Thompson Falls and Noxon form co-op baseball team
Plains (grey) takes on Frenchtown in the first varsity game of the season last year at Amundson Sports Complex in Plains. The sport, now a school sanctioned activity, is entering its second year of varsity play this month. (File photo)
Get ready for the crack, or ping, of the bat.
Baseball, at the high school sanctioned level, is growing and spreading after its first official season last year.
In Sanders County, Thompson Falls and Noxon, are new to the varsity battles after forming a co-op team for this coming season.
The sport has drawn vocal support from a large number of Noxon residents. The two teams will play and practice together beginning with preliminary work this week.
The new team joins Plains, which co-ops with Hot Springs for wrestling and baseball, as the only two school sanctioned teams in Sanders or Mineral counties.
The Montana High School Association (MHSA) approved the sport’s role in local high schools last year after community involvement meetings were held at various spots.
Out of those discussions came this year's four divisions with a total of 26 teams, seven of them co-op arrangements.
Plains/Hot Springs, along with newcomer Thompson Falls-Noxon, were placed in the six-team West Division process, which features teams from all classifications coming together in one baseball group.
Also in the West Division are Frenchtown, Polson, Ronan and St. Ignatius. Plains finished third in the four team league last year, with Polson winning the West title with a 7-1 record.
No schedules had been posted as of Sunday, March 3, but are expected to be released soon.
The new alignment features the West, East, Southwest and Northwest Divisions.
The East has Belgrade (AA class), Columbus, East Helena, Lone Peak (Big Sky), Park-Sweet Grass counties, and Sidney/Fairview.
Eight teams make up the Southwest Division: Beaverhead County, Dillon-Twin Bridges, Butte, Butte Central, Corvallis, Florence Carlton, Hamilton-Darby, and Stevensville.
The Northwest Division features Bigfork Browning, Columbia Falls, Lincoln County (Eureka) and Whitefish.
Three teams from each division will qualify for postseason action, with the winners of each division earning an automatic berth in the State Championships.
Plains-Hot Springs will play their home games at the Amundson Sports Complex, while Thompson Falls-Noxon will play home games in Noxon.