Each player in attendance on the Independents, Reps and Senators received an American Legion Baseball Year 100 patch signifying the organization's 1925 beginning and centennial campaign.
The Senators completed 2025 with a 46-28 record and semifinal state tournament exit.
Pitcher Tyler Beaver, first baseman Carter Perlinski and shortstop Walker DesRosier were tabbed All-State by Montana/Alberta Class AA coaches. Outfielders Connor Devine and Aaron Fuzesy earned All-Conference nods.
Monday, six additional team awards were handed out, along with the Jim Knight Memorial Award following an official presentation last month.
Those award-winners are as follows:
Jim Knight Memorial Award – Voted on by Helena umpire pool and presented July 17 to the Helena Senators player who “best demonstrates integrity, sportsmanship, character, and Jim’s passion for the game of baseball.”
Honoree: Catcher Tizer Lindgren
Regular-Season Stats: 150 PA, .231/.354/.265/.619, 27 H, 4 2B, 16 RBI, 29 RS, 23 BB, 35 K, 4 SB; Defensively: 277.1 innings behind the plate, 14 runners caught stealing (25.5% CS), .992 fielding percentage
Stanley Foote Award (Most Improved) – Voted on by Helena Senators players
Winner: RHP Tyler Beaver
Regular-Season Stats: 13-2, 2.48 ERA, 99 IP, 17 GS, 82 K, 22 BB, 99 H, 47 R (35 ER), 1.22 WHIP, .245 Batting Average Against; 13 wins are 2nd-most all-time on Helena’s single-season program leaderboard; Batting: 4-for-6
Zach Murfitt Award (Most Inspirational) – Voted on by Helena Senators players; Includes $200 scholarship
Winner: First Baseman Carter Perlinski (back-to-back)
Regular-Season Stats: 207 PA, .372/.493/.667/1.159, 58 H, 16 2B, 6 3B, 6 HR, 51 RBI, 51 RS, 24 BB, 23 K, 20 HBP, 5 SB; Defensively: .988 fielding percentage; 16 doubles tied for regular-season team lead and 11th all-time on Helena’s single-season program leaderboard; Hit 7th HR in state tournament against Medicine Hat
Dick Muffick Award (Most Competitive) – Voted on by Helena Senators players; Includes $200 scholarship
Winner: Outfielder/Pitcher Aaron Fuzesy (back-to-back)
Regular-Season Stats: 111 PA, .376/.450/.495/.945, 35 H, 9 2B, 1 3B, 42 RBI, 27 RS, 12 BB, 12 K, 3 HBP, 5 SB; Defensively: .938 fielding percentage playing primarily corner OF; Pitching: 1-1, 2.92 ERA, 12 IP, 8 K, 4 BB
Earl Tucker Trophy – Team Batting Champion (minimum 100 at-bats; regular-season only)
Winner: Shortstop Walker DesRosier
Regular-Season Stats: 282 PA, .406/.484/.523/1.007, 97 H, 16 2B, 6 3B, 40 RBI, 94 RS, 23 BB, 7 K, 16 HBP, 54 SB (100% SB rate); Defensively: .884 fielding percentage, turned 26 double plays; Pitching: 1-3, 6.11 ERA, 18.1 IP, 17 K, 13 BB; 35th .400+ regular-season average in program history, 3rd-most single-season hits program history, tied 11th-most single-season doubles program history, most single-season runs scored program history, 2nd-most single-season stolen bases program history.
Ace Kindrick Award – Team Pitching MVP (minimum 40 IP, regular-season only)
Winner: RHP Tyler Beaver (187.5 points); 3rd-most points in program history
Points System: 10 per win; 5 per save; 1 per strikeout; ERA awarded on reserve scale; -1 per walk; -5 per loss
Regular-Season Stats: 13-2, 2.48 ERA, 99 IP, 17 GS, 82 K, 22 BB, 99 H, 47 R (35 ER), 1.22 WHIP, .245 Batting Average Against; 13 wins are 2nd-most all-time on Helena’s single-season program leaderboard; Batting: 4-for-6
Betty Cottingham Award: Team MVP (voted on by Helena Senators players taking into account citizenship, leadership and outstanding play)
Winner: Shortstop Walker DesRosier
Regular-Season Stats: 282 PA, .406/.484/.523/1.007, 97 H, 16 2B, 6 3B, 40 RBI, 94 RS, 23 BB, 7 K, 16 HBP, 54 SB (100% SB rate); Defensively: .884 fielding percentage, turned 26 double plays; Pitching: 1-3, 6.11 ERA, 18.1 IP, 17 K, 13 BB; 35th .400+ regular-season average in program history, 3rd-most single-season hits program history, tied 11th-most single-season doubles program history, most single-season runs scored program history, 2nd-most single-season stolen bases program history
-------
Over 100 filed into Kindrick Legion Field last Monday to witness Paul Hopkins, Chris Keim, Tanner Swanby, Vic Kelley, Jeff Tuss, Quinn LeSage, and Colter Sternhagen enter the S.H.O.F.
Reinstituted following a six-year hiatus, Hopkins, Keim and Swanby officially entered the hall as part of the 2019 class that went unrecognized until now. Kelley, Tuss, LeSage and Sternhagen were voted upon as 2025 members.
Hopkins’ niece Tammi Hamper accepted the honor on his behalf. Hopkins, a Senator from 1967-70, passed away in 2007. Kelley could not attend the ceremony, and Helena Sports Historian Curt Synness accepted Swanby’s enshrinement and read a letter from the former Helena shortstop and outfielder.
Keim, apparently nicknamed “Easy Money” by teammates stemming from poker games held during long bus rides, thanked coaches, teammates and the people of Helena in his acceptance speech.
Keim’s father, now in his mid-90s, attended the ceremony. Keim said it was his father who convinced him to play baseball his senior season of high school in 1987. That year, Keim was Montana’s Legion Baseball Player of the Year following a 12-3 record and 2.27 ERA. Keim struck out 127 batters in just 87 innings, a season that unlocked two years of Minor League baseball with the Billings Mustangs.
Quinn LeSage is the only Senators player to record 10 pitching victories and average .400 at the plate in the same season. One of three LeSage brothers to impact Helena Legion Baseball, Quinn pitched in a trio of state tournament semifinals during the Senators’ state title three-peat under head coach Dave Thennis in the mid-2000s.
“Some of the most meaningful, richest and unforgettable memories of my life live right here at Kindrick Legion Field wearing a Senators uniform,” LeSage offered in his speech.
“This place is sacred to me. It’s where my dreams were born, where my love for the game grew, and where I learned what it truly means to be a teammate, a worker and a competitor.”
In 2003, LeSage pitched to a sub-2.00
ERA and won 12 games. He smashed seven home runs and collected 98 regular-season hits that still rank second on Helena’s all-time single-season list.
LeSage hit .370 and drove in 126 career runs for Helena. He won 17 games on the mound, pitching to a career 3.97 ERA. He played collegiately at Columbia Basin College (Pasco, Washington) and Campbell University (North Carolina).
“If my name is being placed among the greats tonight, it’s only because I’ve been lucky enough to be surrounded by others who are also great,” LeSage said.
One record never to be challenged in Helena’s record book is the 21-homer season Colter Sternhagen produced in 2011. On the cusp of the power-dampening BBCOR bat era, Sternhagen established Montana’s home run and the Senators’ batting average records (.503).
Sternhagen slugged .989 in 2011 and finished with 91 hits, 84 runs scored, 66 RBI, 14 doubles and 14 stolen bases. He still owns the stick he slugged all those long balls with 14 years ago.
It isn’t displayed in Sternhagen’s house, but the bat does look noticeably flattened on one side where the righty middle infielder contacted many of his home runs.
“I think I just upped my work level that off-season, then I came back and things just felt easier that year,” Sternhagen said. “My timing was perfect. Seeing the ball really well – that was helping me find success along with just being relaxed and confident.”
Swanby (2003), LeSage (2003), Tuss (1987), and Keim (1987) are all tied for third on Helena's single-season pitching victories leaderboard with 12. They shared the regular-season program record until 2024 when Will Lyng's 16 wins vaulted him atop the standings. Tyler Beaver won 13 games this season.
Kelley won 11 games in 1972 and pitched to a 1.63 ERA. Tuss is currently fourth on the program's single-season list with a 1.44 mark established in 1987.
Swanby hit seven home runs and drove in 57 in 2002. LeSage doubled 24 times in 2003, a regular-season mark that still ranks fourth all-time. Swanby slugged 19 doubles in 2002 and another 16 a season later.
With the program’s Hall of Fame fired back up, the plan is to induct each year’s class at the annual Keith Sell Tournament in late-June or early-July.
To read more about all 7 Hall of Fame inductees, click here.
Statistics and Hall of Fame biographies compiled by Curt Synness
