Bulldogs blast past Braves baseball
JON ALLEN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 hours, 54 minutes AGO
Flathead's Eli Coopman (6) knocks in two runs with an RBI double against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead shortstop Micah Engle (9) reaches for a ground ball up the middle against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead second baseman Tyson Franchini-White (3) reaches for a pickoff attempt against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead third baseman Miles Arrowsmith (2) makes a play on a grounder against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead pitcher Eli Coopman (6) delivers against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead third baseman Luke Driear (30) fields a grounder against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead shortstop Micah Engle (9) makes a play on a ground ball against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead shortstop Micah Engle (9) makes a play on a ground ball against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead right fielder Wyatt Asher (44) hits the cut-off man on a throw against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead centerfielder Dillon Wink (7) tracks down a fly ball against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Butte shortstop Cayde Stajcar (0) makes a play on a ground ball against Flathead at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead right fielder Wyatt Asher (44) tracks down a fly ball against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
SPORTS REPORTER Jon Allen is a sports reporter for the Daily Inter Lake. He covers youth and high school athletics across the Flathead Valley and Northwest Montana. Allen reports on major games, athletes and teams throughout the region’s prep sports landscape. In addition to game coverage, he contributes features and analysis across print and digital platforms. Jon can be seen on our Big Sky Now podcast, weighing in on the college landscape. His work highlights the athletes and communities that define Northwest Montana sports. IMPACT: Jon’s work tells the stories of local athletes and the communities that support them. | April 4, 2026 12:00 AM
Cayde Stajcar brought the power to ABS Park Friday to help the Butte Bulldogs to a 21-5 victory over Flathead in AA baseball.
Stajcar hit a two-RBI double and a three-run home run during a pair of big innings for the Bulldogs, who ran away with the victory.
“We just have to make the routine plays,” Braves coach Richard Burland said. “We have to be more consistent. We can’t keep giving extra outs. That is what is killing us right now.”
Butte (1-2) started the scoring in the second inning as Teagan Duffy drove in a pair of runs with a two-out single.
A Calvin Cunningham two-RBI single in the third helped Butte extend the lead to 4-0.
After another Butte run, Flathead (1-3) got their offense rolling in the third inning as Eli Coopman doubled to right center and drove in Dillon Wink and Hunter Fann as the Braves scored three in the inning.
Stajcar gave Butte the momentum right back with his double to right field that scored Duffy and Logan Carden. Cunningham and Evan McEwan added two-run singles as Butte pulled ahead 12-3 in the inning.
After a scoreless fifth inning, Butte got the offense rolling again in the sixth with Carden scoring one on a double to right.
The next batter was Stajcar, and the freshman connected on a 2-2 pitch and blasted it down the third-base line over the fence to put the Bulldogs ahead 18-3. Butte added three more in the inning.
Luke Driear and Tyson Franchini-White tried to start a Flathead rally in the bottom half with RBI singles, but that's all the Braves would get.
Chase Lubick went the distance for Butte, allowing five runs on five hits and striking out four.
“I like when they jump on fastballs (early in the count), but we were way off our front foot, we weren’t sitting back,” Burland said. “We weren’t making our adjustments. We weren’t understanding our counts and what pitch was going to be coming.”
Eli Coopman fanned eight in 3 2-3 innings of work for Flathead; he allowed seven runs on three hits. Driear, Franchini-White and Micah Engle combined for the rest of the game for Flathead.
The Braves next battle with Ronan on Monday at ABS Park with first pitch slated for 5 p.m.
Butte 023 709 - 21 11 0
Flathead 003 002 - 5 5 1
Chase Lubick and Gunnar Bushman. Eli Coopman, Luke Driear (4), Micah Engle (6), Tyson Franchini-White and Leum Saisbury.
BUTTE — Teagan Duffy 1-4, Grady Foley, 0-0, Logan Carden 2-3, Cayde Stajcar 2-4, Cole Solomon 0-2, Calvin Cunningham 2-3, Kodye Kjersten 0-2, Gavin Bushman 2-3, Evan McEwan 1-2, Chase Nasheim 1-4.
FLATHEAD — Dillon Wink 0-3, Liam Rech 0-3, Hunter Fann 1-2, Eli Coopman 1-2, Leum Saisbury 0-2, Micah Engle 0-2, Matthew Lewis 0-1, Miles Arrowsmith 0-3, Fischer Lee 1-1, Luke Driear 1-1, Tyson Franchino-White 1-3.
2B — Carden, Stajcar. Coopman. HR — Stajcar. RBIs — Stajcar 5, Cunningham 4, Duffy 3, McEwan 3, Foley, Carden, Bushman, Nasheim. Coopman 2, Driear, Franchini-White.
Reporter Jon Allen can be reached at 406-758-4426 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.
Flathead shortstop Micah Engle (9) reaches for a ground ball up the middle against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead second baseman Tyson Franchini-White (3) reaches for a pickoff attempt against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead third baseman Miles Arrowsmith (2) makes a play on a grounder against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead pitcher Eli Coopman (6) delivers against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead third baseman Luke Driear (30) fields a grounder against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead shortstop Micah Engle (9) makes a play on a ground ball against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead shortstop Micah Engle (9) makes a play on a ground ball against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead right fielder Wyatt Asher (44) hits the cut-off man on a throw against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead centerfielder Dillon Wink (7) tracks down a fly ball against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Butte shortstop Cayde Stajcar (0) makes a play on a ground ball against Flathead at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead right fielder Wyatt Asher (44) tracks down a fly ball against Butte at ABS Park on Friday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
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