Encore Chore! Missoula PaddleHeads Begin Process of Pursuing Repeat Title

By: Bill Speltz, bill.speltz@406mtsports.com

MISSOULA — Cameron Thompson can't help but chuckle when he thinks back to his first game in a Missoula PaddleHeads uniform last spring.

"It was like my third at-bat and it was the Peanut Inning, and I had no idea what it was," the former Kansas State standout and Texas native shared prior to the team's preseason practice Tuesday.

"It was just super loud and that's when I was like, 'Wow, this place is cool.' Just hearing everybody go crazy, I loved it. It helps you stay loose and have fun. Whenever you're having fun, that's when you play your best. The goofy stuff going on between innings with Sammy B, that makes it fun."

It would be hard to imagine the PaddleHeads having more fun than they did in 2021 — their debut season in the newly created independent Pioneer League. Not only did Missoula win the league championship, the team finished with a gaudy 68-32 record.

How the heck do you top that? Good question, but here's how you start: Embrace the fact you'll be wearing a target and build on the confidence that comes from bringing back an experienced nucleus that includes 25-year-old slugger Aaron Bond.

"My word to that is let them come, let them try," Bond said of the season ahead, which starts next Wednesday at home against the Billings Mustangs.

"I think it will be really challenging for all teams. Last year was the first (independent) year, so a lot of teams were trying to figure it out. This year everybody has an idea and everybody is going to be really prepared."

PaddleHeads second-year skipper Michael Schlact had a lot to do with his team's success last season, though you'd have a hard time getting the former Double-A minor league pitcher to admit it. His return to Missoula — he had conversations with several minor league teams in the offseason but opted to return to the PaddleHeads — bodes well for 2022, regardless of the names on the back of the uniforms.

"I can only do so much," he said. "I've seen teams that weren't great on paper and they end up winning the championship because they have the intangibles. I've also seen teams incredibly talented but they don't have the intangibles and they don't win.

"What these (nine second-year PaddleHeads) have that I can't teach is what helped us win a championship. It's the grit and the heart and the fight and all of those things. That set that team apart and I think that's why a lot of the returners are back."

First baseman Nick "Gator" Gatewood is one of five infielders back for the defending champion PaddleHeads. Ask him what makes the Missoula organization special, and he'll tell you about the time his team came back from a seven-run deficit late in the first half of the 2021 Pioneer League season.

"I remember being in the dugout, right next to Schlact, and somebody got a big hit and we went crazy," Gatewood shared. "We looked at each other and Schlact was like, 'This is the most fun I've ever had on a baseball team.' I was like, I agree with that."

"Because it was so much fun," he offered. "We never felt down seven. There's never a sense of losing here. You can't replicate that."

Whether the PaddleHeads repeat as Pioneer League champs, you can bet they'll have fun trying. The team has a special promotion planned for opening night, offering every willing fan a chance to throw out the first pitch as part of a bid to break a "world record."

If you can't wait until next week, the PaddleHeads are inviting fans to come out for a home exhibition game against the Idaho Falls Chukars on Friday at 7:05 p.m. General admission is $5 and all proceeds will go to the United Way of Missoula County.

It all fits in with the "family atmosphere" that compelled Schlact to drive his family cross-country earlier this month for another spring/summer guiding  Missoula's pro baseball team.

"It starts with team owners Peter (Davis) and Susan (Crampton Davis), the way they value development of humans," Schlact said. "I felt cared for and my family felt loved from the get-go here. It's counter cultural in baseball. You don't find that.

"Most of professional baseball is what have you done for me lately. It's no secret. There's expectations. Not that there aren't expectations here. But they're healthy. It was a no-brainer to come back. Nothing compares to the way we're valued here, so it was an easy choice."

The PaddleHeads' roster includes some proven hitters in the likes of Thompson, Gatewood, Bond, Jared Akins and Jayson Newman. There's also proven second-year Missoula pitchers Domingo Pena and Davis Delorefice.

There are also a lot of unknowns. Seventeen of the 19 pitchers on the roster have yet to play in a PaddleHeads uniform and all three catchers are new. 

Only time will tell when it comes to the 2022 Missoula team.

"This is my 19th year in professional baseball and last year was my first championship," Schlact shared. "Only two other times previous to that have I been in the playoffs. And I've been on some pretty good teams.

"You realize how special last year was. If people were seeing the little nuances of what it took to win, they would be amazed. That is the goal, but a lot has to go right. A lot of decisions have to go right and you also need luck. The one thing I'd say to the fans is expect us to be going for that repeat. We're defending the title. And just know we're going to play as hard as we possibly can."