GREAT FALLS — A dream is now officially a reality in Great Falls, as last Saturday the first high school baseball game in the Electric City hit the diamond of Don Olson Field.
"To see it all come together has been like, oh my gosh, it's happening, and I still don't think it's clicked," Kali Jean Tuckerman — one of the individuals who spearheaded fundraising for high school baseball in Great Falls — said on March 25.
WATCH THE VIDEO:
Tuckerman helped run the Great Falls Advocates for High School Baseball group, which has been raising funds since February of 2025, she said.
"It's really emotional, like it's just so exciting," Tuckerman said of seeing Great Falls High and CMR on the field. "We've worked really hard ... with this community to raise the money to get these boys out here, and for them to finally be out there — especially as a parent of one of the players — it's just an amazing feeling."
Prior to this being a sanctioned spring sport through the Montana High School Association, Tuckerman said kids in the community had a hard time finding ways to play baseball.
"Some of these kids had to stop playing baseball at Little League, so for them, like, it's even more exciting that they now have a chance to move forward with baseball. They now have a chance to go to college for baseball because they get these four years to play," Tuckerman said.
"This is why we pushed so hard for this, is to give everybody access to America's favorite pastime."
In order to field teams for this spring, Tuckerman said nearly $200,000 was raised.
"I can't thank the Great Falls community enough for allowing our boys to do this," Tuckerman said.
Great Falls Public Schools athletics coordinator Mike Henneberg said he's not surprised the community made this happen.
"To see the people come together made me very proud to be from Great Falls, to be a Great Falls native, and to see the hard work that everybody had done to get to that point and to make it happen," Henneberg said at the Great Falls Public Schools administration building on Thursday.
"This is a can-do community and they put their mind to it and they got it done."
Circling back to the first game which took place on March 28, CMR took down Missoula Sentinel 10-0 in five innings before falling in the second matchup of the twin bill. Henneberg said it was a special afternoon.
"The first hit, the first strikeout, the first run, it's fun that they're the first," Henneberg said. "They're the ones that are laying the foundation for the future, and all of those kids and those coaches will have that in their memory bank on being the first."
Although, in order to make sure baseball can stay as a spring sport in Great Falls, Tuckerman said they still have some fundraising to do.
"We have two more goals: $95,000 ... for spring of '27 season and $95,000 for spring of '28 season. So we have about $190,000 left to go," Tuckerman said. "I really believe that the Great Falls community will come through the next two years."
CMR and Great Falls High have home games coming up early in the week, with the Rustlers hosting Billings West at 3 p.m. Monday and the Bison welcoming in Belgrade at 5 p.m. Tuesday for their home opener. Both games will be played at Don Olson Field.
