GREAT FALLS — Great Falls Public Schools has selected the first head baseball coaches in the history of its two high schools, recommending Tony Forster to lead the CMR program and Ed McNamee to take over the Great Falls High team.
Both hires are pending school board approval.
Forster, a lifelong Great Falls resident and CMR graduate, brings deep local ties to the position. A former player in the city’s American Legion baseball program with the Stallions, he went on to play collegiately at Arizona Western Community College and Valley City State University.
Forster has spent the past 15 years coaching in the Legion system, including the last eight as head coach of the Chargers, and has served as an assistant football coach at CMR for 18 seasons.
“C.M. Russell High School and the GFPS Athletic Department are excited to have Tony be the inaugural head coach of the CMR baseball program,” GFPS athletics coordinator Mike Henneberg said in a statement. “We had a tremendous amount of interest in the position and the opportunity to start the program from scratch. Tony’s passion for the school and for baseball makes him a great fit for the department.”
Across town, McNamee — also a Great Falls High alumnus — will take the reins of the Bison program. A longtime educator and coach within GFPS, McNamee has coached in the American Legion program for 18 years, serving as Class A manager, pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. He’s also been part of the Big Sky Baseball fall program for the past nine years.
McNamee is best known locally for his leadership of the Great Falls High and CMR swimming programs, which he has directed for 23 years, earning nine state titles and multiple top-three finishes. He has been named Montana Coaches Association coach of the year five times and was inducted into the MCA Coaches Hall of Fame in 2023.
“Ed’s resume speaks for itself,” Henneberg said. “He’s a program builder who instills leadership and a positive culture. He served on the MHSA committee that recommended adding baseball as a high school sport and has long been an advocate for baseball in our community.”
The new high school baseball programs are expected to begin competition in the spring, thanks in part to the Great Falls baseball committee’s fundraising and advocacy efforts to bring the sport to the city’s schools.
