Little League Baseball lost an icon and a legend in the spring of 2017, with the passing of Jim Scown. Scown was a career Butte miner who was well known for his work at Northwest Little League in Butte. He served as the league president for 26 years from 1970 to 1995. In 1988, the Northwest Little League field on Copper Street was renovated and named “Scown Field” in his honor. In 2016, Montana Little League District 2 created the Jim Scown Distin-guished Little League Graduate Award in his honor.
Mr. Scown helped begin girls’ Little League softball in Montana in 1974. He was the first league president to provide girls’ softball in the Pacific Northwest, and he is credited with being a pioneer of the sport. During his tenure as president, the girls’ teams at Northwest won nine state titles. Scown served as an officer of District 2 Little League for 21 years. He served many years as a coach of all sports at the grade school level in Butte schools. Scown’s tenure at the Northwest Little League began in 1954 as an umpire. He started coaching in 1965 with the Ossello’s club. During his own playing days, Scown participated in fast pitch softball. In 2005, Scown was inducted into the Butte Sports Hall of Fame as a member of the Butte Buzzies football team. In addition to his work pioneering girls’ fast pitch softball in Montana, Scown developed the venue known as “Scown Field” in Butte. Once a mine dump, under the shadows of the Anselmo Mine Headframe, Mr. Scown persevered throughout the years using volunteer labor, neighborhood improvement programs, and all of his heart, to create a “field of dreams” that youngsters in the State of Montana can play Little League Baseball and Softball. The facility is the host to the 2017 Little League Baseball Championship Tournament. “Whether it be in Little League, school sports, or in the commu-nity, Jim was a champion for improving the opportunities and lives of all children and our community no matter what your name was, where you lived, or how rich or poor your family was,” Miller said. “His hard work, determination, and vision set the bar high for others to strive to live up to.”
Many of Mr. Scown’s former players have come back to the program to volunteer and help spread Little League’s message of character, loyalty, and courage. The Jim Scown Distinguished Little League Graduate Award was created in order to recognize those individuals who have come back to the program to help the pro-gram continue to flourish. Additionally, the award honors those that live out the examples of character, loyalty, and courage in their everyday lives. Establishing this award is just a small down payment on all the thanks that the former and current participants in Montana Little League District 2 owes to this man. It was once said that “Heroes are remembered, Legends live forever!” Jim Scown is a legend we are fortunate to have benefitted from.
Terry Galle is the 2019 recipient of the Jim Scown Distinguished Little League Graduate Award. He played his Little League career in Anaconda for Buttreys. He was coached Rick and Jack Ivankovich . He played baseball through his high school years as a member of the Anaconda A’s American Legion team. Terry has had a love for baseball from a since he was little. His dad, (Terry) would spend endless hours playing catch in the backyard. Terry organized neighborhood pickup games throughout the summers growing up. All the neighborhood kids would join in. On occasion, he mowed and made a baseball field out of his Dad's hay-field. Through baseball he developed life long friendships, memories, and dedication to the sport. Terry went onto play ball throughout high school and into his early 20's. Terry attended Montana Western after high school, took a break and went back to get his social work degree at the University of Montana and then his Graduate Degree from Walla Walla. Terry has a very loving, supportive, and involved family. He is kind, generous and thoughtful. He has put endless hours into teaching baseball fundamentals to the children of Anaconda. When picking teams, he always made sure to pick the players that needed a little extra help.
Terry became involved in Anaconda Little League in 2006 again, when his oldest son Patrick joined. Terry volunteered to coach the 7-9 year old Coach Pitch team; Galle Plumbing. In 2008 Terry accepted the position as President of Anaconda Little League. He expanded the program to include boys machine pitch, girls ma-chine pitch, girls fast pitch, and boys major baseball. Since that time, the program in Anaconda has been growing leaps and bounds.
Terry is a Service Administrator for AWARE. He coaches is sons in Football and Baseball. He is an active member of the community, volunteering endless hours to youth services in Anaconda.
Terry sets the example of what it means to “give back” to Little League and to his community. When you talk to Terry, he always talks about the friendships and positive experiences he has had with Little League. He has been determined to give all of the children in our communities the best possible opportunities Little League has to offer. Montana Little League District 2 is honored to have Terry as a part of our Little League family.
THE
JIM SCOWN
DISTINGUISHED LITTLE LEAGUE GRADUATE AWARD
2016
Meg Murphy
Butte
2017
Keith Marr
Great Falls
2018
Max Cannon
Missoula
2019
Terry Galle
Anaconda
Brandon Scown, Terry Galle, Keith Miller (DA)