Sports
The crack of the bat
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Published
9 years agoon
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Big Sky softball finishes off year 13
Story by Joseph T. O’Connor EBS Managing Editor
Photos by Wes Overvold Outlaw Partners Photographer/Videographer
BIG SKY – The Big Sky Softball League ended its 13th regular season on Aug. 26 when Country Market upended the Hillbilly Huckers 26-10 to take home the coveted season trophy. The following weekend, the traditional season-ending softball tournament brought hundreds of fans to the Big Sky Community Park ball fields with grills, coolers and cowbells to root-on their favorite clubs.
It’s a spectacle Jean Palmer, the official scorekeeper since the league’s 2002 inception, can’t get enough of.
“The camaraderie of the working community was so special,” said Palmer, also the Big Sky Post Office manager. “People always ask how’s your team doing, [and] ‘Are you still doing that?’ When they hear the roar of the crowd they know [we’re] having fun.”
And fans heard the roar over the two-day tournament Aug. 29-30, when 14 teams played more than 30 combined games. Some teams beefed up their rosters; others flew players from outside the region to play.
When the dust settled on field two after the tourney championship game, Country Market was again left standing, this time with a 12-11 nail-biter over the Yellowstone Club, and this time holding the tournament trophy
high over their champagne-soaked heads.The season overall was a smashing success, according to first-year league commissioner Lee Horning.
“We had a few new rules that have made the games more competitive and move along,” Horning said, referring to a three-homerun limit and a coed walk rule wherein a female player can opt to take first base if the male who batted before her was walked.
“The highlight of the year [was] the numerous competitive games that [went] down to the wire,
with fewer blowouts,” Horning said. “The talent level and softball knowledge is increasing and competitive play is a result of that.”Scores of volunteers, along with the Big Sky Community Corp. staff, made this season one for the ages. And the throngs of softball fans kept players hustling around the bases and the stands full.
And that’s what makes Big Sky softball such a success: the fans.
“It’s the aunts and uncles and families that come to visit, and it’s the residents,” Palmer said. “That’s what community is about.”
Baseball, and by default softball, is a game that allows fans to relax and put to sleep the daily grind; to ease back
in a seat and soak up the sun along with some hard-fought innings of America’s pastime; to hear the crack of the bat.Megan Paulson is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Outlaw Partners.
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CALL FOR ARTISTS: Paint anytime from June 1-28EXHIBITION & SALE: June 29 - July 31Calling all artists and nature enthusiasts! Get
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CALL FOR ARTISTS: Paint anytime from June 1-28
EXHIBITION & SALE: June 29 – July 31
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What is Paint Under the Big Sky? PUBS is a plein air event for all painters of any ability (over the age of 16). Sponsored by the Big Sky Artist’s Studio & Gallery and the Big Sky Artists Collective, a non-profit organization whose mission is to foster a strong community of artists in the Big Sky area, the paint-out hopes to introduce painters to our extraordinary landscape for an opportunity to create, meet and have fun. Plein air painters record our landscape for generations to come.
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Bike Big Sky is a FREE community mountain biking group with BSCO and Gallatin Alpine Sports. Meet at posted locations at 6 p.m. Monday evenings. Visit BSCO.org or swing by GAS for ride information.
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Bike Big Sky is a FREE community mountain biking group with BSCO and Gallatin Alpine Sports. Meet at posted locations at 6 p.m. Monday evenings. Visit BSCO.org or swing by
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Bike Big Sky is a FREE community mountain biking group with BSCO and Gallatin Alpine Sports. Meet at posted locations at 6 p.m. Monday evenings. Visit BSCO.org or swing by GAS for ride information.
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