By Jack Reaney SENIOR EDITOR
Editor’s note: Jack Reaney played for LPC and also reported on the end-of-season tournament.
The Big Sky Softball League held its end-of-season tournament on Aug. 9 and 10, gathering dozens of community members for the annual tradition of intense competition, time-honored rivalries and friendly banter.
The champion is familiar: the Lone Peak Cannabis Co. Golden Goats emerged victorious for the seventh time in the past nine years, defeating a perennial contender and defending tournament champion in the Hillbilly Huckers.
Manager Charlie Gaillard said the Huckers are “an all-time great” and summed up the feeling of victory: satisfied.
“Really impressed with this team. This is by far one of the best teams I’ve ever been a part of,” he said in the dugout, reflecting on an undefeated season. “Really good group of people that played well together all year long. Never got up, never got down, just played ball—played really good softball.”
Vanessa Tracey tosses a pitch for the Wildcats. 
Otoniel “TR” Rodriguez hits a home run in an elimination game Sunday. 
Wildcats celebrate the end of their season after falling 10-9 to the Huckers. 
Brian Forte and his Milkies teammates nearly took down the Wildcats in an elimination game. 
Head umpire and Milkies manager Dave Schwalbe (right) discusses the infield fly rule with a visiting Bozeman umpire. 
A Herbaceous Smokey Bears outfielder makes a difficult grab near the fence. 
Wildcats’ Kendall Kramer celebrates an elimination-round win.
The road to Sunday afternoon wasn’t easy, including a back-and-forth quarterfinal matchup against the Herbaceous Smokey Bears that finished with a 26-24 LPC victory despite the Bears’ early 10-2 lead in the second inning. Gaillard called the Bears’ performance “super impressive.”
Sunday’s championship was a rematch of the 2023 championship, when LPC defeated the Huckers, 22-6. The rivalry goes both ways—the Huckers eliminated LPC decisively in the 2024 tournament on their way to an improbable climb from the losers’ bracket to glory.
“You had to play a perfect game to beat [LPC],” Huckers manager Lee Horning told EBS after Sunday’s loss. “They have hitters all through the lineup, great defense… it’s a great team.”
Right: LPC manager Charlie Gaillard pitches in the championship. PHOTO BY JACK REANEY
Horning said losing the first game of the double-elimination tournament put the Huckers in a tough spot, but they fought all the way back despite long days of competition.
“I told them, just one game at a time,” Horning said. “And that’s what they did. We got behind in two of the first three games, and came back and won.”
The Huckers faced the resilient and young Kenai Kangaroos in Sunday’s semifinal game. Kenai led 14-6 entering the final inning, but with their backs against the wall, the Huckers mounted an improbable comeback to take the lead, 18-14, and held on to eliminate Kenai.
“The young kids, they had the game where they wanted it,” Horning said. “… We just kept plugging away, everybody in the lineup got on base, and that’s all you can do in softball.”
Horning thanked league volunteers and especially Steven Reid, recreation coordinator for the Big Sky Community Organization which organizes the league.
“Steven does so much. He plays, he does the fields, he runs the whole thing—he got the umpires to come up [from Bozeman], that was great,” Horning said. “And just everybody who helps out with the running of the whole league.”
Reid said passionate softball fans always make the tournament special. He also thanked his softball committee for tasks like operating scoreboards and manning the grill to feed the teams.
“Really appreciate the all-around effort from the whole team,” Reid said, listing key volunteers who kept the league running. “Queen [Jean] is here every game, and I can always depend on her, I can take a day if I need it here and there, [Dave] Schwalbe for training my umpires, we had a really good showing for umpires this year… Tim Dietz was probably my leading umpire this year in terms of games, he did a ton. All of them are dependable.”
Reid mentioned the Mooseketeers—the team sponsored by Hungry Moose Market and Deli—for their standout performance in the tournament.
“Most of the season they were asking me to rent out fields for practices, and they really put in some work and improved a lot over the season. Became a problem in the tournament, they won a game… Really good on them for putting in the work,” Reid said.
He also highlighted Milkies for their first-round win, and near-upset against a strong contender in the Westfork Wildcats on Sunday morning.
Field construction begins on Big Sky Community Park
With the Big Sky Softball League season now complete, BSCO immediately began its next phase of renovations to Big Sky Community Park on Monday, Aug. 11.
The project includes upgrades to softball fields such as improved drainage and multi-sport accommodations. BSCO announced detailed plans in March, highlighted by the decision to plant natural grass instead of artificial turf.
“We’re jumping right into it,” Reid said. The fields will be completed during the summer of 2026, according to the project webpage, but Reid noted the timeline will depend on weather, including next spring’s snowmelt.
