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Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week: Beau Henderson and Senior Softball
This week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week are Butte Mucker Beau “Knows” Henderson and all the players of the Copper City Softball Little League’s Senior Division.
Henderson takes home the boys’ honor after having himself a month over the last week. That includes a huge performance to help lead the Muckers to victory in the third-place game of the Butte Muckers tournament. He went 3 for 4 with a double, triple and five RBIs as Butte rallied for a 14-13 win over the Kalispell Lakers.
In six days playing for the Muckers and Motormen, Henderson smacked nine hits, including three triples. He drove in 11 runs.
The players of the two Senior League teams will share the girls’ award because the coaches said they couldn’t pick just one player this week. So, they wanted to highlight the growth of the league.
“We are so proud of the senior league girls softball this year,” one coach said of the players. “They had a great season of softball, sportsmanship and a lot of fun. The league had over 25 girls sign up. We couldn’t have this league without their participation. Not only did they make it fun for themselves but improved every game. Thanks for being great role models for the leagues below you. Their season consisted of playing each other and Dillon and each game both teams improved. The girls thrived and were so positive for each other.”
Players in the league are Baely Norris, Aspen Shaffer, Aubrey Stalker, Tavyn Smith, Janae LaBuff, Lainee Walsh-Hill, Kodee Badovinac, Kenzie McQueary, Cambree O’Neill, Bella Rowe, Abbigail Wright, Hannah Young, Arianna Coey, Brea Henderson, Ava White, Meg Chiamulera, Molly McGillen, Madison Schell, Joee Regan, Lilly Sandoval, Ellison Graham, Carolyn Lopez, Preslee Johnson, Braelyn Schelin, Natalie Osterman and Cambri Campbell.
For the second 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.
Photoscourtesy Josie Trudgeon Photography.
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Podcast No. 194: Cayde Stajcar
The first time we saw Cayde Stajcar in action, my son said to me, “Dad, that girl is good.”
That is because Cayde had flowing long hair that looked a lot like former Steelers star safety Troy Polamalu.
Cayde was playing basketball in the Knights of Columbus Little Kid Hoops program. He was 5 or 6 years old, and he was playing in the young league with the rims lowered to like 7 feet.
The game was way too easy for young Cayde. If he missed a shot, I didn’t see it. He was making shots from inside and out. He scored on translon and on jump shots.
That, though, wasn’t the impressive part about his game that day. Rather, it was the selflessness of the young boy. He would pass up open shots to instead pass the ball to a teammate. He made sure other boys and girls got the chance to shoot and dribble the ball. I made a point to find out who the boys’ parents were that day.
It was no surprise that his father is Luke Stajcar, who is one of the best athletes I covered in Butte as a sportswriter. Apparently, Luke married an athlete, too. His wife, Rissa, was a college volleyball player, so Cayde has the right genes to be an athlete.
That day, I went out of my way to tell Cayde’s mom and dad both how impressed I was with their son. Not as a player, but as a teammate.
It was obvious then and it is obvious now that Cayde Stajcar is the ultimate teammate.
He is also a superstar.
Last week, Cayde became just the eighth Butte athlete to win a Montana Gatorade Player of the Year award. He is the first in the state to win it for baseball.
One day soon, he will be flooded with offers from Division I college looking for him to play baseball and football. Don’t be surprised if he is drafted by a Major League Baseball organization two years from this month. Or after a couple of years in college.
The sky is definitely the limit for Cayde. Yet, we know he will stay humble to his roots because Cayde’s humility is not an act. I saw it that Saturday morning in the KC’s Felix Madrazo Gym, and I see it every time I watch him play football or baseball. I saw it when I refereed his basketball games.
Not only is Cayde a star athlete, he is the easiest young man to root for this side of Tommy Mellott. You know the younger generations are paying attention to that, too.
Here’s hoping some of us in the older generations learn a thing from him as well.
This conversation took place Wednesday in the home dugout at 3 Legends Stadium.
Listen in as he talks about how he learned that he won the Gatorade. Listen in as he talks about his love of baseball and football. Listen as he talks about playing with top-notch competition in tournaments in Arizona and George while we were freezing in Montana.
Listen to how he traces his humble foundation to his mom, dad and siblings.
Today’s podcast is brought to you by Thrifway Super Stops. Download the TLC app and start saving today.
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Podcast No. 193: West Side Shriners
The West Side named its captains for Saturday’s 77th Montana East-West Shrine Game in Billings on Wednesday, and they stopped by the Coaches Corner at the Metals Sports Bar & Grill for an appearance on the podcast.
The four West Side captains are quarterbacks Carter Kraft of Helena High and Kee Christiansen of Dillon on offense and defensive end Isaac Keim of Kalispell Glacier and inside linebacker Tuff Adams of Helena Capital.
All four will go on to play college football. Kraft is heading to Sacramento State, Christiansen will play at Montana State, Adams is going to Rocky Mountain College, and Heim will play for the University of Montana.
After the captains appeared on the podcast, the coaches joined the show.
First up were assistants Matt Upham of Glacier and Ryan Schulte of Helena High. They were followed by Connor Sullivan of Three Forks and Adam Goodnight of Florence-Carlton.
Then, former Montana Western quarterbacks Pat Duchein of Florence-Carlton and Jason Truman of Dillon stepped on. Ducheim is the head coach of the West.
After the coaches, Shrines Darrel Storey and Wynn Randall made an appearance. We closed up with West Team Coordinator Jeff Hartwick.
This podcast is brought to you by Casagranda’s Steakhouse. Eat where the locals eat.
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BC unveils 2024-25 schedules
Butte Central released its sports schedules for the 2024-25 school year today.
The Maroons will open the football season on the road against Ronan on Aug. 30. That game comes two weeks after BC opens practice on Aug. 16.
The Maroon and White Game is set for Saturday, Aug. 24.
Central will play its home opener Sept. 6 against Hamilton on Montana Tech’s Bob Green Field. After trips to Polson and Corvallis, BC will return home to celebrate Homecoming against Browning on Sept. 27.
BC will play host to Libby on Oct. 4 before heading to back-to-back road games against Livingston and Dillon. Central closes the season Oct. 25 when Frenchtown comes to town for Senior Night.
Central’s volleyball team will open the season Aug. 30-31 at the Western A Tipoff tournament in Frenchtown. BC’s first home match will be Sept. 19 against Stevensville. The Maroons will host Hamilton for a Homecoming celebration on Sept. 26, and BC will host the Blocktober Classic Oct. 18-19 at the Maroon Activities Center.
The Western A Divisional tournament is Nov. 7-9 at Polson, and the Class A State tournament is Nov. 14-16 in Bozeman.
Central’s golf team will host the season-opening Butte Central Invitational on Monday, Aug. 19 at the Highland View Golf Course. BC’s golfers will play at the Western A Divisional Sept. 28 in Columbia Falls.
The Class A State tournament is set for Oct. 4-5 in Polson.
The Maroons cross country team will open Aug. 30 in Livingston. BC will host the Butte Central Invitational Sept. 10 at Farimont Hot Springs. The State meet is Oct. 26 in Missoula.
Click here to see all BC’s 2024-25 schedules, including the winter and spring seasons.
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Maroons schedule football camp
The Butte Central Maroons football program has scheduled its 2024 summer football camp for July 22-25.
The camp, which is open to first through 12th graders, will be held on Torger Oaas Maroon Field at the Maroon Activities Center. The session for boys entering the first through fifth grades will be held each day from 10 to 11:30 a.m. The cost for boys in this age group is $34.
The session for boys entering sixth through 12th grades will be held each day from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The cost for boys in this age group will be $50. There is a reduced fee of $23 for each additional camper, from the same family.
The camp will be staffed by the Butte Central football coaching staff. The camp will feature football skill development and fun. All campers will receive an official 2024 Maroon Football T-shirt.
To register for the camp or obtain further information, please call the Maroon Activities Center at (406) 723-6706.
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Let’s hear it for Jake Larson and a record that stood for 24 years
The saying is as old as sports. “Records are made to be broken.”
Records are also meant to be appreciated and remembered. That goes double for records that stand for more than a generation.
That is the case with Jake Larson’s Montana high school all-class record in the 300-meter hurdles. For 24 years, Jake’s father, Andy, religiously followed the best 300 hurdles runners in the state to see if Jake’s record would last another year.
Every year, Andy watched as the best runners in the state fell short of his son’s mark.
This year, though, Gallatin High School star senior Nash Coley put an end to that, taking over as the fastest Montana boy to run the 300 hurdles.
He could not, however, wipe away the memory of Jake’s great run.
Coley, who will run for Montana State University, won the Class AA State title in the 300 hurdles with a time of 36.91 seconds May 25 in Great Falls. Ethan Anderson of Kalispell Glacier was next at 38:05, followed by Missoula Big Sky’s Oliver Simianer at 38.91.
If Coley’s family members follow his new record as close as Andy Larson, there is a good chance they will be doing it for 24 years or longer. Coley’s time is absolutely blistering.
Larson’s record actually lasted one day shy of 24 years. That is 8,765 days that Jake held the Montana record with is time of 37.66.
He set the record on May 26, 2000 at Van Winkle Stadium in Bozeman. Greg Carothers of Helena Capital placed second at 38.41, while Ty Felton of Missoula Hellgate took third in 39.45.
What made Jake’s run seem highly improbable was that he won it out of lane No. 9 because he stumbled in the Western AA Divisional meet the week before in Kalispell.
That was in the day before qualifying standards, and Jake’s slip nearly meant he never got to run the race in the first place.
As the record turned 20 years old in the middle of COVID in 2020, I talked with Jake and Andy for a story on ButteSports.com.
“It was my start that got me it,” Jake said of his winning run. “They might have thought I jumped. Those two beat me all year.”
Jake’s 37.66 broke the record shared by Lucas Fowler of Harlowton and Kurt Sager of Shields Valley. Both ran 38.04 in 1998.
While he kept looking to see if anyone had a chance break his son’s record, Andy Larson said he knew the mark would eventually fall.
“I just love the track season,” Andy Larson said. “I love to watch. (Records are) all made to be broken. It’s just a matter of who.”
For Coley, Jake Larson was a name he had been chasing for some time.
“I’ve been dreaming about this since last year at state. Like, I had the vision set in my mind and was just ready to go for it,” Coley told MontanaSports.com after the race. “Jake Larson, who set it, actually came up to me right afterwards and said, ‘Congratulations.’ It felt nice to be recognized like that by someone who had just previously held the record.”
As great as Jake was at the 2000 Class AA State meet in Bozeman, he was probably even better the next year in Great Falls. That year he returned home with seven medals, five of which were of the gold variety.
He won four golds on Day 1. He again won the 300 hurdles in 37.89 on Friday to go along with a victory in the 100 meters (11.08) and the 400 (49.01).
That meet is one that Charlie Merrifield, the late Butte High coaching legend, never forgot.
“I think he would have broken the 300 record again, but I think he was pointing toward those seven golds,” Merrifield said in 2020. “I think he loafed the first corner.”
Larson, Zach Ueland, Ross Richardson and Tim Boyle captured the 400-meter relay with a time of 42.70.
On Day 2, Larson defended his title in the 110-meter hurdles in 14.43. His silver medals came in the 200, where he barely lost to Ueland (21.85 to 21.90) and the 1,600-meter relay.
He ran with Ueland, Richardson and Matt Choquette in the long relay. Larson ran the last leg.
Jake’s State meet in 2001 just might be the greatest performance by a track athlete in Butte history. It ranks among the best in the history of the state, too.
During his athletic days at Butte High and Montana Western, Jake had a well-earned reputation for his brashness. He was cocky, and he had a streak of jerk in him. That, though, was part of what drove him. It was part of what made him great.
I remember him showing the ball to a Montana Tech defender as he finished off a long touchdown reception at Alumni Coliseum. I also remember him making what might be the greatest catch in the history of the Frontier Conference — this time against Tech in Dillon.
Jake also famously flipped off the hostile crowd at a basketball game in Kalispell.
Merrifield, though, vouched for Jake four years ago. He said he never had a problem with Jake.
“We understood each other pretty well,” Merrifield said. “I looked at him one time and said, ‘Jake, I’m going to do the thinking and you do the running because it’s obvious we can’t switch roles.’”
That he was there to congratulate Coley right after his record fell is also a testament to Jake’s character.
Jake is a shoe-in to eventually be voted into the Butte Sports Hall of Fame. So far, he probably has two obstacles keeping him out.
First, at 42, Jake is still young for the Hall of Fame. The average age of the last few Hall of Fame classes is closer to 72.
I also think his reputation might have worked against him, and that is not completely fair. People only like to remember the bad things.
Yes, Jake still walks on the brash side, but I know pretty him well. He was starting as a freshman on the Butte High varsity basketball team the first time I got to cover the Bulldogs as a writer.
Years later, Jake helped me coach Little League Baseball for several years as our kids grew up together.
All those years, Jake treated every boy on our team just as well as he treated his own. He would do anything to help those boys succeed. That includes running a relay with them around the bases when he had an injured ankle. It includes demonstrating how to slide on the hard dirt while wearing shorts.
Without question, Jake is one of the greatest athletes this town has every seen. I would say that even if he never held that record.
But Jake did hold that record for 8,765 glorious days, and that is something that should make him darn proud. All Butte fans should be proud.
So, here’s to Jake Larson for nearly a quarter century holding an incredible record.
And here’s to Nash Coley for reminding us that all records are made to be broken.
— Bill Foley, who would need 8,765 days to finish the 300 hurdles, can be reached at foles74@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/Foles74. 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: Savannah Stosich and Grady Foley
Savanah Stosich and Grady Foley are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week.
Stosich takes home the girls’ honor for her outstanding play while competing for Dennehy Flooring in the Majors Division (11-12) of the Copper City Softball Little League. She is a standout player at the plate and in the field.
Stosich’s coach said she is finding her groove and pitched very well her last two games. She is also hitting the ball very well.
Foley receives the boys’ honor after driving in nine runs to help lead the Butte Motormen to an American Legion doubleheader sweep of the Salmon Savages Saturday at 3 Legends Stadium.
Butte won 11-10 and 6-5, and Foley belted a bases-clearing double in both games. He made several outstanding plays in the field, and coach Reece Cox cited Foley for his leadership.
“No. 9 had a day today,” Cox said. “He had a day.”
For the second 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.
Photo of Stosich courtesy Alycia Holland Photography. Photo of Foley provided by Josie Trudgeon Photography.
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Jack Keeley added to Shrine roster
Make it four Butte guys playing in the 77th Montana East-West Shrine Game.
Recent Butte Central graduate Jack Keeley was added to the active roster for the West Side, West Team Coordinator Jeff Hartwick said Sunday night.
Billings will host the Shrine Game Saturday night.
Keeley will join BC teammate Zane Moodry and Butte High’s Kade Schleeman and Kyler Stenson on the West roster during Saturday’s game in Billings. All four Butte players on the West roster have signed to play football at Montana Tech.
Keeley brings versatility and athleticism to the West roster. He played quarterback and defensive back for the Maroons last fall. He will play cornerback in the Shrine Game, Hartwick said.
Keeley racked up 38 tackles as a defensive back as a senior. He earned second-team All-State honors as a safety. Keeley also racked up an All-State nod while leading Butte Central to fourth place at the Class A State basketball tournament.
The West Side will once again be training in Butte this week. The full rosters for both teams were released to the media on Christmas morning.
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Podcast No. 192: Danny Thatcher
Danny Thatcher was born to coach, and that is what he does.
Coach Thatcher is the offensive line coach and run game coordinator for the Montana Tech football team. He joined the Oredigger staff when Head Coach Coach Kyle Samson took over for Chuck Morrell. He added the run game coordinator to his title this spring. Yes, that is a real thing.
Danny is one many Coach Thatchers who have led young men and women in the Mining City. He is the son of Mike and Debbie Thatcher and the younger brother of Sarah Stepan, Lindsay LeProwse and Kelci Thatcher.
While Danny will tell you he is the least athletic of the Thatchers, don’t let that fool you. He was a standout player on some very good Butte Central teams. After having his sophomore year sidelined by a back injury, Danny was an all-conference lineman two years for the Maroons. He was an All-State center as a senior, and he was selected to play in the Badlands Bowl and the Montana East-West Shrine Game.
Danny signed to play football for Montana Tech. But he was a little undersized, and back problems sidelined his playing career.
It didn’t take lone, however, for him to turn to coaching. He started in middle school and then coached with the Bozeman Hawks.
Danny was the offensive line coach for the Bozeman team that beat Butte High in the 2019 Class AA State Championship game at Naranche Stadium.
Listen in to this episode of the ButteCast as Danny talks about his lifelong desire to coach. Listen as he talks about his playing days, how he rose up the ranks in Bozeman and how Coach Samson recruited him to join the Oredigger family.
Listen as he talks about losing his cousin and best friend Alex Thatcher and his good friend Mariah McCarthy have helped him keep his coaching career in perspective. Listen to how Alex and Mariah will always be a part of his life.
Today’s podcast is brought to you by Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warrantee.
This is the turf Montana Tech’s football team will start playing on this fall. -
Hall of Fame tickets on sale
Tickets for the July 20 Butte Sports Hall of Fame banquet are now on sale at the Butte Civic Center.
Tickets can be purchased at the box office or online. (Click here to buy online). Cost is $38 until July 12. The price goes up to $45 after that.
The Green Jacket Ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 19 at the Civic Center. A social hour will begin at 6 p.m., and that event is free of charge.
After a 6 p.m. social hour on Saturday, July 20, the banquet will begin at 7 p.m.
Individuals set for induction are Steve “Coachie” Schulte, Ron Richards, Matt Buckley, Martha (Apostel) Lonner, Wanda Jean (Matteson) Olson, Linda (Lyons) Paull, Dan Lean, Erin Popovich, Kyle Smith, Don Tamietti, Bruce Sayler, Betty Merrifield and John Rickman.
Teams going in will be the 1983, 1984 and 1985 Montana Tech men’s basketball teams, the 1989 Butte High boys’ basketball team, the 1991-92 Butte High wrestling team, the 1996 Butte High softball team and the 1999 Butte Central softball team.
All players who attend the banquet will be presented a personalized plaque to commemorate the induction. Those who can’t make it to the event can purchase a plaque for $60, plus shipping.
Message Hall of Fame Executive Director Bill Foley at foles74@gmail.com or (406) 491-3022 to RSVP or to order a plaque.
The Hall of Fame teams as well as area Special Olympians will also be recognized during the Green Jacket Ceremony. Members of the teams being inducted are encouraged to attend and be a part of the Green Jacket Ceremony.
The Butte Sports Hall of Fame scramble will begin at 1 p.m. on Friday, July 19, on the Par 3 course at the Highland View Golf Course. Players can play in a group or come as an individual and be put on a team. Players do not need to register ahead of time.
This year, Leskovar Honda is presenting a hole-in-one contest for a chance to win a car.
The ButteCast with Bill Foley 