Before a pitch has been thrown, Mother Nature has left her imprint on the 2026 Class AA softball, Class B/C softball and both baseball state tournaments.
The schedules for all four tournaments have been adjusted to account for inclement weather in the forecast, with the Class AA and Class A/B state baseball tournament seeing the biggest changes. The Class AA tournament will begin Thursday at 3 Legends Stadium in Butte but will conclude Friday instead of Saturday like originally scheduled.
Thursday's first-round schedule remains the same: Great Falls CMR vs. Kalispell at 10 a.m., Bozeman vs. Missoula Sentinel at 12:30 p.m., Gallatin vs. Butte at 4 p.m. and Billings West vs. Missoula Big Sky at 6:30 p.m.
There will be seven games played Friday, beginning with a pair of loser-out contests on separate fields at 8:30 a.m. The semifinal games are scheduled at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., and two more loser-out games on separate fields will follow at 4 p.m. The winners of those two 4 p.m. games will share third place, and a consolation final will not be played.
The Class AA baseball state championship game will be played at 7 p.m. Friday.
This is the first year there have been separate tournaments for different classifications in Montana high school baseball, and the Class A/B tournament at O'Malley Park in Polson is also having its schedule altered.
The first round of the Class A/B tournament Thursday will begin at 10 a.m. with Dillon vs. Whitefish. Columbus and Columbia Falls play at 12:30 p.m., followed by Frenchtown and Laurel at 3 p.m. and Bigfork and Billings Central at 5:30 p.m. Two loser-out games will be played at 8:30 a.m. Friday, and the semifinals at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Two more loser-out games are scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday.
The consolation final and championship game of the Class A/B tournament are both listed as TBD on the bracket, but the plan is try to play those games Saturday. O'Malley Park does not have lights, and weather issues are expected Friday night, as well.
On the State AA softball diamonds in Missoula, the first round will be played Thursday as scheduled: Glacier vs. CMR at 2 p.m., Belgrade vs. Big Sky at 2 p.m., West vs. Butte at 4 p.m. and Sentinel vs. Billings Senior at 4 p.m. The biggest change to the schedule is the second-round games will now be played at 6 p.m. Thursday instead of Friday morning.
Consolation bracket games are now scheduled for 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Friday, with the undefeated semifinal and fourth-place games set for 2 p.m. Saturday's schedule will begin with the third-place game at 10 a.m., with the Class AA softball state championship game to follow at noon.
The Class B/C state softball tournament in Billings is also accelerating its schedule. Thursday's first round remains as scheduled: Florence vs. Glasgow and Manhttan vs. Troy at 2 p.m., and Shepherd vs. St. Ignatius-Arlee-Charlo and Three Forks vs. Columbus-Absarokee-Park City at 4 p.m. The second-round games have been moved from Friday morning to 6 p.m. Thursday.
The rest of the Friday and Saturday schedule at the State B/C tournament remains intact.
The weather forecast calls for scattered thunderstorms Friday in Missoula and Polson, with the chance of rain increasing in the afternoon through the evening and into Saturday. The forecast in Butte and Billings looks mostly clear Thursday and Friday with rain expected Saturday.
