Coming Back to Campus: UM Club Baseball Reunites After Four Decades

A lot can change in 50 years, but for Griz alumni, some things stay the same no matter how long they’ve been away from campus. That was the case for Brady Selle, class of 1978, and his University of Montana club baseball teammates as they returned to Missoula for their first-ever reunion during Homecoming this year. 

UM club baseball got its start in 1975 with the help of a few determined students.

“Some guys got together and said we should have a baseball team,” Selle recalls. “We had lots of guys from Arizona and New Mexico and California or wherever who played high school baseball and loved playing baseball and wanted to keep playing.”

The group received hand-me-down uniforms from the previous decade and a small chunk of funding from ASUM. New coach Joe Hurley began calling around to schools in the region to set up competition.

The Montana climate made it unappealing for most programs to make the trek to Missoula, so Griz Baseball was often on the road with players traveling in their own vehicles. Despite their lack of resources, the team logged victories against formidable opponents. Selle remembers one particularly satisfying win against a school in Idaho.

“They kind of took exception that we came in with our wool uniforms and a bunch of rag-tag players and we beat those guys with fancy uniforms and scholarship players,” he said.

Selle remembers the fun and camaraderie off the field as well. “It was a bit of a party in addition to playing baseball,” he jokes. 

Most of the teammates from the 1970s fell out of touch over the years – until this past year, when Selle got a letter in the mail from Hurley. 

“I thought, Joe Hurley, that name sounds kind of familiar,” he said. Hurley shared his idea for organizing a baseball reunion, and the two men got to work contacting former players.

Their efforts were successful. This September, 14 alumni from the 1970s squad reunited in Missoula during Homecoming week. The group hit up old hangouts like Red’s Bar and explored newer (post-’70s) additions to campus like Washington-Grizzly Stadium.  

With help from the Alumni Association, the alumni team also got together for a practice session with the current team, meeting at Dornblaser Field for casual batting and catching exercises. Charles Nance, a UM sophomore and current baseball club president, said the team’s goal is to grow and succeed in competition and also strengthen community support. Nance sees the alumni players as valuable assets in that endeavor.

“They already started it from scratch and are more than willing to help out and talk to people and advocate on our behalf,” he said.

Nowadays, Griz baseball uses metal bats –a noticeable upgrade from the wooden bats of the team’s early days.

“We would’ve been really good hitters if we’d had those,” Selle asserts.

Despite the change in equipment, the alumni team observed that much of the club baseball experience remains the same today. Players still travel to away games in their own vehicles, and they still share that same love of the game that makes all those extra miles worth it.

Are you interested in planning a return to campus visit? Reach out to the UM Alumni Association engagement coordinator Roni Hecker at veronica.hecker@mso.umt.edu to get started!