The Helena Senators defeated the Laurel Dodgers 9-1 to capture their fourth-straight Keith Sell Tournament Championship. -Gary Marshall, BMGphotos.com
The 29th Annual Keith Sell Tournament will be held June 27–30, 2024, at Kindrick Legion Field in Helena. The seven-team tourney opens at 12 p.m. on Thursday, June 29.
The Keith Sell Tournament is in honor of Keith Sell, longtime general manager of the Helena American Legion Program.
Sell was involved with Senators baseball in various capacities off and on for more than 40 years. Beginning in the mid-1960s, he has served as an assistant coach, head coach, and general manager.
A former Copper League pitcher, Sell was ambidextrous and would throw batting practice for the Senators with either hand “with something on it,” according to a former player.
Keith's son, Mike Sell, played for the Senators from 1984 to 1988. Mike played second base and was the lead off hitter all five years. He was drafted by the New York Mets in the 1988 Major League Baseball draft and went on to play college baseball at Taft College his freshman year and Yakama Community College his sophomore year before returning to Montana.
Mike's son Caden Sell (Keith's grandson) played for the Independents, Reps, and Senators between 2017-2021.
The original field tarp used to cover the infield at Kindrick Legion Field was coined the "Keith Sell Tarp," as the proceeds from the first Keith Sell Tournament were used to purchase the tarp. The tarp has since been donated for use on Ryan Park's Field 13 in Helena.
Stream the Kell Sell Tournament live on YouTube
Time | Third Base Dugout | First Base Dugout | Game | |
12:00 PM | Laurel - 4 | vs | Butte - 3 | Pool Play |
2:45 PM | Lethbridge - 5 | vs | Butte -2 | Pool Play |
5:30 PM | CPBA Bison - 3 | vs | Mount Vernon - 10 | Pool Play |
8:15 PM | Helena - 10 | vs | Calgary Cardinals - 2 | Pool Play |
Time | Third Base Dugout | First Base Dugout | Game | |
9:00 AM | Lethbridge - 10 | vs | CPBA Bison - 0 | Pool Play |
11:45 AM | Lethbridge - 0 | vs | Laurel - 11 | Pool Play |
2:30 PM | Calgary Cardinals - 4 | vs | Laurel - 6 | Pool Play |
5:15 PM | Calgary Cardinals - 4 | vs | Mount Vernon - 3 | Pool Play |
8:00 PM | Helena - 10 | vs | Butte - 2 | Pool Play |
Time | Third Base Dugout | First Base Dugout | Game | ||||
9:00 AM | Laurel - 10 | vs | CPBA Bison - 0 | Pool Play | |||
11:45 AM | Butte - 9 | vs | Calgary Cardinals - 8 | Pool Play | |||
1:00-5:00 PM | Free BBQ meal for all players/coaches, located in concessions picnic area | ||||||
2:30 PM | Lethbridge - 4 | vs | Mount Vernon -5 | Pool Play | |||
5:15 PM | Helena - 8 | vs | Mount Vernon - 2 | Pool Play | |||
8:00 PM | Helena - 4 | vs | CPBA Bison - 0 | Pool Play |
Time | Third Base Dugout | First Base Dugout | Game | |
9:00 AM | Helena Reps - 12 | vs | #7 CPBA Bisons - 1 |
Bracket Game |
11:45 PM | #5 Butte Miners - 7 | vs | #6 Calgary Cardinals - 0 |
Bracket Game |
2:30 PM | #3 Mt Vernon RiverDogs - 13 | vs | #4 Lethbridge Elks - 5 |
Bracket Game |
5:15 PM | #1 Helena Senators - 9 | vs | #2 Laurel Dodgers -1 | Championship Game |
Note: The Helena Senators will take the third base dugout regardless of their seeding in bracket play.
American Legion Baseball Rules will be followed except as specified below.
Coaches must be in uniform and wear protective helmets.
Games will be 7 innings unless extra innings are needed. In the case of a tie after 7 innings or because of time limit,
teams will go into a tie-breaker scenario. Each team will start the next inning with a runner on 2nd base and no outs. The
runner will be the last out recorded from the previous inning.
Ten run rule applies after 4 innings, eight run rule applies after 5 innings.
The time limit for each game is 2 hours and 15 minutes. Time will officially start with the first pitch of the game. There will be no time limit for the Championship game. The official score keeper will keep track of time.
Home team will be determined by a coin toss before the start of the game. Helena will be home team for their pool play games. On Sunday, the better seed will be the home team.
Infield/outfield is not allowed. Ground balls and fly balls in the outfield only please.
Courtesy runners are encouraged for the pitcher and catcher. Courtesy runner can be any player that is not currently in the lineup.
Teams will be seeded for Sunday’s games. Seeding criteria follows.
• Overall record
• Head to Head record
• Runs allowed
• Runs scored
• Coin flip if still tied
*If 3 or more-way ties, Head-to-Head will only be used if all tied teams have played each other. If all tied teams have not
played each other the remaining seeding criteria will be used to break the first tie. The team that won the first tie will
then be removed and we will evaluate the remaining teams to break the second tie, where Head- to-Head can come
back into play.
The higher seed in Sunday games will be the home team, but the Senators will always occupy the 3rd base dugout.
Helena Senators Head Coach Jon Burnett
(406) 459-7759
coachb5@ymail.com