’s boys got wins from Tashi Hanley and Gratton in singles. Cole Skeel and Jason Johns teamed to grab a doubles win, as did Drew Hanson and Jaxon Jonart.
Butte High also got a pair of forfeit wins. Those went to the doubles team of Hunter LaPier and Kanyon Flynn and the team Pearston and Pearston.
Matthew Weldon picked up a No. 2 singles win for the Bulldogs’ lone victory against Glacier.
Murphy Sullivan’s 6-1, 4-6, 10-8 win over Azalea Bailey at No. 1 singles highlighted Butte High’s tie with Flathead.
Hallie Vanderlind won in straight sets at No. 3 singles, and Pennock won at No. 4. Ayva Gerry and Renna Hubber won a No. 3 doubles match.
Butte High has three more home dates before heading to the divisional tournament May 16-17 in Missoula. The Bulldogs play at home on Thursday and Saturday before taking on Butte Central on Monday.
BOYS
Butte High 6, Kalispell Flathead 2
Singles
Holden Askvig, Flathead, def. Josh Schrader 6-1, 6-2
Rowen Alexander, Flathead, def. Matthew Weldon 6-2, 6-3
Tashi Hanley, Butte, def. Badge Busse 6-0, 6-0
Bryce Gratton, Butte, def. Storm Lister 6-0, 5-1 (medical forfeit)
Doubles
Cole Skeel/Jason Johns, Butte, def. Aiden Skees/Frias Bailey 6-3, 6-1
Drew Hanson/Jaxon Jonart, Butte, def. Joel Jones/Kolbe Ghetkiere 6-3, 6-1
Hunter LaPier/Kanyon Flynn, Butte, won by forfeit
James Pearston/Max Pearston, Butte, won by forfeitKalispell Glacier 7, Butte High 1
Singles
Creed Norick, Glacier, def. Shrader 6-1, 6-0
Weldon, Butte, def. Aiden Lamb 6-0, 6-1
Gavin Rodriguez, Glacier, def. Hanley 6-3, 7-5
Weston Heller, Glacier, def. Philip Russo 6-4, 6-1
Doubles
Carl Bitney/Sam Engellant, Glacier, def. Skeel/Johns 6-2, 6-4
Dalyn Mathison/Brouden Jenkinson, Glacier, def. LaPier/Flynn 6-2, 6-1
Ethan Ronngren/Micah Klippenstein, Glacier, def. Pearston/Pearson 6-1, 6-1
Karson Stafford/A.J. Zlagar, Glacier, def. Miles Gasser/Matthew Lockmer 6-1, 6-0Missoula Big Sky 6, Butte High 2
Singles
Brody McGinnis, Big Sky, def. Schrader 6-1, 6-0
Liam B., Big Sky, def. Weldon 6-1, 6-2
Jace Meyer, Big Sky, def. Hanley 6-2, 6-1
Gratton, Butte, def. Derek Johnson 6-2, 6-3
Doubles
Colter Jensen/Eli Farley, Big Sky, def. Skeel/Johns 6-3, 6-0
Will V./Isaiah Reed, Big Sky, def. Lockmer/Mason Johnson 6-1, 6-0
Adrion Tribole/Jax Holloway, Big Sky, def. LaPier/Flynn 6-0, 6-3
Pearston/Pearston, Butte, def. Austin Anderson/Oliver Green 7-6, 7-6GIRLS
Butte High 4, Kalispell Flathead 4
Singles
Murphy Sullivan, Butte, def. Azalea Bailey 6-1, 4-6, 10-8
Allie Goff, Flathead, def. Rachel Law 6-1, 6-2
Hallie Vanderlinde, Butte, def. Piper McEwlin 6-4, 6-0
Allissa Pennock, Butte, def. Illyadssua Ba 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
Sara Loren/Nina Paris, Flathead, def. Chloe Jewell/Sienna Bradley
Sienna Blamhard/Hazel Bridge, Flathead, def. Aubbrie llmendinger/Isabella Babb6-1, 7-5
Ayva Gerry/Renna Hubber, Butte, def. Ava Malmin/Norah Adonetti 6-2, 6-2
Piper McEwlin/Breanna Martinez, Flathead def. Jordyn Yelenich/Emily Allred 6-0, 6-2Kalispell Glacier 8, Butte High 0
Singles
Leiloni Lennarz, Glacier, def. Sullivan 6-3, 6-0
Autumn Bashara, Glacier, def. Law 6-0, 6-1
Emilee Lister, Glacier, def. Allissa Pennock 6-0, 6-2
Lindsey Lemler, Glacier, def. Dankia Smith 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
Claire Ennis/Miley Fritz, Glacier, def. Jewell/Bradley 6-2, 6-4
Quinn Berkram/Red Sanders, Glacier, def. Gerry/Emily Allred 6-1, 6-1
Avery Bender/Bella Laseala, Glacier, def. McKenzie Reed/Rory Trafford 6-1, 6-3
Clara Narick/Amelia Bender, Glacier, def. Yelenich/Hubber 6-1, 6-3Missoula Big Sky 5, Butte High 3
Singles
Sullivan, Butte, def. Lauren Donovan 6-5, 7-5
Brynn Winward, Big Sky, def. Wanderlinde 6-2, 6-1
Carliegh Donaldson, Butte, def. Brooke Wiswell 6-2, 7-6
Pennock, Butte, def Claire Hyllon 6-3 5-7, 6-0
Doubles
Katie Williams/Chloe Dosier, Big Sky, def. Jewell/Bradley 6-0, 6-1
Nevaeh Beard/Maya Halter, Big Sky, def. Allmendinger/Babb 6-0, 6-1
Finynci Kellum/Brett Whitmore, Big Sky, def. Gerry/Hubber 3-7, 6-1, 7-4
Liv Stocker/Paylin Morina, Big Sky, def. Yelenich/Allred 6-2, 6-1 -
Their fight should not be a lonely one
Sid DeBarathy seemed tired as he stood on the sidewalk outside the Butte School District Administration Building Monday morning.
Along with my cousin, Mike Foley, Sid had just presented in front of a committee of school board members about a complaint the two filed because they do not think the female athletes at Butte High are getting a fair shake. It has been a battle that Sid and Mike have been waging for more than two decades now, and they have been vilified for their efforts for the girls.
“It’s been a lonely fight,” Sid said as he talked about the issue and the years and years of battling, mainly over the subpar softball fields at Stodden Park.
That might be the saddest part of this whole sad deal. Sid and Mike have been the only ones doing the fighting, and their daughters are decades removed from playing softball.
They are fighting for your daughters, and this should be a fight that is joined by hundreds, if not thousands.
Some people in the school district and in the Butte-Silver Bow County government seem to think this is not a big issue. They think the girls are treated just fine.
Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher, somehow with a straight face, has repeatedly called Stodden Park the best softball facility in the state. He does not see any problem with our girls playing on fields that make the complex in Anaconda look like Dodger Stadium.
Anaconda’s fields were built for fast-pitch softball. Ours were not.
Collectively, the reality deniers in the school district and county are fine with the boys having a baseball facility at Copper Mountain Park that is light years ahead of the one the girls use about a mile away.
In doing so, they are playing with fire. Instead of vilifying the two men who brought the issue to their attention, they should be thanking them.
If this issue goes beyond the district, the district is going to lose, and it is going to lose big. The district is fighting a battle it cannot possibly win. The girls have the law and precedent on their side. The school district does not.
In July of 1990, the district announced that it would add softball for the 1991 season. That came after the Montana High School Association told Butte High officials that its sports programs favored boys over girls.
In 1990, only Butte High and Flathead High in Kalispell did not have girls’ fast-pitch softball.
Butte High officials responded, and they said the girls would play on fields just south of the school. Bill Brown, who was then the school’s activities director, told The Montana Standard that the fields were already “being built.”
“Thirty-four years later, they are still not there,” DeBarathy told the school board members Monday. “That is now a boys’ football practice field.”
Mike put together a football analogy to describe the inequity between the boys and girls. When the district and county poured money into the fields in 2013, Mike said that qualified as a “touchdown” for the girls.
That TD brought score to 262-7 in favor of the boys, Mike said.
Over the decades, the school built Naranche Stadium for the boys. Then it built the football stadium at East Middle School. Then it built Naranche Stadium again, and again for the boys.
The district also built a wrestling room for the boys.
Also, a few years ago, the county built the $2.5 million 3 Legends Stadium, thanks to some help form the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation and NorthWestern Energy, among others. Two years ago, that stadium also became the home of the Butte High boys’ baseball team.
Mike pointed out that the district has never built a facility specifically for the girls.
This fight being waged by Sid and Mike is not about taking away from the boys, as some want to paint it. They praise the district for letting the boys play in 3 Legends Stadium — instead of the Senior Little League Field that sits 100 or so yards away at the same park.
Some districts around the state are putting their boys on subpar baseball fields to try to protect themselves from Title IX complaints.
“They could have put them on a lower-level field that is still better than Stodden,” Mike said, referring to putting the boys on Field 4 at Copper Mountain Park. “They put them in the best, and they should have. This is Butte, Montana; we should have the best.”
But 3 Legends Stadium is still a major score for the boys
Yes, money was put into Stodden as a promise to settle a Title IX complaint in 2013. But should that even count if the county completely botched the job?
No, of course it should not.
The infields at Stodden today more resemble a sand trap or a long jump pit than they do a softball field. They are a civic embarrassment.
Some players filled out questionnaires about the fields in 2013. Here are some of the things they wrote about the fields:
“Too soft.”
“Not a real field.”
“Worst field I have ever played on.”
Sorry, but the district should not get partial credit for doing the job so very wrong. You do not get points for bombing a test. So, the score should still be 262-0.
When you compare the dugouts, seating and batting cages, the difference just grows in favor of the boys. When you factor in safety, it is game over.
In 2019, an adult softball player split his head open when he hit a bolt in the fence when diving to try to catch a foul ball. Instead of paying his medical bills like the player asked, the county fought like hell to avoid giving him a dime.
They blamed the player and even, get this, the umpire for the injuries, all while acknowledging in depositions that the county did not — and still does not — have safety standards in place.
“It didn’t go well for (the player),” Mike said. “It’s not going to go well for any girl (who gets hurt). The city fought this tooth-and-nail, and it went to a jury trial, which is ridiculous. (The player) was hurt more by the court case than the injury.”
Mike pointed out that he was not taking any shots at the hard-working men who take care of those fields.
“They work their rear ends off,” he said. “They do the very best they can. They have no manual, and the people who should be following the manual aren’t.
“That bolt (that injured the player) would be hard to see,” Mike said. “But the damage to the backstops is there for everyone to see. Sid and I have been taking pictures since 2011. The same damage is still there.”
The school board members present — Henry Klobucar, Tom Billteen and Mike Kujawa — seemed receptive to Sid and Mike’s presentation, which was limited to 40 minutes. Hopefully, Superintendent Judy Jonart, who rejected the complaint filed by Mike and Sid in October, and the rest of the board will also be open minded when the issue goes before the full board later this month or next month.
The board meets at the East Middle School Library at 5 p.m. on the third Monday of each month. Billteen, who chaired the meeting, said he was not sure which month it would be on the agenda.
When it is, we all need to speak up for the girls. This is the 35th year that our softball teams have had to play on subpar fields, and that is enough.
If you have a daughter who plays, step up and speak at the meeting. If you played or coached for the Bulldogs, stand up so maybe the young girls will have it better. If you do not have a Bulldog in the fight, but you believe in fairness, then the board should hear from you, too.
Tell the district that what Sid and Mike are saying about the fields is true. Demand that the district follow through with the promise that it made to the girls in 1990.
Together, let’s show Sid and Mike that their fight is not really a lonely one.
— Bill Foley, who is also too soft, 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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Podcast No. 262: Jeff LeProwse
If there is ever a fourth legend added to the cathedral that is 3 Legends Stadium, it will be Jeff LeProwse.
It is safe to say that without Jeff, American Legion Baseball would not exist in the Mining City. At least it wouldn’t in its current form.
Jeff coached the Butte Miners from 2012 through 2021, and that era will go down as the most important stretch in program history. The Miners down to 11 players by the end of his first season as coach. Then, the team lost its home at Montana Tech’s Alumni Coliseum before his second year at the helm.
While folding the program was on the table, there was no way to agree to that. Jeff said his players would play on a parking lot if it meant playing baseball.
So, the Butte Miners played on Copper Mountain Park’s Field 4, which is a Senior Little League field, for four years. Some of that time, they were a team without a conference because they did not exactly get a lifeline from some of the others Legion programs around the state.
But they were still a team.
Thanks in large part to a ton of work by Jeff, the Miners opened Miners Feld at 3 Legends Stadium in 2017, and the program grew. Eventually, the program brought back the Muckers. Today, the Legion program in Butte is so big that it has three teams — the Miners, Muckers and Motormen.
After the 2021 season, Jeff stepped down as head coach of the Miners, even though his team came within one game of the Class A State tournament two years in a row. But he stayed on as president of the board, and he handed the team to his older brother, Jim.
Of course, we all know what happened next. The Miners went on a magical run that saw them win their first state championship in 69 years. The went on to win the Northwest Class A Regional title.
This Legion season, Jeff is returning to the field, this time as an assistant coach to his brother. He is still planning to maintain his role as president, though that needs to be voted on first.
So, in addition to trying to keep Jimmy’s squeeze bunts to a minimum, Jeff will still have to work on keeping the program going strong. That includes raising funds.
That is where Friday’s Bingo Night comes in. Play for the fundraising event will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus Hall. Cost is $25 Bingo pack includes 10 games, three cards per game. That also comes with 10 tickets for drawings. Players must be 18 or older.
Tons of great prizes are just waiting to be win.
Listen in to this podcast as we talk about his high school nickname, Frenchy, which unfortunately isn’t as prevalent as it used to be. Listen as we talk about how he played one season at football at Butte Central, and he parlayed that into a berth in the Montana East-West Shrine Game and an offer to play at Montana Western.
Listen as he talks about his year playing for the Bulldogs, and how he finished his degree at Montana Tech, while working a job and taking care of his children.
Listen in as he talks about his years with the Miners, handing over a title team to his brother and getting back onto the field.
Listen as he talks about Bingo Night.
Today’s podcast is presented by Thriftway Super Stops. Download the TLC app and start saving today.
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Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week: Tocher Lee and Ashlinn Mullaney
Butte High seniors Tocher Lee and Ashlinn Mullaney are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week.
This marks the second time the two have been chosen as Athletes of the Week on the same day. They were also picked on Dec. 25, 2023 after helping Butte High sweep Butte Central in basketball.
The latest honors come after the Bulldog stars put up some bigtime performances Saturday on the home diamond.
Lee receives the boys’ accolades after going 3 for 4 with an RBI, a run scored and three stolen bases as Butte High’s baseball team walked off with a 5-4 win over Livingston at 3 Legends Stadium.
Lee also created the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning. He hustled down the line to beat out an infield single. His speed forced an errant throw that allowed Logan Carden to score the winning run.
Butte High’s leadoff hitter has also qualified to compete in the Class AA State track & field meet in the long jump.
Mullaney takes home the girls’ honor after going 2 for 3 with two doubles, a walk and two runs scored in the Butte High softball team’s 11-4 Senior Day win Saturday over Missoula Hellgate at Stodden Park.
The Bulldog ace also pitched the distance, scattering six hits, giving up just one earned run in the win. She struck out eight batters and walked two.
Mullaney, who missed her sophomore season after undergoing shoulder surgery, emerged as a force for the Bulldogs during her freshman campaign, earning All-State honors as a pitcher.
For the third year, Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warranty, 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 Lee and Mullaney 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 5.
Monday
7 p.m. — Cook vs. BC
8 p.m. — Cook vs. Poi Time
9 p.m. — Washington Generals vs. Someday StartersTuesday
7 p.m. — ButteSports vs. Jellyfam
8 p.m. — Poi Time vs. Hertz
9 p.m. — Parish vs. Rosary RattlersWednesday
7 p.m. — BC vs. Rosary Rattlers
8 p.m. — Hoopballas vs. ButteSports
9 p.m. — Washington Generals vs. ParishThursday
6 p.m. — Crib Crew vs. Someday Starters
7 p.m. — Jellyfam vs. Hoopballas
8 p.m. — Parish vs. Hertz
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Podcast No. 261: Amanda and Ben Wlaysewski
Amanda Wlaysewski started working in the fish industry six days after she graduated from Butte Central in 2003.
What she thought was a summer job, turned into career. Every summer since, she has gone to Bristol Bay, Alaska to work. She founded the Kvichak Fish Co., and for the last 15 years she has run her own small processing facility. She will be heading north again later this month.
Amanda describes her community supported fishery model as “salmon gone girl scout cookies.” Her company takes orders in the spring and delivers them in August across Montana and Idaho. You can also by their product at the Farmers’ Market each summer in Butte.
(Click here to visit the Kvichak Fish Co. website and place and order.)
Shortly after her first summer in Alaska, where they work basically around the clock for several weeks, Amanda enlisted her brother, Ben, an Iraqi War veteran who teaches industrial arts at Butte High School.
Ben is now “deployed” to work with Amanda and their sister Alena every summer. At one time or another, all the Wlaysewskis have put in a summer working for the Kvichak Fish Co.
Listen in to this podcast as they talk about how they learned their strong work ethic from working around their “Wrigley Field house” on the corner of Washington and Platinum Streets.
Listen as they talk about how their mother, who was my excellent English teacher at Butte Central Junior High School, gave up her prized RV so Amanda could make a down payment on her property in Alaska.
Listen in as they talk about the process that they go through every summer in Bristol Bay. Listen in as they talk about how the Kvichak Fish Co. really is a family affair for the Wlaysewskis.
Listen as Amanda talks about how the Kvichak Fish Co. got a major assist from George Everett and the Farmers’ Market.
Today’s podcast is brought to you by Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warranty.
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Podcast No. 260: Dr. Patrick Gallus
Dr. Patrick Gallus is one doctor who doesn’t like to play the waiting game.
Maybe it was all the years he spent as an emergency doctor in Prescott, Arizona, where he served as chief of staff at Yavapai Regional Medical Center. There, Dr. Gallus developed two emergency departments, and his staff of 18 physicians saw 72,000 patients per year.
Now, the 1981 Butte Central graduate is back in his home town, seeing walk-in patients at the Mercury Street Medical Group at 300 W. Mercury St.
There, you can expect to get in and out quickly and on with your recovery. That is because Dr. Gallus does not like you waiting any more than you like waiting.
Dr. Gallus graduated from the University of Montana. After working as an athletic trainer and physical therapist in California, where he worked with the Clippers of the NBA and the Chargers of the NFL, Dr. Gallus obtained his D.O. at the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, and he completed his emergency medicine residency at Texas A&M University.
After two decades in Prescott, he decided to come home to be closer to his parents and the Big Hole River.
The second of Dr. John and Anna Gallus’ seven children, Dr. Patrick Gallus spent his childhood in the outdoors. One summer, he said he went to the river and did not come back for a month and a half. He also might have the high school record in Butte for the most days spent skiing during the school year.
Listen in to this podcast as Dr. Gallus talks about growing up in Butte and how he started to learn how to be a good student when he was in college. Listen as he talks about his time in residency and working in Arizona.
Listen to why he moved back to town and why he is the guy to see if you don’t enjoy waiting forever to see a doctor.
Today’s podcast is presented by Casagranda’s Steakhouse. Eat where the locals eat.
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Legion Bingo Night is May 9
The Butte American Legion Baseball program will hold a fundraising Bingo Night on Friday, May 9 at the Knights of Columbus Hall.
Play begins at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $25 Bingo pack includes 10 games, three cards per game. That also comes with 10 tickets for drawings. Players must be 18 or older.
Prizes so far are from Butte Auto, Buffalo Wild Wings, Headframe Spirits, the Rib and Chop House, Moonshot Athletics, Fairmont Hot Springs, Casagranda’s, Montana Tech, Universal Athletic, UpTop, Harrison Avenue Liquor, Montana Resources, the McQueen Club, Pepsi, Florence Coffee, the 51 Below Speakeasy, Dig City Supply and Prescription Ink.
All proceeds go to the three Butte American Legion baseball teams, the Butte Miners, Butte Muckers and Butte Motormen.
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Butte High’s Sam Henderson jumps to fifth at Penn Relays
Senior was first prep athlete from Mining City to compete at meet
You will have to excuse Sam Henderson for missing Butte High’s track meet with Billings Senior and Butte Central last Thursday.
The Butte High senior was busy placing fifth in the boys’ high school triple jump at the Penn Relays.
The Penn Relays, officially known as the Penn Relay Carnival, is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States. The event, which began in 1895, is held at the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. (Results)
Henderson is the first high school athlete from Butte to compete in the prestigious event.
The longest triple jumper in Butte High history, Henderson placed fifth with a leap of 46 feet, 10 inches. That is shorter than the personal-best mark of 48-4 ¾ that he set two days earlier to break the meet record at the Russ Pilcher Top 10 meet in Missoula.
Michael-Andre Edwards of Jamaca College won the event with a mark of 52-4. Joachim Johnson of the Episcopal Academy of Pennsylvania took second in 48-7 ½. Nicardo Grey Clarke of Wolmer’s Boys in Jamaca was third at 48-7 ½, and he was followed by Tristan Harris of Lafayette, Virginia at 48-6.
The triple jump was limited to 18 athletes who reached the qualifying mark of 46-3 ½ during the season.
Henderson placed second in the triple jump and third in the high jump at the Class AA State meet last year in Great Falls. He has already reached qualifying standards in those events plus the 110-meter hurdles to compete in this year’s State meet in Kalispell.
Henderson has signed to compete in track and field at the University of Montana.
Bulldogs rack up victories
While Henderson was busy in the City of Brotherly Love, many of his Butte High teammates were busy picking up victories at a meet between the Bulldogs, Billings Senior and Butte Central on the Charlie Merrifield Track. (Results)
Senior won the team titles. The Broncs scored 94 points to win on the boys’ side. Butte High scored 78, while BC checked in with eight. The Senior girls won with 102 points. The Bulldogs scored 68, and the Maroons scored two.
In all, 11 Bulldogs posted wins in the meet.
Senior Dylan “Bobby” Bache won the long jump with a State qualifying mark of 21 feet. That set a personal record. Bache also posted PRs while taking second in the 200 and third in the 100.
Sophomore Raeder Grey won the 300-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 43.22 seconds. He laced second in the 110 hurdles.
Junior Levi Willtsie won the 1,600-meter race in 5 minutes, 12 seconds, while classmate Jacob Galle won the 110 hurdles with a PR of 16.09 seconds.
Junior Ryan Hanson cleared 6 feet, 2 inches to win the high jump, and senior Mason Leber got over 11 feet to win the pole vault.
Also for the Butte High boys, Sam Sampson took second in the 100 and third in the 200, Lincoln Zell placed second in the 800, Cohen Andrews jumped to second in the triple jump, Bridger Luebke placed third in the 800, Braydon Pierce took third in the javelin, Ryan Popovich placed third in the high jump, and Tyler Olsen finished third in the pole vault.
Olsen also cleared 11 feet, but took third on jumps.
Brityn Stewart, Milee Stillwagon, Elly Rumler, Cadence Graham and Peyton Traber posted wins for the Butte High girls.
Stewart launched the javelin a season-best 127-9 to easily eclipse the State qualifying standard of 113. The senior is the defending state champion in that event.
Stillwagon, a freshman, won the 800 with a PER of 2:42.19, and Graham, a sophomore won the 300 hurdles in 49.62. Rumler, a freshman, was the lone runner in the 3,2000.
Trabert, a senior, cleared 8-6 to win the pole vault. Valleria Trabert placed third in that event.
Senior Dylann Bartoletti took second in the 100 and third in the 200. Also for the Bulldogs Sophia Houchin took second in the 1,600, Mylee Demarais placed second in the shot put, Ellie Yates took second in the javelin, and Kloe Dickinson finished second in the long jump.
Senior Catherine Sholey placed third in the discus and javelin, while Kate DeShaw placed third in the triple jump, Berkli Salusso finished third in the 800, and Saege Grey took third in the 100.
Butte Central sophomore Danny McCarthy won the 100-meter dash in 11.46 seconds. Maroon senior Michael Peck placed third in the shot put, while junior Caden Tippett took third in the girls’ shot put for BC.
McGree doubles up at Tomich
Butte Central senior Keefer McGree ran to victories in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles to highlight the host team’s performance at the annual John Tomich Invitational Friday on the Charlie Merrifield Track. (Results)
McGree, who was celebrating his 18th birthday, also ran a leg of BC’s second-place 1,600-meter relay team. Justus McGee, Patrick Stimatz and Palmer Kellicut also ran a leg. (Note: the results on athletic.net misidentify Kellicut in the relay.)
Stimatz is an emerging story for the BC boys. The senior ran to second place in the 100. He also posted a PR with a time of 11.53 seconds while competing in the JV race of the meet the day before.
Kellicut a freshman, took third in the 110 hurdles and fifth in the 300 hurdles. Peck took sixth in the shot put.
Tippett’s third-place showing in the shot put led the Central girls.
Frenchtown won the boys’ team title with 101.5 points. Boulder was second at 80, followed by Manhattan Christian at 68 and Livingston at 64.
The Maroons finished fifth in the event that saw 11 teams score points with 45.
Dillon’s girls scored 133.33 points to win. Broadwater was second at 101, followed by Frenchtown at 92.16. BC placed ninth with six.
Jory wins 100 at Freshman Meet
Xavier Jory ran to victory in the 100-meter dash to lead Butte High’s performance in Saturday’s Western AA Freshman Meet at Missoula County Stadium. (Results)
Jory finished the race in 11.93 seconds for the victory. Brent Humbert of Kalispell Glacier placed second in 11.98.
In all, 10 Butte High athletes posted top-five performances in the meet of ninth graders.
Colt Stenson placed third in the discus and fourth in the shot put for the Bulldog boys. Sawyer Casey took fourth in the javelin.
On the girls’ side, Clara Sigler led the Bulldogs with a second-place showing in the pole vault. She also took seventh in the long jump.
Elly Rumler placed third in the 3,200, while Wakely Burelson (100), Stella Callaghan (200) and Sophia Houchin (800) placed fourth. Milee Stillwagon (1,600) and Penelope Luebke (300 hurdles) placed fifth.
Butte High slams Flathead
Butte High’s softball team bounced back from two tough losses at Kalispell Glacier last Tuesday by pounding Kalispell Flathead twice in a Western AA twin bill Saturday at Stodden Park.
Butte High cruised to a 13-1 win in the opener. Then, the Bulldogs completed the sweep with a 15-4 rout. Both games were called by the run rule, the first after five innings and the second after six.
Junior right fielder Mattie Stepan hit a grand slam to lead Butte High’s 12-hit attack in the opener. The shot came as Butte High broke the game open with an eight-run third inning.
Gracie Jonart and Gracie Ferriter each hit a double and a single while driving in two runs apiece for the Bulldogs. Kendallyn Schad and Madisyn Swanson each smacked two singles, and Reese Johnson, Ashlinn Mullaney and Ally Godbout added a base knock.
Mullaney pitched four innings, striking out five in the win. Brea Henderson, an eighth grader, struck out three in one inning of work.
Allie Becker hit a three-run bomb, and Schad added a two-run blast as the Bulldogs used 15 hits to win Game 2.
Johnson, Ferriter, Mullaney, Stepan, and Godbout each smacked two hits in the win. Godbout hit a double. Jonart added a single, and Johnson, Ferriter and Mullaney joined Schad with two RBIs.
Mullaney again went five innings, fanning five. Henderson got the last six outs, two by way of the K.
The Bulldogs are back in action Thursday when they travel to Missoula Sentinel. Butte High will then celebrate Senior Day when it takes on Missoula Hellgate Saturday at Stodden Park.
Maroons pick up first win
Butte Central’s softball team closed a busy week with with an exciting 13-11 victory over East Helena Tuesday at Stodden Park.
The victory, which was BC’s first of the season, closed out a stretch of six games in seven days for the young BC squad. Central went 1-5 in that stretch.
Kodee Badovinac ripped three hits, including a pair of doubles, to lead the Maroon offense. BC scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning before holding off a Vigilante team that countered with five in the top of the seventh.
Braelynn Schelin, who struck out nine batters to get the win, also poked three hits in the victory. Zayonna Otherbull and Arika Stajcar each hit a double and a single, while Kenzie McQueary hit two singles.
Marly Mansanti and Cambri Campbell added hits in the victory.
That win came after Butte Central fell 8-0 to Ronan earlier and 15-0 to Lewistown Saturday to close out the Frenchtown tournament. Autumn Lozeau smacked three hits, and Kylee Kelch homered to lead the Maidens. Kailyn Marengo and Alexa Youngren combined to hold BC to just one hit, a single by Badovinac.
Lewistown’s Kayla Jensen and Britta Sparks combined to hold BC scoreless in Saturday’s last game. The game was called after three innings.
Central fell 16-3 to Libby and 14-0 to open play in Frenchtown on Friday.
Badovinac hit two doubles, and McQueary hit a double and a single to lead the Maroons in that loss. Schelin and Evyn Smith singled.
Frenchtown’s Ryan Lucier struck out eight and held the Maroons to just one hit. That was a single by Schelin.
Central’s busy week started with an 8-7 home loss to Dillon Wednesday at Stodden Park,
Kaitlin Konen blasted a home run in the top of the seventh for the winning run. Tyler Gibson also homered for the Beavers.
Badovinac went 3 for 4, while Schelin, McQueary and Otherbull added singles.
The Maroons will play at Hamilton and Corvallis on Saturday. They go to Dillon next Tuesday.
Bulldogs down BC, drop next two
Butte High’s baseball team suffered a crushing loss Tuesday at a cold-and-windy Miners Field at 3 Legends Stadium.
Killian Snarr pitched the distance as East Helena completed the regular-season sweep of Butte High with an 8-4 victory. Snarr also set the plate for the Vigilantes by drawing three walks from the leadoff spot.
Jack Taylor tripled, and Beau Pearce, Boston Adams and Hunter Sutton doubled in East Helena’s 15-hit attack.
Tocher Lee and Logan Carden tripled for Butte High, which played its second game without star shortstop Cayde Stajcar. The 2024 Montana Gatorade Player of the Year suffered a concussion off the field.
Tegan Duffy and Matthew Donaldson doubled for Butte, which got 10 hits on the day.
Lee went 3 for 4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Will Stepan added two hits and two RBIs, while Duffy and Carden joined in the two-hit day.
Jaxon Williamson pitched better than his line might say. He struck out eight and gave up five earned runs.
That loss came on the heels of Saturday’s 15-2 loss to Belgrade.
Butte committed five errors in the cold and wind of 3 Legends Stadium. That led to 13 unearned runs scored by the Panthers.
Andrew Hazen, Cade Thomas and Mason Zimmer doubled to lead the Panthers. Gage Banks pitched five strong innings in the win, which was called by the run rule after six innings.
Donaldson doubled, while Stepan and Gunner Bushman each poked two hits in the loss. Tegan Duffy also singled for Butte High.
Butte High entered the weekend riding high after beating Butte Central 10-0 on Thursday.
Donaldson struck out seven in the complete-game win. The game was called in bottom of the fifth by the run rule. He gave up just two hits, singles by Trapper Stajcar and Gunnar O’Brien.
Duffy and Donaldson each hit a pair of doubles to lead the Bulldogs. Donaldson drove in three runs. Evan McEwen added two singles for Butte High. Stepan, Lucas Harris-Huerta, Calvin Cunningham and Karsen McEwen each added one.
The Maroons then fell 13-2 at home to Billings Central on Monday.
Howie Martin went 3 for 5 with a triple, three runs scored and three RBIs from the leadoff spot for Billings Central, who used five pitchers to hold the BC bats at bay.
Trapper Stajcar and Colt Hassler each smacked two hits for the Maroons. O’Brian, Beau McGree and Kelton Berger each added one.
The Maroons are back at home Thursday against Dillon and Saturday against Belgrade.
Butte High will play host to Lone Peak on Friday before taking on Livingston at home Saturday.
Bulldogs grab wins on courts
Butte High’s boys’ tennis team picked up a 5-3 win over the Belgrade Panthers Saturday in Belgrade.
Josh Schrader, Matthew Weldon, Tashi Hanley and Bryce Gratton won as Butte High swept the singles matches. Gratton won in a tiebreaker, while the other three won in straight sets.
Jaxon Jonart and Briggs Joseph teamed to win a thrilling tiebreaker at No. 3 doubles as the Bulldogs grabbed the win.
Belgrade’s girls beat Butte High 7-1. Murphy Sullivan grabbed straight sets win at No. 2 singles for the Bulldogs.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs went to Kalispell to take on Glacier and Flathead.
The Bulldogs boys fell 6-2 to Glacier. Hanley won a tiebreaker at No. 3 singles for Butte High. Phillip Russo and Shrader won a tiebreaker at No. 3 doubles.
In the girls’ battle, the Wolfpack walked away with an 8-0 win over Butte High.
Flathead topped Butte High’s boys 5-2. Butte got a tiebreaker win from Gratton at No. 4 singles and the team of Hunter LaPier and Kanyon Flynn at No. 2 doubles.
Butte High’s girls topped Flathead 5-3. Sullivan and Avery Blue won singles matches in straight sets. The Bulldogs got a win at No. 2 doubles by Chloe Jewell and Sierra Bradley.
Sofia Groesbeck and Renna Hubbert won at No. 3 doubles, and Aubbrie Allmendinger and Isabella Babb won at No. 4 doubles.
“It was a great two days of tennis,” Butte High coach Shawndee Gratton said.
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Raiders pick Tommy, end nightmare
For the week or so leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft, I kept having this really, really bad dream.
I would see NFL commissioner Roger Goodell walk out onto the stage in Green Bay, Wisconsin with a card in his hand. Then he would say, “The Green Bay Packers select Tommy Mellott …”
The crowd would start to go crazy, and I would wake up in a cold sweat. It was like the time when, as a young boy, I dreamed my little brother was kidnapped. Or when I dreamed my parents disappeared.
It scared me half to death.
Yes, this seems like something I should be telling to a psychiatrist. But writing columns has been my long-standing form of therapy, so I am dropping this burden on you, the readers.
Ever since the 1989 Replay Game, the Packers have been my No. 1 tormentor. They have ruined more days of my life than illness, politics and women — combined.
Yes, I have been a Chicago Bears fan for as long as I can remember. I went out on multiple Halloweens dress up as Walter Payton, who trailed only my dad and grandpas as my role model.
Being a Bears fan has been more of a curse than a blessing. I blame my curse on my dad, who started cheering for the Bears because he liked Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus in the 1960s. I’m not exactly proud of the fact that I passed the curse on to my son.
When I was 11 years old, the Bears shuffled their way to the Super Bowl XX title with an 18-1 record. To this day, I can tell you the score and date of most of their wins.
Every Nov. 17, I text my lifelong friend Sam Bowling to wish him a happy anniversary of the day the 1985 Bears beat his Cowboys 44-0 in Texas Stadium.
It was a dream season that hooked me for life.
When I was in college, I drove around in a car with “85 BEARS” on the license plates. Both of those plates were later autographed by 1985 Bears folk hero William “The Refrigerator” Perry.
Through the 1980s, I would watch every Bears game that was on television. When they weren’t on, which was often, I would watch whatever boring game was on TV for the score updates that would occasionally pop up on the bottom of the screen.
They were not on the screen constantly like they are today.
Occasionally, when we were lucky, we would get a game break with an in-game highlight of a Bears touchdown.
In the early 1990s, my dad and I started to go to a sports bar in the Copper King Inn to watch the games. The bar, which is where the Rib & Chop House is now located, had a satellite and it would get all the games.
Thanks to the NFL Sunday Ticket, I have only missed a couple of games — thanks to my children — since 1994.
When I went to school at the University of Montana, I would watch games at the Press Box Sports Bar in Missoula. That place was like heaven on Sundays.
That is until the Bears turned that slice of heaven into hell.
On Nov. 5, 1989, Don Majkowski started it all by running past the line of scrimmage to throw a touchdown pass to give the Packers a 14-13 win over the Bears in Green Bay.
The officials rightly called the Packers quarterback for an illegal forward pass. But after a lengthy review and a criminal move that should be investigated by the FBI, the NFL overturned the call and gave the Packers the win.
That loss broke Mike Ditka and the Bears. It has been one disappointment after another ever since. That goes double when they play the Packers.
Majkowski eventually passed the torch to Brett Favre, who passed it to Aaron Rodgers, and the torture continued through the first Bears-Packers game of the 2024 season.
Hopefully, the Bears broke that curse when Caleb Williams led the Bears to a Week 17 win over the Packers in Green Bay in January. But I know better than to believe that just yet.
Even the sight of a Packers shirt, hoodie or hat makes me cringe. It doesn’t help that the person wearing the Packers apparel is usually running his or her mouth to try to ruin my day, but most of that is on me.
That is why I would not have been able to stomach Butte boy Tommy Mellott getting drafted by the Packers. Lifelong Packers fan Bernie Boyle told me that he would cheer for Tommy if he was picked by the Bears, but I am not wired that way.
Also, Bernie has not been subject to the nearly 40 years of torture that we Bears fans have had to endure. So, he cannot relate.
It was hard to take when Butte boy Colt Anderson signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in April of 2009. It was not, however, on the same level as if Colt would have signed with the Packers.
Not even close.
Like with Colt, Tommy is an All-American person. In addition to being a star for the Butte High Bulldogs and Montana State Bobcats, the 2024 Walter Payton Award winner has character falling out of his pockets.
In high school, he was a Big Brothers Big Sisters mentor, and he befriended a kindergarten superfan of the Bulldogs. By the time Butte High’s football season ended in 2019, three grade schools in Butte requested that he speak at their sixth-grade graduations in 2020.
Then when the Montana East-West Shrine Game was canceled because of COVID in 2020, he started a cornhole tournament that raised more than $50,000 for the Shriners Hospital for Children in Spokane.
Yes, if a screenwriter were to write a sports movie with Tommy as a character, people would walk out of the theater. They would not believe it because Tommy seems too good to be true.
Not only is he the pride and joy of the Mining City, he is a hero to the entire state of Montana.
To see him put on that ugly yellow and green would have killed me. Watching such a beloved character playing for the evil Packers would have crippled me with mixed emotions.
It would have broken me like the Replay Game broke Da Coach.
So, you can imagine the joy I had when I checked my phone on Saturday to see that Tommy was selected in the sixth round of the draft by the Las Vegas Raiders.
Bobcat fans did not realize what they got when Tommy committed to Montana State in the summer of 2019. The team listed him as an “athlete” rather than a quarterback.
In Butte, we knew he would play quarterback and do it an extremely high level.
Tommy won Bobcat Nation over in a big way when he led MSU to the FCS national championship game as a freshman in 2021. He immediately earned the nickname “Touchdown Tommy,” and he proved on a weekly basis that he was deserving of that moniker.
Today, Raiders Nation also has no idea what just landed on the laps of the Silver and Black, whose famous butt-chined co-owner was also drafted in the sixth round in 2000. They listed Tommy and his 4.39 seconds in the 40-yard dash as a “receiver.”
Maybe Tommy will play receiver for the Raiders. Maybe he will never play quarterback.
But everyone in Montana will tell you that he will do great things in the NFL. They will tell you to never bet against Tommy. Wherever he lines up, he will score some touchdowns. Lots and lots of touchdowns.
And it will be opposing defensive coordinators who wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat.
— Bill Foley, who will still have Packers nightmares, 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.
The ButteCast with Bill Foley 