Milk River Baseball League Starts; Murray hopes to build program

Last week, the Milk River Bambino Baseball league started in Malta.

This season, the league is under new leadership, as Kenny Murray, a Malta native, hopes to bring the same passion for the sport that he saw growing up, back to his hometown.

Things seem to be off to a solid start. Between T-Ball and Coach Pitch and Little League baseball, the league has had over 100 kids sign up.

"This year is really just about getting participation," Murray said. "It's new to Malta right now. I know that Dean (Yeadon) was doing a good job keeping it rolling and getting it back going in Malta."

He said that back in the 90's, baseball was big in Malta.

"Parents were devoted to baseball and we had such amazing coaching back then for such a small town," Murray said. "It was really competitive. It was all summer long, you could not wait to play baseball."

He also said that he understands that kids are busy working, whether it be on the farm or any other job.

"It's a hard thing to create a lot of interest but there are so many good athletes in Malta and not everyone is going to be a star in basketball, and not everybody is going to be a football star," Murray said. "There could be kids that find a path within baseball that won't find that path with just the traditional sports."

He said that growing up, there were over 150 people in the stands for every game and teams had sponsors.

"I would love to get back to that level," Murray said.

The league was supposed to start a couple of weeks sooner, but weather did not allow practices to start.

"We tried to have some practices, but it seems as though every time we had a practice, it rained, but we won't complain about the rain," Murray said.

The league is scheduled to carry on into August to make up for the couple of weeks that have been lost.

Murray has been encouraged by the number of parents helping out.

"This year, I got really lucky with getting some coaches that were only willing, but know real baseball," Murray said.

For the first week of games, Murray said that there have been several great volunteers including but NOT LIMITED, to Matt Roberts, Tanner and Caitlin Anderson, Lance Hould, Rhei and Jo Tharp, Jason Negus, Kellen Murray, Pierre Bibbs, Jesse and Kayla Young, Bryan and Bri Shores, RJ and Jenny Tollefson, Sally Wright, and Kendrik Wright.

"That's great participation there and they are active with those kids," Murray said. "People just jump in and help and that is what I like about here."

Murray was born and raised in Malta. He graduated from MHS in 1998.

He played baseball up to the age of 15, when Malta had an established American Legion Team.

"We had so much fun," Murray said. "We were good. We had volunteer coaches that were great; Greg Boos and Troy Kelsey. They didn't have kids on the team, but they were awesome. They took us to tournaments and it was a blast."

Murray, who previously lived in Helena, moved back to Malta in 2021 with his wife Diedra (maiden name Metcalf and their two children' Kellen (sophomore), and Brekken (sixth-grade). Kenny's parents, are Kelly Murray and Colleen Murray.

Kellen is into fishing, hunting, and schoolwork. Brekken is into gaming, but when the family moved to Malta, Brekken has been outside more.

"He has loved the move here. I have never seen a kid just sprout so much. Here he is out and about with friends and doing real stuff," Murray said. "That's what I wanted for them. I didn't want them to grow up facing the TV."

"I've wanted to move back here for years," Murray said. "I never stopped coming back. I came back here ten times a year, no matter what."

When Diedra accepted a job that allows her to work fully remotely, the family moved right away.

"We sold our house that week and over we came," Murray said.

Since moving back to Malta 15 months ago, Murray has noticed that he and his family aren't the only ones back in town.

"There are a lot of people moving back to Malta," Murray said.

If interested in joining the Milk River Bambino Baseball League contact Kenny Murray on Facebook.

"If you have a kid that wants to play, we will get him or her on a team," Murray said.

He said that as their numbers grow, as well as the competitiveness of the game, Malta teams will be able to challenge each other as well as towns across the Hi-Line.

"We can have real baseball here," Murray said. "We can play Glasgow, Havre, and Lewistown, who all have excellent youth baseball programs."