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Duclos, Fultz lead Week 2 of trap
Seth Duclos and Kohlten Fultz both broke 48 out 50 targets to lead individual standings during Week 2 of the Butte Trap Club’s Spring League.
John Wombold, Al Petersen, Riley Rigby and Mark Moline each shot a 47, while Mark Hislop shot a 46. Chris Andersen, Rob Phillips and Scott Driscoll each shot a 45. Mindy McClernan’s 35 topped women’s standings, and Rigby’s 47 led wobble shooting.
Through two weeks, Baker Auto leads team scratch standings at 369. Peterson Electric is next at 352, followed by Lost Art Builders at 346 and Anaconda Trap Club at 345.
Butte Trap Club – 2025 Spring League – Week 2 Standings
Team Scratch Standings
Baker Auto – 369
Peterson Electric – 352
Lost Art Builders – 346
Anaconda Trap Club – 345
Timberline Security – 327
S&S Plumbing/Northwest Pipe – 322
Lockmer Plumbing – 321
Northwest Clay Busters – 317
Q-Stains – 309
St James – 307
Pro Repair – 303
Clay Howery Construction – 300
Air Tight Solutions – 298
Nick’s Casino – 293
Maloney’s/Harrington’s Pepsi – 270
Daddy’s Girls – 247
Eastridge Enterprise – 244
Wolverine Systems – 186
Arc Electric – 176
Archibald Co. – 163
Edward Jones/Walt McIntosh – 162
Lisac’s/Jim Lynch State Farm – 160
WET – 148
Superior Title – 128
B Squared Pest Control – 104
12 G Girls – 99
Cooney’s Locksmith – 0High Individual Scores
Seth Duclos – 48×50
Kohlten Fultz – 48×50
John Wombold – 47×50
Al Petersen – 47×50
Riley Rigby – 47×50
Mark Moline – 47x
Mark Hislop – 46×50
Chris Andersen – 45×50
Rob Phillips – 45×50
Scott Driscoll – 45×50High Lady Scores
Mindy McClernan – 35×50
Tammy Gordon – 25×50
Dawna Raiser – 25×50High Wobble Trap Scores
Riley Rigby – 47×50
Ryan Bossard – 39×50
Rial Gunlikson – 39×50
Ryan Miller – 39×50 -
Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week: Keefer McGree and Mattie Stepan
Butte Central senior Keefer McGree and Butte High junior Mattie Stepan are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week.
The honors come after the two had a big week on the track and softball diamond.
McGree takes home the boys’ award after celebrating his 18th birthday with victories in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles races Friday at Butte Central’s John Tomich Invitational on the Charlie Merrifield Track.
McGree won the 110 hurdles in 16.13 seconds, just three hundredths of a second shy of the Class A qualifying standard that he already met. He won the 300 hurdles with a time of 43.94 seconds. McGree also ran a leg of the 1,600-meter relay, helping the Maroons to second place. Justus McGee, Patrick Stimatz and Danny McCarthy also ran a leg.
McGree’s big performance came one day after he placed fifth in the 100-meter race in a meet with Butte High and Billings Senior on the same track.
Stepan takes home the girls’ honor after she helped the Bulldogs slam Kalispell Flathead in a Western AA doubleheader Saturday at Stodden Park. Stepan belted a grand slam to highlight Butte High’s 13-1 victory in the opener of the twin bill. She went 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and an RBI in the 15-4 win that completed the sweep.
Stepan, who plays a solid right field for the Bulldogs, also poked three hits Tuesday as the Bulldogs dropped two games at Kalispell Glacier.
This marks the second time this school year that Stepan received the Athlete of the Week honor. She received award in January for her efforts on the Butte High wrestling team. A month later, Stepan placed fourth in her weight class in at the Girls’ State Tournament in Billings.
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.
Photo of Stepan 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 April 28.
Monday
7 p.m. — ButteSports vs. Rosary Rattlers
8 p.m. — Cook vs. Someday Starters
9 p.m. — Cook vs. Washington GeneralsTuesday
6 p.m. — BC vs. Poi Time
7 p.m. — Trojans vs. Hertz
8 p.m. — Trojans vs. HoopballasWednesday
6 p.m. — Jellyfam vs. Rosary Rattlers
7 p.m. — ButteSports vs. Crib Crew
8 p.m. — Poi Time vs. Parish
9 p.m. — Washington Generals vs. HertzThursday
7 p.m. — BC vs. Jellyfam
8 p.m. — Parish vs. Someday Starters
9 p.m. — Hoopballas vs. Rosary Rattlers
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Podcast No. 259: Theresa Rader
Theresa Rader is a legend of the Class of 1993. Not just at the school she graduated from, Butte Central, either.
Rader was good at every sport she tried. She was a speedskater, basketball player, volleyball player, softball player. If there was a competition, Rader was ready to win it.
She started as a freshman on the varsity basketball team at BC. She also played on the school’s first-ever softball team.
Then, Rader played softball at Jamestown University in North Dakota, where she did not let a pregnancy in her senior season stop her from batting leadoff.
She is also fun. With her distinctive voice and booming laugh, Rader can still be the life of any party. More than anything, Rader was always nice to everyone, even if the legend of Rader started with a punch.
Yes, as a first grader or kindergartner, Rader punched out an older girl who was teasing her big brother on the pavement playground of the Blaine School. She pointed at the girl’s shoes. When the girl looked down, Rader delivered the greatest uppercut in the history of punches.
Yes, Rader was always looking out for the underdog, especially if that underdog was her brother Bobby.
Rader has made a career out of sticking up for the underdog. Today, Rader is the executive director of the Institute for Education Opportunities at Montana Technological University.
Last October, she received the Art Quinn Memorial Award at the ASPIRE Regional Conference in Helena. The award is the highest honor given by ASPIRE, Inc, an organization that serves more than 45,000 low-income and first-generation students in Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah and Montana.
For the past 16 years, Rader has worked with young students, helping put them on the course to be first-generation college graduates from their family.
While Rader kind of fell into the job, it is a position that she basically was preparing for her whole life as she grew up in a working-class family in the Mining City.
Listen in to this podcast as Rader talks about delivering the uppercut. Listen as she talks about her speedskating days and how my mom, the Earl Woods of speedskating parents, got her started. Listen as she talks about her days playing sports for the Maroons and Jimmies.
Listen in as Rader becomes the first ButteCast quest to use the phone-a-friend feature and call in a couple of Olympic speedskater, Chris Witty and the “Flyin’ Hawaiian,” Ryan Shimabukuro, to talk about their days training in Butte.
Today’s podcast is presented by Thriftway Super Stops. Download the TLC app and start saving today.
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Sam Henderson wins Top 10 triple jump with yet another record
Days after breaking McGree record, future Grizzly passes McIntyre
Sam Henderson just keeps on jumping into the record books.
Four days after the Butte High senior broke the triple jump record at the prestigious Harry “Swede” Dahlberg Invitational, the future Montana Grizzly was at it again Tuesday at the Russ Pilcher Top 10 meet at Missoula County Stadium. (Results)
Henderson won the Pilcher triple jump title with a leap of 48 feet, 4 ¾ inches. In doing so, Henderson broke his own school record while eclipsing the meet record of 45-4 ¾, which was set by Butte Central star Tyler McIntire in 2001.
Friday at the Dahlberg in Butte, Henderson broke Marc McGree’s 28-year-old record with a jump of 48-0 ½. McGree, also a Butte Central star, jumped 47-0 to set the Dahlberg record in 1997.
Of course, Henderson is no stranger to invoking the names of great Butte athletes of the past. Last year at the Class AA State meet, Henderson jumped 47-2 ½ to set Butte High’s record. He passed Bulldog great Scott Hemmert, who jumped 47-1 in 1989, to take home the silver medal from the State meet.
Henderson already had the best triple jump in Montana this spring. He also shares the top mark in the state in the high jump. He and Corvallis’ Ledge Conner each cleared 6-5.
At the Top 10 meet, Henderson placed fourth by clearing 6-2.
Fellow Butte High senior Dylan “Bobby” Bache placed third in the long jump for the Bulldogs. Junior Camden Houchin ran to third in the 1,600.
Houchin finished the race with a personal-record time of 4 minutes, 29.53 seconds. That time qualified Houchin for the Class AA State meet, beating the qualifying time by .07.
Brett Polich placed fifth in the shotput Tuesday, launching it 49-6. Ryan Hanson took seventh in the long jump, and fellow junior Cohen Andrews placed ninth.
On the girls’ side, Butte High senior Brityn Stewart placed third in the javelin with a throw of 117-9. Eighth grader Saege Grey placed ninth in the 100-meter race.
The Dahlberg, which was held on the Charlie Merrifield Track inside the Gene Fogarty Complex, saw the top five teams all within six team points. Kalispell Glacier and Helena Capital tied for the win at 58. Gallatin took third at 56, while Helena High scored 55 and Kalispell Flathead scored 52.
Butte High placed eight with 30 points. (Results)
In addition to his record-setting performance in the triple jump, Henderson cleared 6-4 to win the high jump. He tied Keenan Morris of Billings Skyview, but won on jumps. Henderson placed fourth in the 110-meter hurdles.
Polich placed fourth in the shot put with a PR of 51-3, and Houchin placed fifth in the 1,600 and 10th in the 800. He posted PRs in both events. Of course, he broke his PR of 4:34.15 in the 1,600 on Tuesday.
Senior Sam Sampson placed seventh in the 200 for Butte High, and Andrews took seventh in the long jump.
Also for the Bulldogs, sophomore Jaeger Hansen took 13th in the javelin, placing just ahead of freshman teammate Sawyer Casey.
Butte High sent a small contingent of girls to the Optimist meet in Great Falls. (Results)
The highlight of that event came when the Bulldogs placed third in the 1,600-meter sprint medley relay. Senior Elli Quist and Autumn Clary each ran 200 meters, junior Franki Salusso ran 400, and freshman Evelyn Smith ran 800.
Stewart placed sixth in the javelin, and sophomore Cadence Graham finished 10th in the 300 hurdles. Senior Mylee Demarais took 11th in the shot put, and classmate Peyton Travert finished 11th in the pole vault.
Grey took 14th in the 100 and 19th in the 200.
Butte Central did not compete in the Dahlberg, or any meet, because it was Easter weekend.
Rangers halt BC winning streak
Butte Central’s three-game winning streak came to an end Tuesday with a 10-9 loss to Livingston at 3 Legends Stadium.
Central trailed 8-2, and the Maroons saw their rally fall just short.
Livingston did its damage on just five hits, and the Rangers took advantage of five walks and a hit batter. Ben Cipriani doubled and drove in two runs to lead the Ranger attack. Carter Anderson, Liam Edwards, Hansford Tewell and Carter Nelson hit singles in the win.
Catcher Beau McGree hit a pair of singles to lead BC, which poked seven singles in the win. The Maroons also took advantage of nine walks. Livingston pitchers hit four BC batters.
Gunnar O’Brien, Colt Hassler, Trapper Stajcar, Jack Nagle and Kelton Berger added singles for BC. O’Brien, Nagle and Kelton Keene each drove in runs.
The loss came five days after BC won its third straight game, beating Townsend 14-2 in Townsend.
O’Brien went 4 for 4 with four RBIs to lead BC’s 11-hit attack in the win. The shortstop’s day included three doubles. Trapper and Tony Stajcar each added a double and a single, and Hassler poked a pair of singles. Cohen Stajcar also singled in the win.
Hassler pitched the distance in the game called by the run rule after five innings. He struck out six, walked none and allowed just one earned run on four hits.
Central is back in action at 3 p.m. Thursday when the Maroons take on Butte High at 3 Legends Stadium. Butte High won the first matchup 19-3 April 7. Central, though, has appeared to find its mojo since then.
Falcons, Bears top Butte High
While Butte Central has gone 3-2 over its last five games, Butte High will head into the matchup with the Maroons trying to break out of a 1-4 slump.
That includes a pair of losses Saturday in Billings. Billings Skyview topped Butte High 11-1 before Billings West knocked off the Bulldogs 11-1.
Camden Wilson went 2 for 4 with a double, three RBIs and three runs scored to lead Skyview’s offensive. Roman Sloan went 3 for 3 with two doubles.
Connor Smith pitched five and two thirds innings, striking out nine and walking one for the win.
Butte High managed nine hits, but the Bulldogs didn’t o enough damage on those hits.
Second baseman Tocher Lee ripped a pair of doubles for the Bulldogs. Will Stepan and Matthew Donaldson each added a pair of singles.
Cayde Stajcar singled, scored twice and joined Donaldson with a pair of RBIs.
Butte High also got singles from Gunner Bushman and Tegan Duffy.
Billings West pitchers Cooper Cavanaugh and Sam Reinker combined to hold Butte High to one hit in the last afternoon game. That hit was a single by Bushman.
Lee and Brooks Vincent each worked a walk, and Stajcar drove in Lee for Butte’s lone run.
Chase Wise hit a triple and a single while driving in two to lead the Bears. Colton Bush doubled, and Kyren Ballard and Cavanagh joined Wise with TW RBIs.
Junior Jaxon Williamson took the loss on the mound for the Bulldogs, but he pitched much better than the score might show. In four innings, Williamson struck out six, walked two and gave up three hits. Only one of the four runs he surrendered were earned.
Wolfpack takes two Bulldogs
Kalispell Glacier swept a Western AA softball doubleheader with Butte High Tuesday in Kalispell. The Wolfpack won the opener 6-4 before completing the sweep with a 5-0 win.
The Bulldogs led 4-1 before the Wolfpack scored three in the fifth and two in the sixth for the win. Olivia Gibbons hit a pair of doubles to drive in two runs to lead the way. Olivia Warriner also knocked in two, and Khirsten Terrell hit three singles for Glacier.
Warriner pitched three and two thirds innings of relief to get the win.
Reese Johnson and Kendallyn Schad each hit a double and a single to lead the Bulldogs. Allie Becker also doubled, and Gracie Ferriter, Ashlinn Mullaney, Mattie Stepan and Ally Godbout added singles.
Mullaney pitched the distance in the loss.
Warriner and Ava Grady combined to shutout the Bulldogs in a second game in which Glacier scored four runs in the top of the third inning.
Kaydee Walcheck hit a double and a single to lead the Wolfpack offense.
Butte High didn’t score despite a nine-hit performance by the offense. Stepan hit two singles, and Mullaney doubled I the loss.
The Bulldogs also got hits from Johnson Ferriter, Becker, Godbout, Madisyn Swanson and Brea Henderson.
The doubleheader sweep came after the Bulldogs fell 10-6 at home Friday to Missoula Big Sky.
Logan Latriell hit a triple and two doubles to lead the Eagles in the win. Sadie McGuinn and Aubrey Bykari each hit a double and a single, while Kyler Latrielle, Irene Griswold, and Briella Wilson each hit two singles. Wilson pitched five innings for the win.
Mullaney homered and drove in three runs to lead the Bulldogs. Johnson doubled, and Stepan, Swanson and Godbourt each poked two singles. Jonart, who drove in two runs, and Schad also singled for Butte.
Butte High will be home Saturday to take on Kalispell Flathead in a Western AA twin bill at Stodden Park.
Butte Central’s softball team did not play since last Tuesday’s home game against Stevensville. The Maroons will play host to Dillon at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Stodden Park.
Dog tennis players show improvement in loss to Knights
Missoula Hellgate swept past the Butte High Bulldogs on the Stodden Park Tennis courts Tuesday afternoon.
The powerful Knights won 8-0 on the boys’ and girls’ sides, and all 16 matches ended in straight sets. Still, Butte High coach Shawndee Gratton said he saw much improvement as the Bulldogs took on what he called the No. 1 team in the state.
“It was a lot better than last year,” Gratton said.
Butte High also played in a Western AA tournament Saturday in Missoula. Results are not available from that tournament, but Gratton said Murphy Sullivan advanced to the championship match of her division and Matt Weldon placed third in his.
The Bulldogs are back in action Friday when they travel to Belgrade to meet the Panthers. Butte Central’s tennis teams went to Dillon on Tuesday. Results from that action was not submitted in time for this report.
Missoula Hellgate 8, Butte High 0
BOYS
Singles
Jack Currie Welch, Hellgate, def. Josh Shrader 6-1, 7-5
Leo Ma, Hellgate, def. Matthew Weldon 6-1, 6-0
Brendan Conie, Hellgate, def. Tashi Hanley 6-0, 6-1
Cohen Miller, Hellgate, def. Bryce Gratton 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
Sam Ender/Andrew Dumen, Hellgate, def. Cole Skeel/Jason Johns 6-0, 6-1
Oscar Hanford/Nicco Kujawa, Hellgate, def. Max Pearston/James Pearston 6-1, 6-0
Jonas Cheney.Gabe Hammitt, Hellgate, def. Dominic Snyder/Matthew Lockmer 6-0, 6-3
David Andrew/Eli Hammitt, Hellgate, def. Jaxon Jonart/Briggs Jospeh 6-2, 6-1GIRLS
Singles
Elliotte Banziger, Hellgate, def. Rachel Law 6-0, 6-0
Anias Currey, Hellgate, def. Carliegh Donaldson 6-0, 6-1
Lucia Savcia, Hellgate, def. Murphy Sullivan 7-5, 6-1
Ella Stone, Hellgate, def. Allissa Pennock 6-0, 6-1
Doubles
Westley Banziger/Kendall Daller, Hellgate, def. Chloe Jewell/Sienna Bradley 6-1, 6-1
McKinna Massey/Aidie Terwillinger, Hellgate, def. Ayva Gerry/Hallie Vanderlinde 6-0, 6-1
Jane Lowder/Ellie Stackman, Hellgate, def. Aubbrie Allmendinger/Isabella Babb 6-0, 6-1
Prestley Clarke/Arianna Roberts, Hellgate, def. Rory Trafford/Makenzie Reed 6-1, 6-0 -
Maroons set boys’ hoops camp
Butte Central’s boys’ basketball camp will be held June 9-12 at the Maroon Activities Center.
The camp, which runs from noon to 3 p.m. each day, is open to boys entering third through eighth grades, and it will be coached by the Butte Central boys’ basketball coaching staff and players. The camp focuses on fundamentals and competition, and awards will be presented to winners.
Cost is $95 per camper if registered ahead of time. Cost is $100 for registration on the first day of the camp.
Click the link below for more information and a registration form.
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All-Star high school baseball game coming to Butte this summer
In football, we have the Montana East-West Shrine Game to celebrate the best of the best in the Treasure State
This summer, we will have the Montana All-Star Baseball Classic to do the same for the finest players on the Montana diamonds. The state-wide high school baseball game will be played on Miners Field at 3 Legends Stadium in Butte on Saturday, Aug. 16.
Brandon Scown is the president of Northwest Little League in Butte. He worked with several Shriners to start the All-Star game, which will rotate through the three Montana cities with Shrine temples — Butte, Great Falls and Billings — like the Shrine football game.
“I’m excited about it,” Scown said. “I think it will gain momentum and be a pretty cool thing. Baseball, I think, deserves it. It’s nice to have high school ball, and I think we have to celebrate it.”
The game is not associated with the Shriners yet, but Scown said the plan is for it to be in the future. Proceeds from the game will go to the children’s hospital in Spokane.
Players will arrive in town on Aug. 14, and the teams will practice twice on Aug. 15. A banquet will be held later that night.
Details for the game are still in the works as high school baseball grows in Montana. Scown said he is not sure if the game will pit the East vs. the West, but he said eventually that will be the goal.
Each team will roster 25 players, all graduating seniors. Scown said he is working to have college coaching staffs coach each team.
High school coaches will nominate players, and the rosters will be set by the selection committee. The teams for the inaugural game will be announced after the high school baseball season is completed.
“The high school coaches are super excited about it,” Scown said.
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Don’t be mad at the nervous umpire
The coach knows he should not have said what he said to get thrown out of the high school baseball game.
That is why he did not fight the one-game suspension that followed.
The coach also had good reason to be upset at the umpire, who I suspect knows he did not belong on the field for a varsity game. Any amateur body language expert could tell you that he was terrified out there.
During the junior varsity game, the umpire stood behind home plate like he was a deer in the headlights. He hardly moved between pitches, and he never seemed to look around between the action.
That is why a couple of balls that got past the catcher sat on the warning track behind home plate for a couple of innings. Any experienced umpire will tell you that is something that should never happen.
During the varsity game, the umpire worked in the field, and he was even more shell shocked as two teams battled in a conference game. The coaches say that he simply did not make a call on seven different plays, instead deferring to the umpire behind the plate to step in and make his call for him.
The coach, who is stressing out about getting his team into the state tournament, eventually had enough. He blew a fuse and swore as he yelled about the umpire not making a call.
A few days later, a head coach from a different team almost lost his mind for the exact same scenario. His team was playing on the same field and with the same umpire. This coach, though, kept his cool, at least on the outside. But he was blown away by the lack of confidence in the nervous umpire.
In his report about the ejection, the umpire supposedly said that he was thrown off his game because he was getting yelled at from both sides. That is not a good position to put anyone in.
This whole situation is just unfortunate and so very sad.
In this case, the coach who was thrown out of the game and the umpire were both victims of the ever-growing shortage of youth sports officials. So were the players.
That shortage, by the way, is due almost entirely to the parents who verbally abuse sports officials at all levels.
Coaches and players deserve the best officiating possible. Officials deserve time to learn and develop confidence before being thrown into such an intense game. Neither happened in this case.
The nervous umpire actually deserves praise for stepping up to the plate, so to speak, so the boys can play the game. Without umpires and referees, it is just recess, after all. Or, more likely, there will be no games at all.
For his willingness the help, the umpire, who I suspect does not watch a lot of baseball, was placed into a difficult position because we simply do not have enough umpires to slowly break in a greenhorn.
Ideally, this umpire would not work a varsity game until he had enough lower-level games under his belt. Ideally, we would have enough umpires to make the new umps wait a few years — or longer — before they get thrown into the varsity fire.
That is how it used to work for officials. A basketball official would have to work his or her way up through the ranks before even getting a freshman high school game. They would first spend years working grade school, junior high and rec league games to cut their teeth, learn the ropes and prove their mettle.
Now, depending on the sport, an official might get a varsity game in his or her first year in the pool. This can lead to some very nervous sports officials because not all of us were born with a lack of self-awareness.
Even the best officials were nervous officials at one time. Well, the ones who do not suffer from a serious mental condition were, anyway.
I can tell you this from experience. In December of 2022, I decided to step up and help our local Montana Officials Association basketball pool in Butte and don the stripes. After working two junior high games with the legendary Mike Anderson in Whitehall, I was assigned to work two junior varsity girls’ games in a tipoff tournament in Anaconda.
So, my third and fourth games as an official came on back-to-back junior varsity games.
While I think I did a pretty good job putting on a brave face, I was nervous as could be as I dressed and took the court for the games, which were not even played in the main gym in Anaconda.
Those junior varsity games, which were played in front of about 50 fans, felt like Saturday of the Final Four. I was like a deer in the head lights, just like that nervous umpire.
If they were varsity games, I would have passed out right on the floor.
I grew up playing and watching basketball. I read the rule book, and I easily passed the test to join the MOA. Yet I quickly learned that it is a lot easier to make calls from the crowd. Too many times, I would see a foul and hesitate too long to make the call.
A lot of my games went like that as I slowly built up the confidence to do the job. Then, the games started to become fun. Really fun. While it took more than two full seasons to really feel comfortable in that referee uniform, I started to look forward to every high school game I get to work.
Sure, there are some coaches out there who will beg to differ, but I finally felt like I belonged on the court this past season. It took three seasons for that to happen.
If I could tell that nervous umpire one thing, it would be to stick with it. Eventually, you will get the hang of the job. You are putting on the uniform for the right reasons. You are doing it so the boys can play baseball, and that right there is reason to be celebrated.
In the meantime, make your calls with conviction, even if the confidence is not there yet. The key to a good sports official is selling the call. If you act like you know you got it right, most of the time the spectators, players and coaches will at least think you might have gotten it right.
If I could say one thing to the fans who yell at officials it would be to knock it off. Your angry words are not making any situation better, even if screaming at referees and umpires is something we have all done for years.
Sure, it is almost impossible to always keep a level head when you are watching your son or daughter compete.
And let’s be honest. As fans, we do not want every call to be correct. We want every call to go our way.
Fans yelling never bothers me on the basketball court. There is nothing like dealing with backlash from writing opinion columns for three decades that will thicken your skin.
Most seasoned officials in any high school sport do not care about people yelling at them. Oh, they might throw you out of a baseball game for yelling too much, but your words are not going to make them lose any sleep.
For the men and women testing the waters to see if officiating is right for them, though, your beratement might be what pushes them away. It might also be what cause those who might be thinking about becoming an official to think again.
Believe it or not, high school sports are not life or death. While only one team can win each game, players and fans from both sides benefit from the games being played. They cannot be played without officials. Not yet.
Eventually, if he is not driven away, that umpire might grow in confidence. Eventually, he might lose that deer-in-the-headlights look and show that he belongs on the varsity field.
First, we have to shut up and give him a chance.
— Bill Foley, who still feels like an ass for yelling at an umpire last summer in Missoula, 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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Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week: Brett Polich and Dylann Bartoletti
Standout Butte High senior track & field athletes Brett Polich and Dylann Bartoletti are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week.
The honors come after both Bulldogs have been contributing consistently solid performances for Butte High all season.
Polich takes home the boys’ honor after placing fourth in the shot put at Friday’s Harry “Swede” Dahlberg Invitational at the Gene Fogarty Complex. He posted a season-best throw of 51 feet, 3 inches.
That performance came after he won the event in a dual against Dillon with a put of 49-2 on Tuesday. On April 11, Polich, who has also performed well in the discus, posted a mark of 51-2 to win a dual meet with Kalispell Glacier in Kalispell.
Polich’s mark of 51-3 is the eighth best throw in Montana this season. It ranks fourth in the Class AA. The future Montana Western football player was also a standout in the trenches for Butte High’s football team. He started at center and defensive tackle and was named an alternate for the Montana East-West Shrine Game.
Bartoletti receives the girls honor for the third different sport this school year. That comes after Bartoletti ran to victory in the 100- and 200-meter races against Dillon Tuesday on the Charlie Merrifield Track. She won the 100 in 13.08 seconds before claiming victory in the 200 with a time of 27.76 seconds.
Both times were faster than the ones she ran to win the same events April 11 in a dual with Glacier in Kalispell. She won the 100 in 13.58 against Glacier, when she took the 200 in 28.61 seconds.
Bartoletti was a key contributor to the Butte High girls’ basketball team that placed fourth at the Class AA State tournament last month in Bozeman. She also won the Western AA Divisional golf title last September in Missoula.
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.
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KC basketball schedule
Following is the Knights of Columbus Athletic Club’s four-man basketball schedule for the week of April 21.
Monday
6 p.m. — ButteSports vs. Poi Time
7 p.m. — ButteSports vs. Someday Starters
8 p.m. — Hertz vs. Rosary RattlersTuesday
6 p.m. — BC vs. Someday Starters
7 p.m. — Trojans vs. Jellyfam
8 p.m. — Trojans vs. Hoopballas
9 p.m. — Rosary Rattlers vs. Washington GeneralsWednesday
7 p.m. — Cook vs. Crib Crew
8 p.m. — Cook vs. Parish
9 p.m. — Hoopballas vs. Washington GeneralsThursday
6 p.m. — BC vs. Parish
7 p.m. — Jellyfam vs. Poi Time
8 p.m. — Hertz vs. Someday Starters
The ButteCast with Bill Foley 