Helena Senators suffer first loss, AA State Tournament down to four teams

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on August 2, 2025.

sports@medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews

The No. 1 seed Helena Senators recorded their first loss of the American Legion AA State Tournament hosted in Medicine Hat.

The Senators entered play Friday with a 2-0 record through the first two days of play in the eight-team tournament, opening play with a 7-2 win Wednesday over the host Moose Monarchs.

They lost 2-1 Friday to the Missoula Mavericks (No. 2 seed).

The Billings Scarlets (No. 3 seed) beat the Bozeman Bucks 3-1 in the first game Friday, eliminating Bozeman. The Bucks beat the Monarchs 15-0 in five innings Thursday to eliminate the host team from the tournament held at Athletic Park.

The Billings Royals (No. 4) eliminated the Kalispell Lakers (No. 6 seed) with a 3-2 win on Friday.

The four remaining teams, the Billings Royals, Billings Scarlets, Helena Senators and Missoula Mavericks will face off on Saturday to decide the final two teams playing on Sunday for the Montana/Alberta State Championship.

The Senators will face the Billings Scarlets at 1 p.m. and the Billings Royals will face the Mavericks at 4 p.m.

Those matchups were decided by the wins Friday and previous matchups in the tournament, avoiding rematches between the teams.

The winner of each game will advance to the final on Sunday, set for 11 a.m. at Athletic Park.

The winner of Sunday’s game will advance to the Northwest Regional in Billings, Mont. to be held Aug. 7-11.

The regional champion will advance to the American Legion Baseball World Series held in Shelby, North Carolina during the second week of August. That tournament is to be broadcast on ESPN.

The Billings Royals are hosts of the Northwest regional and have a bye to the tournament.

This year’s American Legion season marks the 100th year of baseball for the league created to give amateur baseball players the, “opportunity to develop skills, personal fitness, leadership qualities and to have more fun.”

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