By Merrick Parnell EBS CONTRIBUTOR
It’s springtime, and with the warm weather and corn skiing on the mountain comes a new sports season for Big Sky’s student-athletes.
Lone Peak High School is gearing up for its second baseball season. In 2023, the high school added baseball for the first time after the Montana High School Association approved and introduced the game as a Montana varsity sport. Baseball has boomed in Big Sky with an explosion of participation among the little league levels that has helped develop, and eventually feed the high school ranks.
This year, the Big Horns’ roster features 21 players.
“We have one of the strongest contingents of players of any sport at Lone Peak, and it’s a testament to the years of good work and development of players at younger levels. Work that we are committed to continue as more players and families join up to play baseball here in Big Sky,” said coach John McGuire.
For the second season, the team will play their home games at Edward Medina Field in Belgrade due to the lack of a regulation-sized baseball field in Big Sky. Although youth baseball programs in Big Sky play on softball fields at Big Sky Community Park, the high school level requires 90-foot basepaths, a pitcher’s mound and a larger outfield. The Big Sky Community Organization announced efforts in July 2023 to build a multi-use baseball field as a part of their ‘ALL OUT for Parks & Trails’ campaign in the next three years, but the Big Horns will need to play away games until then.
In Montana, all the classifications are grouped into leagues by region, meaning Class C schools—the smallest in Montana—will compete against the largest high schools in the state in Class AA. Lone Peak, which recently grew into a Class B school, will compete in the east, featuring the Belgrade High School Panthers, who finished third in the state last year. However, the team must form a new rivalry in the east.
“Our rival last year was Butte Central after beating them to end our season,” said coach Matt Morris. “Unfortunately, they were moved to the western division because of the growth in participants. We are looking forward to creating a new rival that brings out the best in both teams.”
This season, the team expects to compete against any opponent, large or small, and will rely on some key players.
“We are led by our seniors, including Keelan Grupe and Aidan Germain, both of whom have played for years in the Big Sky baseball system and are now enjoying their final season for Lone Peak,” McGuire said. “We’ve got a strong contingent of juniors, including Jack Laxson and Walker Bagby who will step up and inherit the leadership roles on the team.
“We have a very bright future given that our core contingent of players are current sophomores or freshmen, including Ebe Grabow, Brady Johnson, Eli Gale, Oliver McGuire and Sid Morris,” he continued.
The team has already shown a lot of promise, even early in the season.
“Our growth as ballplayers and, more importantly, young men is tremendous,” Morris said of the team. “When we are fundamentally sound and play as a team, we can play with the best AA schools in the league.”
The second season is shaping up to develop stronger players, and build a new tradition of high school baseball in Big Sky. Their next home game will be in Belgrade, against East Helena on April 23. The full schedule is available online.
Ophir Middle School gears up to hit the track
Another growing sport in Big Sky, student-athletes and coaches at Ophir Middle School are excited to take to the track for their second year of competition.
The Ophir track program provides an opportunity for student-athletes to develop their skills and prepare for high school level competition. The Lone Peak High School track team competes in the Southern Conference of Montana Class B.
This year’s OMS team features a roster of 30-plus student-athletes, which, according to head coach Tina Albers, is up 10 runners from last year. Albers is optimistic about her team, and she’s looking forward to seeing how each runner will fare in the competition. Assistant coach Laura Barzizza will join Albers to make up the program’s coaching staff.
The track team will showcase its talent this Friday, April 12, at the Rural School Track Meet held at Gallatin High School in Bozeman. Coach Albers is also looking forward to a few other meets on the schedule.
“The Bozeman Lions Club meet is always a big event, with all the schools from the area attending. We will also host a home meet this year,” Albers said.
Ophir will compete in five meets in total, and Albers said she has high expectations for the track squad.
“I believe our runners will have a great year,” Albers said.
With their largest turnout yet, the Ophir track team will continue to train hard all season and build on last year’s inaugural track season.
