Plains cancels baseball season

They are, technically, one for two in baseball’s iconic jargon.

Not one for two in games won-lost.

One for two in seasons they have played as opposed to seasons they have not.

“They” are, unfortunately, the Plains Horsemen baseball team, which canceled its season prior to the scheduled opener of what would have been their second year playing Montana’s newest varsity sport, high school baseball.

Not enough players was the reason listed, with a reported turnout of just 10 players when pre-season practices began in early March.

That number was deemed insufficient to field a varsity program, leading school officials to make the difficult decision to cancel the 2024 schedule.

This type of situation caused at least a partial season shutdown for two Western Montana football teams that played in the six-player conferences. It was also responsible for Alberton’s decision to drop girls' basketball for this year when it could not come up with enough players to put on the court.

“The season was canceled due to a lack of players”, said Plains Activities Director Marie Errecart. That statement was confirmed by Richard Powers, the coach last year during the Horsemen’s initial varsity baseball season, who said simply “Not enough players”.

A search of the Montana High School Association rules handbook did not reveal the number of players who must be available to field a team, but a standard baseball team fields nine players at a time.

As teams like Gardiner, a six-player football conference member found out this Fall, a minimum size roster is a major problem. The Bruins were forced to forfeit their last five games this past season when they could not come up with at least six healthy players.

With players from Hot Springs helping create a competitive size roster, Plains had a decent season last year.

But with no American Legion program in the immediate area, Plains area baseball players are left without a local team to join.

That leaves the co-op team put together by Noxon and Thompson Falls as the only high school baseball team in Sanders and Mineral counties.