Buckly Isakson will be in Alaska fishing just three days from now.

A well-deserved trip, he’s asked?

“A much needed one,” he chirps back.

Isakson, the Montana Amateur Softball Association’s District 1 commissioner and director of this weekend’s Montana girls ASA Junior Olympic fastpitch softball tournament, has weathered inattentive teams, cranky coaches, equipment mix-ups and irritated umpires, not to mention the weather itself, during the three-day event that continued Saturday at both Kidsports Complex and Conrad Complex.

“It’s one of these that’s Murphy’s Law, if something can go wrong it will,” he said.

That’s not to say that a man who has been involved with the ASA, on some level, for 33 years, hasn’t eagerly welcomed this weekend’s grind.

“I played for years and I decided I’d given umpires a enough bad time so I figured, well, I’d better see if somebody’s going to give me a bad time,” he said.

“I fell in love with it. I played as long as I could. I umpired. I became an umpire-in-chief for a few years and then I took over as the district commissioner about four years ago.”

The Junior Olympic state tournament is in Kalispell for the first time since Isakson became district commissioner, and it’s brought teams and umpires from across the state in four different age divisions, ranging from 10 to 16 years old. It’s a massive undertaking with as many as 11 fields playing at once between the two complexes, and one that was made even more daunting when prognosticators forecast rainy weather for most of the weekend.

“Oh boy,” Isakson said, when asked about the forecasts. “I got about three hours of sleep each night because I’d wake up and the first thing I’d do is turn on the Weather Channel … so I can see what’s going on.”

Thankfully for Isakson and the hundreds of girls and their families participating this weekend, the weather has cooperated almost fully, and by the end of the day Saturday the fields at Conrad Complex were splashed with bright sunshine.

Still, rain Friday and again early Saturday made for some extra work in the morning, but Isakson got a big hand from both the Kalispell Youth Softball Association and a group of young Glacier High School football players who were volunteering their time.

“They have done a super job taking care of the fields,” he said. “They jumped in and had all the fields leveled, chalked and ready to go within 10 minutes. That’s unheard of.”

The tournament was humming along quietly through most of the first two days, despite a few of the wrong style of softball being inadvertently delivered and a handful of delinquent teams skipping out on registration, but as some teams were sent home in the double-elimination tournament later on Saturday, tempers began to rise. In the last games of the day at Conrad, a blowup between a coach and an umpire led to a contentious ejection and an on-field meeting an inning later that included, of course, Isakson.

“I had to talk a coach down earlier,” he said after all of the day’s games were done. “I had to build an umpire up and let him know that he’s covered because he was visibly upset. It’s making sure that you’ve got the umpire’s back and letting coaches know that the rule is this and that’s the way it’s got to be.”

Through two days, 96 mostly peaceful total games have been played, with at least 17 more to be contested today, all at Kidsports.

And after that, Isakson’s fishing pole will be waiting.

Montana ASA Junior Olympic tournament

At Kidsports Complex & Conrad Complex (Kalispell)

Saturday

10U Division

Quarterfinals

Missoula Avalanche 18, Frenchtown Fury 2

Helena Warriors 10, Ronan Maidens 4

Semifinal

Missoula Avalanche 12, Helena Warriors 3

Loser-Out

Kalispell Emeralds 9, Bitterroot Sparks 8

Polson Little Lakers 19, Kalispell Emeralds 4

Bozeman Stealers 14, Billings Bombers 11

Missoula Lady Osprey 10, Great Falls Big Sky Blitz 5

Belgrade Wolfpack 12, Whitefish Snow Ghosts 4

Polson Little Lakers 15, Bozeman Stealers 3

Missoula Lady Osprey 15, Belgrade Wolfpack 3

Polson Little Lakers 9, Ronan Maidens 5

Missoula Lady Osprey 15, Frenchtown Fury 12

12U Division

Third Round

Missoula Avalanche Spry 8, Kalispell Regulators 0

Helena Warriors 13, Billings Bombers Newell 0

Billings Force 13, Bozeman Stealers Laufenderg 2

Great Falls Selects 8, Billings Xtreme 7

Quarterfinals

Missoula Avalanche Spry 1, Helena Warriors 0

Billings Force 6, Great Falls Selects 3

Loser-Out

Great Falls Big Sky Blitz 14, Columbia Falls Rebels 0

Polson Purple Wave def. Frenchtown Fury

Missoula Avalanche Craun def. Belgrade Wolfpack White

Helena Blue Thunder 12, Billings Bombers Miller 0

Butte MC Magic 10, Kalispell Emeralds 2

Polson Purple Wave def. Great Falls Big Sky Blitz

Missoula Avalanche Craun 12, Belgrade Wolfpack Green 9

Bitterroot Sparks 10, Helena Blue Thunder 5

Missoula Avalanche Ries 10, Butte MC Magic 4

Billings Xtreme 1, Polson Purple Wave 0

Missoula Avalanche Craun 14, Bozeman Stealers Laufenderg 8

Billings Bombers Newell 14, Bitterroot Sparks 6

Kalispell Regulators 12, Missoula Avalanche Ries 11

14U Division

Second Round

Belgrade Wolfpack def. Helena Blue Thunder

Great Falls Heat Palmer def. Mission Valley (Polson) Velocity

Billings Force def. Great Falls Big Sky Blitz

Bitterroot Sparks Newman def. Missoula Avalanche Tipps

Quarterfinals

Great Falls Heat Palmer 16, Belgrade Wolfpack 12

Bitterroot Sparks Newman 23, Billings Force 1

Loser-Out

Frenchtown Fury def. Bitterroot Sparks Nixon

Polson Lakers def. Missoula Lady Osprey

Kalispell Regulators def. Helena Warriors

Billings Bombers def. Bozeman Stealers

Missoula Avalanche Tipps 11, Frenchtown Fury 10

Great Falls Big Sky Blitz 9, Polson Lakers 8

Billings Bombers def. Helena Blue Thunder

Missoula Avalanche Tipps 11, Great Falls Big Sky Blitz 0

16U Division

Third Round

Xplosion def. Helena Warriors

Helena Silver Storm def. Frenchtown Fury

Loser-Out

Billings Force def. Polson Purple Rain

Missoula Lady Osprey def. Butte MC Magic

Belgrade Wolfpack def. Missoula Avalanche

Billings Force def. Missoula Lady Osprey

Belgrade Wolfpack def. Billings Triple Play

Frenchtown Fury 16, Billings Force 12

Helena Warriors 8, Belgrade Wolfpack 0