BUTTE, MT — Weather has already changed the 2026 Montana high school state baseball and softball tournaments before any games are played. State brackets in Butte, Polson, Missoula and Billings were adjusted to get ahead of a forecast that calls for rain and thunderstorms later in the week.
Baseball Brackets Move Up
The biggest changes were made to the Class AA and Class A/B baseball tournaments. In Butte, the Class AA tournament will still open Thursday at 3 Legends Stadium, but it will now finish Friday instead of Saturday.
Thursday’s first-round games remain set for Great Falls CMR against Kalispell, Bozeman against Missoula Sentinel, Gallatin against Butte, and Billings West against Missoula Big Sky. Friday will include seven games, with loser-out games, semifinals, and the Class AA championship game scheduled for 7 p.m.
Polson Adjusts For No Lights
The Class A/B baseball tournament at O’Malley Park in Polson also had its schedule rewritten. Thursday’s opening round still starts with Dillon against Whitefish, followed by Columbus against Columbia Falls, Frenchtown against Laurel, and Bigfork against Billings Central.
Because the park does not have lights and more weather is expected Friday night, two loser-out games, the semifinals, and two more loser-out games were moved around on the bracket. The consolation final and championship game are still listed as TBD, with the plan to try to play them Saturday.
Softball Games Come Earlier
In Missoula, the State AA softball tournament kept its first-round games on Thursday, including Glacier against CMR, Belgrade against Big Sky, West against Butte, and Sentinel against Billings Senior. The main change is that the second-round games were moved up from Friday morning to 6 p.m. Thursday.
Consolation games are now set for Friday morning, with semifinal and fourth-place games Saturday afternoon. The Class AA softball championship is scheduled for noon Saturday after the third-place game.
Storms Shape Final Plan
The Class B/C softball tournament in Billings also sped up its bracket. Thursday’s first round stays the same, but second-round games were moved from Friday morning to 6 p.m. Thursday, and the rest of the Friday and Saturday schedule is unchanged for now.
Forecasts called for scattered thunderstorms Friday in Missoula and Polson, with rain chances rising into Saturday. Butte and Billings were expected to stay mostly dry Thursday and Friday, with rain more likely Saturday, which is why organizers pushed so many games earlier in the week.
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