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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.
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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
