This year, America’s pastime has finally arrived to Montana AA high schools across the state, including Big Sky. 

For over 30 years Big Sky High School  has had a softball program, and this year high school baseball joined Eagle athletics. 

But it’s not just Big Sky. High schools across the state started baseball programs this spring, continuing a long love for baseball that dates all the way back to 1866, when the first game was ever reported by a Montana newspaper out of Virginia City, Montana’s capital from 1865-1875.  The Treasure State has had club baseball at the high school level through the American Legion system for over 100 years. 

This year, many club baseball players and coaches made the transition from club to high school, especially from the Missoula Impact Baseball Club and Missoula Mavericks Baseball. For the inaugural season, almost 20 players from either club played for Big Sky. 

But not only did players make this transition,  so did the head coach of Missoula Impact, Ryan Roche, now Big Sky’s head baseball coach. 

For senior Kody Evans, an all-state player for Big Sky this year, Roche has been a fundamental part of his progression as a baseball player. He described him as “The best coach I’ve ever had.” 

After he graduates, Evans will be going to play for Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, Washington. Evans credits a lot of his transition to the next level to Roche through his coaching. 

When it comes to Roche’s experience as a player and coach, he also had the opportunity to play baseball in high school at Chatsworth Charter High School in Los Angeles, California. 

When asked what made high school baseball so special, Roche said, “there’s nothing like wearing your school’s name on your chest.” 

Following his high school career, he played for four years in college at MSU-Billings. Following that, he relocated to Missoula and spent his first year coaching with the Missoula Impact Baseball Club in 2024. When he saw the Big Sky position open up, he was told by numerous people that he wouldn’t be able to get the job, that he wasn’t ready. He applied anyway and the rest is history.  

Roche said his favorite part of coaching this year’s team was clear. 

“The school pride was the best part,” Roche said.  

When this new team was being formed, though, it was not without conflicts. Kieran Cooney, a junior at Big Sky and player for the Impact Baseball Club, said, “It’s hard to conform to the new team, and form a brotherhood.” 

Part of the challenge of forming the new team was playing with new people, Cooney said.  

He said that many of the boys didn’t know each other on a personal level, and in spite of the shared club experience, had not played together on the field.

Once they hit May though, Roche said, “it all started to come together.” Big Sky took  third in the Southern Conference to end the season, and had an opportunity to play against Eureka for one last game to qualify for the state tournament. They went on to rally together for a 13-2 victory.   

Entering the state tournament, Big Sky was hoping to make a run for the chipper. In the first round though, they faced Belgrade and lost 4-5. Belgrade would go on to play in the state championship and lose to Billings Central, 4-3. 

Although Big Sky was expecting more in the postseason, Roche was very satisfied with  leading a first year team to the state tournament and competing with the best in the state. Evans agreed.   

“I think they’re building a really successful program,” Evans said of Big Sky baseball.   “I suggest that anyone that wants to grind [and] to go to the next level should go here.”