By Finley Timon EDITORIAL INTERN
For as long as he can remember, Jack Laxson has played baseball.
He started in Belgrade, where the sport had strong community support and full rosters were never a question. But when his family moved to Big Sky, the game looked different.
“It was a struggle to even get a team together,” Laxson recalled in a phone call with EBS. “Once I entered high school, that was when it definitely got a lot bigger.”
Laxson, a recent graduate of Lone Peak High School, will represent Big Sky in the first-ever Montana Shrine Baseball Classic on Aug. 16 in Butte. The all-star event will bring together top recent graduates from across the state in an East-versus-West matchup. Modeled after the long-standing Shrine football game, proceeds will benefit Shriners Children’s Hospital in Spokane, Washington.
Rosters were selected from coach nominations submitted by 35 Montana high school programs that competed during the 2025 season. Originally listed as an alternate outfielder, Laxson was later named one of 23 players chosen to suit up for the East team.
The 2025 spring season was Laxson’s last with Lone Peak.
“It didn’t really hit me that it was my last until our senior game,” he said.
The senior season was also one of the program’s strongest yet. Laxson said it was meaningful to see more students involved in the sport and to feel support from around the community.
“Sometimes I wear my baseball hat out and people will talk to me about the team,” he said. “It’s nice to know people are paying attention.”
Laxson will join athletes from across Montana for the three-day event. Players report to Butte on Aug. 14 for practice and a team banquet. The game is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Saturday at Three Legends Stadium. According to reporting by the Billings Gazette, organizers are also planning a community parade.
He said he’s excited to compete again and to reconnect with old teammates.
“There are a few kids from Belgrade on the East team,” Laxson said. “We played together in Little League, so it’ll be cool to see them again.”
Laxson plans to attend Montana State University Northern in Havre to study diesel mechanics. If the opportunity is there, he said he hopes to keep playing baseball at the college level.
Lone Peak head coach Matt Morris said the selection is a reflection of Laxson’s presence in the program.
“He represents not just his talent, but the character and heart we try to build every day,” Morris stated in an email to Explore Big Sky.
Laxson will represent Lone Peak one more time on Aug. 16, this time on a statewide stage.
