Bryce Buckmaster was pretty much unhittable for 600 pitches this season, anchoring a solid starting rotation for the American Legion Kalispell Lakers. 

At a tournament in Lewiston, Idaho, pitch No. 605 changed everything. 

“It was the chipper,” Buckmaster said this week. “During the second inning, I had a strange feeling in my arm. It was a 1-2 count, and my elbow popped and there was a loud noise. I spiked the ball.” 

Coach Ryan Malmin came to the mound, and Buckmaster threw a practice pitch. “It popped again,” he said. 

It was a torn ulnar collateral ligament, the kind of injury that requires Tommy John surgery. His season was over. In 41 innings, he’d struck out 49 hitters and put up a minuscule 1.02 earned-run average. 

“He epitomizes our core values,” Malmin said. “He worked his butt off in the offseason, with our pitching boot camp, then the ramp up and lifting.” 

Buckmaster spent the past three winters doing the boot camps, since his family — including younger brother Brady — moved from California to the Flathead Valley. 

“Andre Cephers and I did a little extra in this offseason so we could really show out for our senior year,” he said. “I did have a really good run on my two-seam fastball, and I did have a really mean curveball as well.” 

It all had come together. Now Buckmaster is more or less a coach on a team headed to the State AA tournament, starting Wednesday in Medicine Hat, Alberta.  

His super-senior season, cut short as it was, had major highlights. 

For the first time in three years he was part of an all-Buckmaster battery, his brother being an excellent defensive catcher.  

“Felt almost surreal,” he said of throwing to Brady, who is 2 years younger. “I always thought it would be me and him playing catch in the yard.” 

The day he got hurt, he watched his team rally to win the championship 9-8 thanks to seven runs in the bottom of the last inning.  

“That really spoke to me,” he said. “This team overall is definitely one to watch. It’s been an uphill slope, and we’re bringing that chip into Medicine Hat.” 

In late August Buckmaster will have elbow surgery. He plans to rehab a year and hopefully reconnect with the college programs — American River, Sacramento City — that showed interest up until June 15. “Before my arm broke,” he said. 

He turned 19 on June 21; he’s 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds.  

“Hopefully I’ll be able to talk to them and get a tryout,” he said. “I’ll be bulking up, getting strong and getting my arm fixed up. 

“That injury has really shown me my itch to keep playing. I’m going to try to bulk up and scratch that itch.” 

Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 758-4463 or at [email protected].