Bigfork Youth Baseball teams conclude season

Boys and girls of all ages recently wrapped up their six-week long season in the Bigfork Youth Baseball program and their coaches said the players made big improvements across the board.

"We had a good turn out and a good year," said Bigfork Youth Baseball president James LaFontaine. "The weather was a challenge for all of the leagues in terms of trying to get all their games in, but it was still a good season."

T-BALL

There were about 60 kids who played on the six teams in this year's T-ball league. Even though the kids, who are ages 4 through 6, are technically playing T-ball, they are also sometimes pitched to by their coaches though some changes were made to that this year.

"There was a lot of coach pitching and it took way too long," said Brenda Jordt, who was one of the T-ball coaches. "I should've clued in when the kids were playing in the dirt."

The solution Jordt came up with was to change it so that there were two innings of tee hitting and during the third and final innings coaches pitched to their team. Each player was given three pitches and, if they were unable to get a hit, they were given the tee to hit off of.

"It just keeps everyone involved," Jordt said.

As one might expect, the T-ball players have the biggest learning curve of any of the leagues.

"Once they play that first game, they start learning where the bases are and definitely by the end of the six weeks they had learned a lot of the basics of the game," Jordt said. "All of the kids really improved. It's so fun when they do get a hit off of the coach pitches too. That's what I like about coaching this level is everything is a joy and then it's snack time."

One of the other aspects Jordt said she liked about coaching at the youngest level is that the parents are active participants as well.

"It was great to have the involvement from so many parents," Jordt said. "They were out there helping the kids run the bases and telling them when to run. They were a big help in the dugout and just supervising on the field."

ROOKIE

Kids ranging in age from 6 to 8 played in Bigfork Youth Baseballs Rookie league. There were four teams this year that played against each other, including Shane Curtiss' team.

"All of the kids really learned a lot this year," Curtiss said. "All four teams showed a lot of improvement. Every game they played a little bit tougher ball. It was great."

Curtiss coaches both a Rookie team and a T-ball team and the rest of his family is involved in Bigfork baseball as well. He has four children who play T-ball and one who plays in the Rookie league. His oldest daughter Angelica Gordon-Curtiss is one of his assistant coaches and his wife Chyrl Gordon serves as the team mom. His oldest son, who is over 18, is the only member of the family who is not part of the program.

"We had a lot of fun. We played baseball four nights a week," Curtiss said. "We spend a lot of time down on the field and we play a lot at the house too."

This is Curtiss' third year coaching T-ball, but it is his first year coaching Rookie.

"I really enjoy teaching the kids to play baseball," Curtiss said. "It gives them a new experience and we have a lot of fun. The age difference isn't very big between the two leagues I coach, but there's a big difference in coaching them. It was a neat experience to get to coach both and watch them evolve through the season."

Curtiss said that the skill he saw the Rookies improve on the most was their batting, which was especially impressive because that league uses a pitching machine and a large percentage of the kids in Rookies are straight out of T-ball.

MINORS

Bigfork's 8-, 9- and 10-year-old baseball players are in the Minors league, which had three teams in it this season.

"It was actually more competitive than I thought it was going to be," said Minors coach Joe Bell, who added that four of his team's nine games were one run games.

Bell said he was glad to see the kids increase their confidence on the field.

"As the season went on all of the teams got better," Bell said. "They stopped being afraid of each other. Even the teams that weren't as strong in the beginning played hard against the other teams in the league as the season progressed."

The biggest improvements Bell saw among the teams in the Minors league was their knowledge of the game.

"They gained a better understanding of what was going on on the field with things like running the bases and knowing where to throw the ball."

Since Bigfork didn't have enough players to field a Babe Ruth team this year, the Majors league was the oldest group in the program. The league consisted of just two teams of players ages 11 and 12. Since there were just two Bigfork Majors teams, they played teams from neighboring towns as well as each other.

"We had a good group of kids and the parents were very supportive. It was just a really fun season," said Bonnie Triepke, who was one of the Majors coaches.

Triepke said that the weather was often a burden on their schedule this season. She said they were able to get most of their games and practices in which was a good thing because the kids were eager to play.

"They were very enthusiastic and willing to work hard," Triepke said.

That time on the field paid off too as the Majors teams both improved their defensive skills.

"They had a great defensive season. We worked hard on learning the basic baseball skills, especially on defense," Triepke said. "They did a great job of fielding."