Happy Friday, Beacon readers! Lauren Frick here, and I don’t know about you, but it’s hard to believe this is the last weekend of March. You’re telling me the calendar will turn to April in less than a week? Nope, not possible.
But while I may have lost track of time over the course of this warp speed, weird weather winter, I know the young athletes of the Flathead Valley haven’t as they prepare to close out the final two months of high school competition. Blink, it’s already spring sports season.
With four teams looking to defend state titles and two valley teams jumping into the mix of the spring sports action, there’s a lot of fun storylines to keep an eye on as we hurtle toward the end of May.
You can read more in my official spring sports preview which will be hitting the world wide web in the coming days, but for now, here’s a little preview of the preview:
Leading off our lineup for the 2026 spring sports season are the valley’s baseball and softball players, with several teams opening up play this week and weekend.
Some of the biggest news in Flathead County’s baseball world this season is the addition of Flathead High School and Glacier High School into the state ranks. The Braves played their inaugural game at ABS Park in Evergreen on Thursday, claiming a dominant 19-3 victory over East Helena. The Wolfpack will also open their inaugural season at home against Belgrade at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 28.
The Columbia Falls Wildcats, who were the valley’s sole representative at the 2025 state baseball tournament, will also kick off their season on Saturday, taking on the Valkyries in Bigfork at 1 p.m. Whitefish, who will look to get back to the state championship series since its inaugural installment in 2023, opens its season also at Bigfork on April 3.
The 2025 Class AA softball champions, your very own Glacier Wolfpack, will start their title defense at home this Saturday, March 28 — opening up regular season play against Belgrade at 11 a.m. Class A force Columbia Falls will start their season in Polson this weekend as well, with Wildkat fans getting a chance to see their team at home on April 9.
Rounding the corner and taking things to the track, the valley has two teams who will be looking to defend a state title come May. In 2025, Whitefish’s girls track program stood at the top of the Class A podium, while Flathead High School saw its boys track program snag its sixth state championship since 2000, including its first in 10 years. Braves fans can get their first look at the team at home on April 7, and the Bulldogs faithful can check out their team for the first time at home on April 3.
Closing things out on the court, the Whitefish boys tennis team rounds out the valley teams looking to repeat as state champions. The Bulldogs, who claimed the Class A state title last spring, will open their season April 10, with their first home matches coming on April 16.
In another bit of Whitefish tennis news, it was announced this week that longtime Lady Bulldogs coach, Pat Dryden, will be one of five coaches in the 2026 Hall of Fame class for the Montana Coaches Association (MCA).
Dryden has been in the coaching ranks for 40 years — 32 of those in Montana — leading teams across multiple sports. Dryden’s teams have garnered 10 conference championships and nine state trophies: three 3rd place, three 2nd place and three state titles. Dryden has been a six-time MCA Class A Coach-of-the-Year (COY) nominee, winning the honor four times. He was also a National High School Athletic Coaches Association Tennis COY Finalist in 2022 and 2026.
Well, that’s all I’ve got for you for now. Let’s spring into the rest of today’s Daily Roundup.
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