BILLINGS — Over the past two years, Billings Public Schools has both implemented and successfully operated baseball as part of the Montana High School Association's larger initiative to offer the game as a varsity sport.
But with one more year of self-funding still required under a three-year agreement, those in charge of the campaign to finance the program — as well as School District 2 officials — are sounding the alarm that the sport’s future is in jeopardy because of current fundraising shortfalls.
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"Unfortunately I think there's a perception out there that Billings has high school baseball," said D.J. Smith, a lead organizer and board member for Advocates for Billings Baseball, the community group tasked with raising the money to keep the program running.
Smith then clarified: "Billings had high school baseball for the last two years. It's not promised for next year at all. So we need, as a community, to come together and fund this program."
Under the plan approved by the school board three years ago, community backers agreed to cover startup and operating expenses for a three-year trial run, with the expectation that SD2 would assume full financial responsibility for Year 4 and beyond.
Smith said more than $400,000 has been raised to date, but organizers still need roughly $100,000 by the end of July to ensure Billings’ three Class AA schools can field varsity and sub-varsity teams next spring.
It goes without saying that there is urgency to close that gap and preserve what they’ve started.
“It would be horrifically sad (and) disappointing to think that this program could stop with the momentum that we have already by the end of this July," Smith said.
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Mark Sulser, the activities director for Billings Public Schools, has watched it all unfold from the district side. He described the addition of high school baseball as one of the best things he's seen in his time as AD, both for the number of kids it serves and the energy it has injected into the sports calendar.
Sulser, who has also helped spearhead the ongoing (and much-needed) renovation to Daylis Stadium, is every bit as clear about what's at stake.
“Nothing is in stone until the money’s in the bank and the checks are written,” Sulser said about the potential of losing baseball. “That would be a hard conversation, I’m not going to lie."
"When I walked into this park, Pirtz Field, and saw my first high school baseball game, I was happy to see it,” Sulser said. “You walk in and the energy, it's just different. You're just not used to seeing that kind of energy in the spring. To watch our kids play high school baseball and what it means to them, and the ability to finish the year with something team-oriented and positive, has really been a good thing for our kids."
Billings' public high schools — Senior, Skyview and West — were among the first in Class AA to add baseball as a varsity sport. And with the school board in Helena recently voting unanimously to include baseball beginning in the spring of 2027, every AA institution is now accounted for on the diamond.
That is also part of what makes the situation precarious. Billings helped clear a path for high school baseball across the state, but is now fighting just to guarantee a third season.
"We're appealing right now to the community of Billings to help us out and to get through the process one more time," Sulser said. "We as a district provide multiple opportunities for students, whether it's speech and debate or music programs, our traditional athletic programs, football, basketball, track programs. None of those programs come at a significant cost to each family.
"I think everyone would agree that the experiences that you get with high school athletics are meaningful and last a long time."
The timing of all this makes the stakes feel even higher, especially with the Class AA state tournament scheduled to be played in Billings next spring.
Greg Steffanich, head coach at his alma mater Billings Senior, believes the momentum the city has helped create for high school baseball both locally and across Class AA makes it even more important not to let the program stall out.
"High school baseball gives more players a chance,” he said. “Obviously there’s travel ball, there’s Legion ball, and now we have high school ball. Those are three different types of baseball — still the same game, but some cost more than the others. The thing that’s nice about high schools, they’re going to offer that and it’s going to get paid for.
"I think it's great that three years ago they decided to do this, and we're not that far short. We're going to make it happen. I'm going to do what I can, anyway, because I think it's worthwhile. We need to keep more kids in the game."
For a city that helped clear a path for kids to wear their school colors on a diamond, can Billings find enough support to keep the game from slipping away? It will all be decided in the coming weeks, as Advocates for Billings Baseball and SD2 try to close the fundraising gap.
