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Butte High-Central baseball game rescheduled for Friday
Tuesday’s scheduled baseball game between Butte High and Butte Central has been rescheduled for Friday, the schools announced this morning.
The move was made because of the poor weather forecast for Tuesday.
Friday’s varsity game will begin at 3 p.m. on Miners Field at 3 Legends Stadium. The JV game will follow. It is scheduled for 5.
The Maroons are 0-2, dropping Thursday’s home opener 9-0 to East Helena and falling 11-4 Friday at Livingston. BC will play Thursday at Dillon.
Butte High is 2-2 after rolling 22-0 Saturday in Townsend. That came a day after the Dogs dropped a 7-3 decision in Belgrade.
The Bulldogs are set to play host to Lone Peak Thursday at 3 Legends Stadium.
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Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week: Jaxon Williamson, Kodee Badovinac
Butte High junior Jaxon Williamson and Butte Central freshman Kodee Badovinac are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week.
The honors come after the two put up some big-time performances on the diamond.
Williamson takes home the boys’ honor after tossing an abbreviated no-hitter Saturday in Townsend. With Butte High’s bats busting loose for 22 runs in a game called by the mercy rule after three innings, Williamson did not have to be perfect. He was close to it, anyway.
The hard-throwing righty did not surrender a hit or run, and he walked just one batter. He got eight of his nine outs by way of the K.
“He was pumping it today, too,” Butte High baseball coach Jim LeProwse said, adding that he figures Williamson was throwing his fastball 83 to 85 miles per hour.
As a sophomore last season, Williamson posted a 3-1 record with a 4.4 ERA. He struck out 28 batters in 27 innings of work.
Badovinac receives the girls’ honor after a big day at the dish for the Butte Central softball team, which suffered a tough 10-9 walk-off loss Saturday in Livingston. Badovinac went 3 for 4 at the plate to lead the Maroons in the season opener.
The third baseman hit a single, double and a triple in the game. She scored three runs, crossing the plate each time she reached base.
Badovinac was a key varsity contributor for the Butte Central volleyball team in the fall. She took home Athlete of the Week honors on Oct. 7.
Badovinac also plays for the BC basketball program.
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 Williamson courtesy of Alycia Holland Photography. Photo of Badovinac courtesy Jacqueline 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 March 31.
Monday
6 p.m. — BC vs. Poi Time
7 p.m. — Cook vs. Jellyfam
8 p.m. — Cook vs. Parish
9 p.m. — Washington Generals vs. HoopballasTuesday
6 p.m. — Trojans vs. Poi Time
7 p.m. — Trojans vs. Someday Starters
8 p.m. — ButteSports vs. Washington GeneralsWednesday
6 p.m. — BC vs. Rosary Rattlers
7 p.m. — Crib Crew vs. Hoopballas
8 p.m. — Hertz vs. ParishThursday
7 p.m. — Jellyfam vs. Hoopballas
8 p.m. — ButteSports vs. Rosary Rattlers
9 p.m. — Hertz vs. Someday Starters
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Podcast No. 253: Torre Tempel
Torre Tempel was very impressive on the football field and basketball court for the Butte High Bulldogs.
Who could possibly forget the night he shattered the school record with nine 3-pointers in a win over Helena High at the Ross J. Richarson Memorial Gymnasium?
Did you know, however, that Torre was very sick leading into that game?
Playing through illness or pain — physical or emotional — is nothing that new to Toree. He also played through a badly sprained ankle for a handful of games this past season.
That is why coach Matt Luedtke calls Toree “the epitome of Butte High basketball.”
Torre led the Bulldogs with 39 made 3-pointers this season, but that only begins to describe his game. He was just tough.
He was the same way playing cornerback for the Bulldogs. Torre Tempel will long be remembered for his toughness.
That is why it is not surprising to learn that Torre is going to take his talents the U.S. Army. He will work to become an Army Ranger.
Serving his country is something Torre wanted to do since he met Rob O’Neill at a young age. Rob, of course, is the Butte Central graduate who shot and killed Osama bin Laden and wrote the best-selling book, “The Operator.”
Torre isn’t pursing the fame that followed Rob after firing those three famous shots. He is simply focused on turning himself into the best person possible.
It is something Torre has been doing since he found himself on the B team for Team UpTop when he was in the eighth grade.
Listen in to this podcast to hear how Torre grew up idolizing Butte High players like Ryson Lovshin. Listen as he talks about playing football and running track for coach Arie Grey. Listen as he talks about Bulldog basketball coach Matt Luedtke.
Listen as he talks about what it is like to play with Hudson Luedtke. Listen as he talks about his plans for the Army.
Today’s podcast is presented by Thriftway Super Stops. Download the TLC app and start saving today.
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Badovinac moves past Cavanaugh with 12th City handball title
Brett Badovinac moved passed a Butte legend in City handball titles Wednesday night at the Elks.
That came as Badovinac beat Marcus Madrazo 21-5 and 21-6 in the championship match of the Butte City Singles Handball Championship. The victory marked Badovinac’s 12 City Singles title, moving him one past Jack Cavanaugh for the most ever.
Badovinac has won seven consecutive titles and twelve of the last thirteen. He beat Madrazo in the championship match the past two years.
Badovinac beat Mike Hitchcock 21-7, 21-7 semifinals. Madrazo downed Don Foley 21-13, 21-16.
Cavanaugh was inducted into the Butte Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. He is also well known as one of the “Legends” of 3 Legends Stadium for his decades of dedication to the Butte American Legion baseball program.
Complete results:
Quarterfinals – Brett Badovinac d. Gage Guldseth; Mike Hitchcock d. Eric Howe 21-10, 21-18; Don Foley d. Scott Salo; Marcus Madrazo d. Dawson Huff
Semifinals – Badovinac d. Hitchcock 21-7, 21-7; Madrazo d. Foley 21-13, 21-16
Final – Badovinac d. Madrazo 21-5, 21-6
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Peoples, Yotes win national title
Former BC great scores 21 off bench
In Butte, we have long known that Dougie Peoples is a big-game player.
Tuesday night in Kansas City, he cemented that legacy on the national stage.
Peoples, whose 27-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer lifted Butte Central to the 2022 Class A State championship in Missoula, came off the bench to score 21 points as the College of Idaho beat Oklahoma Wesleyan 93-65 in the NAIA National Championship Game at the historic Municipal Auditorium.
The 2023 Montana Gatorade Player of the year sank his first five 3-point attempts and scored 17 points in the first half to help the Yotes 49-29 lead at the break.
Samaje Morgan scored 28 points to lead all scorers. Peoples led the team in scoring much of the game, and the sophomore finished as the No. 2 scorer in the contest.
The Yotes finished the season at 35-2, winning their second national title in three years.
After cruising to the Cascade Collegiate Conference title, the Yotes beat the University of California, Merced and Friends University (Kansas) on their home court in Caldwell, Idaho to open the NAIA tournament. They then went to Kansas City and beat Langston and Georgetown College (Kentucky) before thumping Arizona Christian 72-45 in Monday’s semifinals.
The national title comes after Peoples’ legendary career at Butte Central. While he did not score a varsity point as a freshman, he finished his varsity career with 1,683 points. No boy at Butte Central or Butte High has scored more career points that Peoples, who also owns Butte’s prep single-game record with 44 points.
Peoples scored 33 total points in the previous five tournament games before really going off when the spotlight was the brightest.
Bulldog bats break out in Game 2
It took them two games into the season, but the Butte High bats came to life in a big way Monday as the Bulldogs doubled up Missoula Big Sky for a 12-6 victory in Florence.
The Bulldogs, who opened their third baseball season with a 6-4 loss Friday at Missoula Big Sky, pounded 13 hits in a wire-to-wire victory that was played through on-and-off rain.
Sophomore Brayden Giop made a sparkling varsity debut in the victory. Playing third base, Giop went 3 for 4 with four RBIs to highlight the win that saw Butte High lead 4-1, 6-2 and 10-2.
That came after Giop hit his first home run in a 10-6 junior varsity win on Friday.
Cayde Stajcar, Karsen McEwen and Logan Carden each poked a pair of hits in the win. Stajcar hit a triple, while Carden doubled. Will Stepan added a double, while Tocher Lee, Lucas Harris-Huerta and Brooks Vincent singled.
Chase Lubick started on the bump and pitched four strong innings for the win. Freshman Kodye Kjersten closed it out with three innings of work.
Wes Potter hit a double and a single, while driving in three runs, to lead Florence. Levi Winters added two singles.
In Friday’s opener, the Bulldogs surrendered two runs in the first inning and never caught back up. Mathew Doty homered to highlight the Big Sky offense, which used six hits and took advantage of six Bulldog errors.
Butte High had not practiced on a baseball field leading up to the game.
Matthew Donaldson hit a two-run home run — the first of his Butte High career — to lead the Bulldogs. Stajcar, McEwen and Gunner Bushman hit singles.
Harris-Huerta started and pitched better than the stat line might suggest. Books Vincent relieved and gave the Bulldogs a solid three and a third innings of work.
Butte High is back on the road Friday and Saturday when they travel to Belgrade and Townsend.
The Bulldogs are schedule to take on Butte Central next Tuesday at 3 Legends Stadium.
Big inning costs Butte High in loss to Gallatin
Butte High’s softball team could not overcome an eight-run second inning by Gallatin Tuesday, and the Bulldogs fell 11-7 to the Raptors at Stodden Park.
Addison Bleile picked up the victory in the pitchers’ circle and drove in five runs to lead the Raptors. She went 2 for 5 with a three-run home run.
Madison Coleman doubled, while Parker Stevens, Olivia Klemann and Zoe Bassham each poked two singles.
The game was the opener for the powerful Raptors.
Despite the loss, Butte High coach Ryan Stosich said his team showed improvement from Friday’s games against Billings West and Billings Senior in Missoula.
The Bulldogs matched the Raptors with 11 hits. Shortstop Allie Becker provided three of those hits to lead Butte in the game. Madisyn Swanson doubled, while Ashlinn Mullaney and Mattie Stepan each added a pair of singles.
Mullaney drove in two runs, and Gracie Jonart, Ally Godbout and Hailey Skeel each added a single.
Friday in Missoula, the Bulldogs fell 11-1 to West and 16-1 to Senior. Stosich, though, said those games were closer than the score might indicate. He used some young pitchers, and the Bulldogs were seeing their first extensive action outside.
Mullaney and Becker doubled, and Godbout singled in the game against Senior. Swanson, Jonart, Skeel and Reese Johnson singled against West.
The Bulldogs are back in action Thursday when they travel to Belgrade to take on the Panthers.
Cleveland, sitting in the middle, is surrounded by teammates after signing her NAIA National Letter of Intent to play volleyball for Dickinson State Friday at Butte High. (Courtesy photo) Cleveland, Swanson take talents to college
Last week was a big one for the girls at Butte High School.
One day after the Dawson Community College softball team announced the commitment of Butte first baseman Madisyn Swanson, Bulldog Jaycee Cleveland officially signed her NAIA National Letter of Intent to play volleyball at Dickinson State.
Cleveland’s teammates crowded around as she signed the letter in a ceremony outside Butte High’s Richardson Gym Friday morning.
Cleveland, the daughter of Raena and Josh Cleveland, was a four-year varsity player for the Bulldogs. This past season, she led the Bulldogs with a .234 hitting percentage, 59 aces, .7 aces per set and 566 assists.
The Bulldogs went 11-15 overall on the season. That includes a 9-5 record in the Western AA. That was the best league mark posted by the Bulldogs in many years, according to Bulldog coach Shane Jorgenson.
Dickinson State is a member of the North Star Athletic Association. Under first-year head coach Stormy Siemion, the Blue Hawks went 5-21 overall and 1-9 in league play last season.
Swanson will join the Buccaneers in Glendive in the fall.
Swans, the daughter of Melissa and Mike Swanson, batted .333 for the Bulldogs in 17 games last season. She reached base at a .400 clip. She also was a standout for the Copper City Softball All-Star Team, which captured a state championship last summer.
A press release from Dawson also pointed out that Swanson is very involved in the little league program in Butte, where she helps to coach the younger softball girls and umps for their games.
“I loved the environment, energy, and the support that I saw while on my visit,” Swanson said of her decision to sign with the Buccaneers.
Dawson head coach Casey-May Huff said she likes the pop Swanson will bring to the Buccaneer offense.
“We are excited to add Madisyn’s power to our lineup,” Huff said. “I believe that she will be a great addition to our campus and community as well with her experience in volunteering and lending a helping hand.”
Weather weighs in on first week of spring
It did not take long for weather to play a factor in the spring schedule for Butte High and Butte Central.
The Maroons were scheduled to compete in the Gene-Hughes Invitational track meet Saturday in Corvallis, but a snow storm wiped that out. Central is now set to open the track season this Saturday at the Frenchtown Invitational.
BC’s tennis teams also had their opener pushed back because of weather. Their first action will now be next Tuesday in Livingston, where the Maroons will compete against Livingston, Dillon and Hardin. The Maroons first home tennis action is set for April 4 against Stevensville.
Central’s softball team is set to open the season Saturday in Livingston. The BC baseball team will play at home Thursday against East Helena before heading to Livingston on Friday.
Butte High’s tennis teams are set to begin the season against Belgrade and Missoula Big Sky Friday in Missoula. The Bulldogs have home action scheduled against Billings Skyview and Billings Senior on April 5.
The Bulldog track teams are still on track to open the season next Tuesday in Missoula, and Butte High has a busy first week on tap. They will go to Billings on Friday before hosting Capital and Butte Central on April 8.
Click the links below to view the Butte High and BC schedules. Remember, however, they are subject to change on short notice.
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Silver B’s honor McEwen, Smith
The 2024-25 Butte High Silver B’s Memorial Scholarship will go to Butte High seniors Karsen McEwen and Eli Smith, Silver B’s Historian Scott Paffhausen announced Tuesday.
The honors come with their name on a plaque and a $1,500 scholarship. The Silver B’s will present the scholarships to McEwen and Smith at a later date.
The 6-foot-3, 180-pound McEwen receives the scholarship even though a knee injury limited his season to just four games. While playing defensive end, McEwen still registered seven total tackles for the Bulldogs.
Smith, a 5-10, 180-pound linebacker, receives the award after leading the Bulldogs with 78 total tackles. That includes 60 solo tackles.
The 2024 Bulldogs went to on the road to beat Great Falls High 21-17 in the first round of the playoffs. They fell at Kalispell Glacier 48-38 the next week. Glacier advanced to the Class AA state championship game.
In its fourth year, the Butte High Silver B Memorial Scholarship has now been awarded to seven student-athletes. Cole Stewart was the first winner in 2021-22. In 2022-23, Alex Watson and Jonas Sherman took home the honors. Last year, the scholarship went to Bo Demarais and Luke Verlanic.
The names of McEwen and Smith will join those distinguished former Bulldogs on the plaque.
In addition to Paffhausen, the Silver B’s officers are Matt Pelletier (treasurer) and Northey Tretheway (secretary). Dave Bennetts is the head of the Silver B’s Scholarship Committee.
Photos McEwen, left, and Smith are courtesy of Alycia Holland Photography.
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The girls of Butte deserve better
Driving down Homestake pass late on Saturday, March 15, I was more excited than usual to see the skyline of Butte, America.
Butte High’s girls’ basketball team had just finished a Class AA State tournament in which the Bulldogs made the Mining City proud. I assumed the gallows frames would be lit up in purple to honor and welcome home a team that left everything it had on the court.
After all, Butte’s gallows frames were lit up in purple last fall when the Butte High football team played its two playoff games on the road. The entire community welcomed the site as they cheered on their Bulldogs, and the boys felt the love when their bus rolled into town after the games.
So, it was a little disheartening to see that the gallows frames were lit up green the night the Bulldogs played on a Saturday of the state tournament for the first time since 2009.
Yes, it was two days before St. Patrick’s Day, which is a huge deal in Butte. Also, I found out it is not quite as easy to change the colors as I was thinking it was. It cannot simply be switched by the push of a button on the computer just yet.
Still, it was disappointing to see that the girls, once again, did not get the same treatment that our boys receive.
I griped about that to my brother, and he told me to calm down. He said it was just an oversight.
He is right. It was just an oversight. There was absolutely no ill intent by the county employee in charge of changing the color of the gallows frame lights. He, too, was very proud of the Butte High girls.
In fact, he told me that. He said he should have changed the colors, and my bet is he will the next time.
The thing is, it was yet another in a series of oversights. It is not always one big thing that leads to the girl athletes getting the shaft. It is one little oversight after another.
It is the crowd not being nearly as big for the girls’ games as it is for the boys. It is the reduced media coverage for the girls’ state tournament games, even though they were the only high school players from Butte still competing on the final weekend of the season.
It is not noticing the fact that the girls play on crappy softball fields while the boys play at a gem of a stadium about a mile away. It is the discontent shown for the two men, Sid DeBarathy and Mike “Skinny” Foley, who have been fighting for girls’ equity for more than two decades.
Sid and Skinny have been battling with School District No. 1 and Butte-Silver Bow for better softball fields since 2003. They even filed a Title IX complaint on behalf of the girls.
That lead to some improvements at the Stodden Park facility. But, let’s face it, the fields still stink.
Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher likes to tell people that we have the “best softball fields in the state,” and that is always greeted with a huge laugh by the people who know better. Yes, Stodden did get new infields because of that Title IX complaint, but they were not installed correctly.
The sand and clay were not mixed the right way, so the infields at Stodden more resemble a sand trap or a long jump pit than they do an infield. They dry out quickly, and the entire facility is usually a dusty mess when a game is being played on any one of the three fields.
Those poorly-constructed infields are also an injury hazard.
Sure, the fields can hold up during a heavy rain storm better than most fields in the state, but that is about it.
The outfields are so uneven that you wouldn’t let your grandma even walk on the grass, and the fences are broken and dangerous. An adult softball player slid into the fence while trying to catch a foul ball a few years ago, and a bolt sliced his head open. He had to sue the county to pay his medical bills.
The fences for the fields were installed in the mid 1970s. The bottoms of those fence are curled up and frayed. It is only a matter of time before we see a player seriously injured when running into one.
The dugouts are small and offer the girls no shelter from the weather, and the backstops are as hindering as they are dangerous. There is no way a ball will ever take a true carom off the backstops at Stodden.
Also, it is only a matter of time before a foul ball seriously injures a player or spectator.
Several years have passed since a player was knocked out cold at Butte Central’s Laverne Combo Invitation softball tournament. The girl was hit by a foul ball that just avoided the fence and insufficient netting. The ball hit her in the head as she laughed and talked with teammates outside her dugout between Field 2 and Field 3.
Other than express outrage at the writer who pointed out that county was aware of that danger well before the injury, Butte-Silver Bow has done exactly nothing to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen again.
Former officials from the county and the school district told me flat out that they would do more, but they don’t want Sid and Skinny to win.
Granted, my cousin Skinny can be a pain. He has a severe shortage of tact, and he sometimes loses his temper. I’m told that those are qualities he gets from the Skuletich side of his family.
But there is no way you can argue he and Sid are not looking out for the best interest of the girls. There is no way any sane person can look at those fields and not see that they are telling the truth.
When Butte High announced it was going to be one of the last two Class AA schools to offer softball in 1990, the school said it planned to build two new softball fields on the south side of the campus. That space now is used as a practice field for football.
Butte-Silver Bow doesn’t have the Title IX worries that the school district has, or should have. Instead, the county has liability and economic issues with the fields.
Those fields at Stodden Park saw nearly 500 games played on them last year. That includes Butte High and Butte Central home games as well as youth tournaments and recreation leagues.
The youth tournaments bring a ton of money into town. They bring families to check out our beautiful Stodden Park. Even more tournaments would come to town if those fields were half as good as our chief executive falsely claims they are.
Last week, Sid and Skinny showed Brian Michelotti and Amy Bartles of the Montana High School Association the danger and insufficiency of those fields. Michelotti and Bartles agreed that immediate action should be taken to fix some of the problems, and they said a long-term plan must be perused.
Shawn Fredrickson, Butte-Silver Bow’s new parks and recreation director, showed genuine concern, too. He wants to work to make the improvements to the fields that Gallagher would not make when he was in the same job.
Officials with Butte High expressed concern and vowed to work to improve the fields.
Of course, Sid and Skinny have heard that many times in their 22-year fight for equality for the girls. They have heard as many hollow words and empty promises as they have insults.
Yet, they keep fighting for the girls of today and tomorrow.
That is because they know that, unlike the gallows frames, the poor fields at Stodden Park cannot be pinned on just another oversight.
This has been an issue that, for so long, our county and school district simply refused to adequately address.
— Bill Foley, who gets his calm, cool and collected demeanor from the Foley side of his family, 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: Madisyn Swanson, Matthew Donaldson
Butte High seniors Madisyn Swanson and Matthew Donaldson are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week.
The honors come after the Bulldogs opened the softball and baseball seasons Friday in Missoula.
Swanson, Butte High’s first baseman, found some grass for a single as the Bulldogs opened with losses Billings West and Billings Senior.
That came two days after Dawson Community College announced Swanson’s commitment to pay softball for the Buccaneers.
Swanson is primed to have a big season after batting .333 for the Bulldogs in 17 games last season. She reached base at a .400 clip. She also was a standout for the Copper City Softball All-Star Team, which captured a state championship last summer.
The Bulldogs, who were not able to hold a single outside practice before playing their first games, are scheduled to play Gallatin Tuesday at Stodden Park.
Donaldson takes home the boys’ honor after hitting his first career high school home run in a 6-4 loss to Missoula Big Sky. The slick-fielding Bulldog third baseman smoked an 0-1 pitch for a towering home run to left field.
The blast scored Lucas Harris-Huerta and cut Big Sky’s lead at the time to 3-2.
Donaldson is looking for a big senior campaign after batting .312 for the Butte Miners in American Legion play last summer.
The Bulldogs, who did not have a practice on a baseball field before their opener, will travel to Florence on Monday.
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 in an effort to encourage more children to get up, get out and try all kinds of sports and activities.
Photos of Swanson and Donaldson are courtesy of 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 March 24.
Monday
7 p.m. — Parish vs. Someday Starters
8 p.m. — Rosary Rattlers vs. HertzTuesday
6 p.m. — Trojans vs. Hertz
7 p.m. — Trojans vs. ButteSports
8 p.m. — Somedays Starters vs. ButteSportsWednesday
6 p.m. — BC vs. Jellyfam
7 p.m. — BC vs. Cook
8 p.m. — Cook vs. Poi Time
9 p.m. — Washington Generals vs. HertzThursday
6 p.m. — Crib Crew vs. Rosary Rattlers
7 p.m. — Washington Generals vs. Jellyfam
8 p.m. — Poi Time vs. Parish
The ButteCast with Bill Foley 