Baseball: Big Horns earn first-ever playoff berth 

Young team ‘ahead of schedule’ with 2024 success 

By Jack Reaney ASSOCIATE EDITOR 

It came to a four-way tie, but Lone Peak High School’s one-year-old baseball program held the tiebreaker advantage and earned a spot in the state playoffs.  

The Big Horns gained experience during their second-ever campaign, winning four of their final seven games including a punctuative victory on Friday, May 3, against Columbus High School to finish their season. The Big Horns won by the 10-run mercy rule for the first time in program history, beating Columbus, 10-0.  

“It was a spectacular performance and our best game as a group, ever,” coach John McGuire told EBS in a phone call. “It was really a great game for all of the kids. The boys stepped up.” 

Sophomore Ebe Grabow pitched a five-inning, complete game shutout. He struck out six, walked two and allowed two hits. The Big Horns backed Grabow with their gloves, and McGuire said a key factor to the Big Horns success has been their fielding.  

“And if we throw strikes—all the coaches talk about this—and make the plays in the field and get timely hitting, we can beat anybody,” he said.  

At the plate, sophomore Oliver McGuire tripled in the first inning, and the early momentum carried the Big Horns in their nine-hit barrage. Grabow and senior Aidan Germain both drove in runs in the third inning. Senior Keelan Grupe and freshman Ryan Malinowski had two RBIs each—Malinowski’s came with his two-run single that gave the Big Horns their 10-run lead and ended the game.   

“Several terrific performances at the plate,” coach McGuire said. He added that it was great to honor seniors Aidan Germain, Keelan Grupe, Jonah Adams and Max Woodger in their final regular season game with a “terrific team victory.” 

“Aidan and Keelan, in particular, have been varsity stalwarts and terrific contributors to the squad,” McGuire said.  

After the 10-0 victory over Columbus, the 4-6 Big Horns could only wait.  

If Park High School could beat Columbus on Tuesday, May 7, it would create a four-way tie among teams with four wins apiece. Park did win, and Lone Peak won the tiebreaker based on run differential and head-to-head record with other tied teams.  

Coach Matt Morris said the Big Horns got hot at the right time. McGuire said it shows the importance of every play, every run scored or prevented, and every player’s contribution. 

“We won the right games against the right teams, and had the ball bounce our way a couple of times, and here we are, by run differential,” Morris said.  

The Big Horns earned the third seed in the east division. Belgrade High School and Park took the top two seeds, respectively.  

Beating expectations 

Lone Peak will travel to face Hamilton High School, seeded second in the southwest division, at noon on Saturday for the first playoff round.  

McGuire said it’s spectacular that the Big Horns made the tournament, especially with many of the team’s most talented players being freshmen or sophomores.  

“We’re ahead of schedule as far as our expectations for this squad,” he said. “… We’re looking at it as the next step for baseball in Big Sky. We all are very excited for the boys, and the school.”  

McGuire said they’ll be sticking with the lineup that earned them a playoff berth. Every varsity player is available.  

Hamilton looks strong on paper—the Broncs beat No. 1 Belgrade on April 19—but it will shake out for real on Saturday. 

“I know that if we play our game, we can beat anybody,” McGuire said. “It’s gonna be great to play a new team on a new field, and a blank slate against one of the best teams in the state.” 

Coach Matt Morris shares the same view—anything can happen.  

“That’s the beauty of baseball,” he said.  

Montana high school baseball will continue to grow after its second-ever season. McGuire said more schools will be involved next year, seeing the league’s early success. As baseball gains prominence—and Big Sky constructs its own home field—McGuire hopes 2024 will mark the beginning of a playoff tradition for Lone Peak baseball.   

Morris said communities like Hamilton in the Bitterroot Valley are “baseball crazy” and very good at what they do.  

“Going there will open our eyes on what we need to execute for next year,” Morris said. “… We have this ultimate goal and that’s winning a state championship. With this year’s playoff appearance, it makes it more doable and it’s kind of the next step in our journey that we didn’t expect this year.” 

McGuire gave credit to Morris for building the Big Sky Royals youth baseball program that will feed the high school team—it began seven years ago, with current Big Horn sophomores playing T-ball.  

“This is the next step in the baseball program in Big Sky that was started years ago by Matt, and is a tremendous step forward for baseball in Big Sky,” McGuire said.  

Morris can see baseball picking up momentum with younger players. Especially now with high school role models, he hopes the kids feel motivated to practice and put in the time it takes to learn the game and adapt to the full-size field.  

“It takes time. To get them eventually… is going to be fantastic, because they’ll be a step ahead of where we are now.”  

Even now, the team isn’t in a bad spot—hitting the road for playoff baseball.