High school baseball season had hardly started when the Plains team was finished.

The team folded last week because of a lack of players, said Principal Ryon Noland, who added that it was not an easy decision. He said he met with school board members, athletic director Marie Errecart, and Superintendent Kathleen Walsh, and seriously discussed the matter over the last few weeks.

The Horsemen had nine at the first practice and had 10 last week, but head coach Richard Powers had hoped to get a few more. “I let them know what was happening to see if we could find a couple more people out,” said Powers, who added that the school needs to keep baseball going. Jeff Burrows, pastor of the Harvest Community Church in Plains, was the team’s assistant coach this year.

“There were not enough numbers to validate continuing the season, especially when you talk about students’ safety,” said Noland, who added that one of biggest number problems was the lack of pitchers and the possibility of a pitch count going beyond the maximum number. They had four pitchers to chose from last year, when they co-opted with Hot Springs School, which didn’t have any students interested this season, but this year, they had only one, Will Tatum. The student’s’ safety was the prime reason for the school dropping the sport this year.

Powers and the team had 13 practices in when word on last Wednesday came of the folding. “We decided that there needed to be a minimum number of student athlete participants to keep things safe for all involved. The group decided that there needed to be a minimum of 12 by March 20,” said Noland. With the team folding, the principal said a few of the students decided to do track or golf. He said the other spring sports have healthy numbers — softball has 16, golf has eight, and track has 30 to 40.

This was only the second year for baseball in Montana high schools and last year the Plains-Hot Springs team was the only one in Sanders County. This year, Noxon and Thompson Falls teamed up to make a team. There are five teams in the West Division and 24 teams in Montana. This would have been the first time for Pablo Hernandez, an exchange student from Spain, to play baseball. The Horsemen had six wins, six losses and one tie last year.

“I hope that next year there are more boys interested in baseball and that we can field a team for the 2024-2025 season,” said Noland. “Baseball is a great activity for students, and one that should build at the high school level for years to come. It’s going to continue to grow in Montana,” said Noland, who said the goal is to have a team next year.

“I think the school should promote the baseball program in my opinion,” said Powers. “There is a good core group that wants to play baseball just need a few more to make it complete,” said Powers, who added that he’ll be weighing his options to apply for the coaching position next year.