MISSOULA — Wildly successful is a good way to describe the Missoula PaddleHeads since Michael Schlact took over as skipper two years ago.
You may recall that's when the Pioneer League went independent and Zootown's pro baseball team started stockpiling wins like Planters does peanuts. The PaddleHeads posted the best record in all of pro ball in 2021 (68-32), then as an encore in 2022 they did it again, going 71-29.
At one point last season Missoula even lightheartedly challenged the team with the second best record in pro baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers, to a game. That didn't work out for obvious reasons, but it was fun to think about for a while.
"I set out to build a team that might not be the best on paper talent-wise, but they're amazing people and amazing teammates," Schlact said of his two-year tenure during his team's 2023 media day Monday. "They're good ballplayers, don't get me wrong, but when they get in the clubhouse and there's a bunch of good people all pulling on the same side of the rope rather than being selfish, I feel like that's been a cool recipe.
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"... When you go after a guy who, numbers-wise, other people wouldn't go after or have looked over, but you know that guy has all the intangibles you want, it's been fun to watch that work for us."
Two important ingredients in Missoula's winning recipe are motivation and chemistry. Schlact and his staff just seem a little better than the rest at hand-picking the right guys.
"Everyone here has been told no at some point. Some of them recently, some of them repeatedly. And now this is their opportunity," said Schlact, who inked a five-year contract extension back in December of 2021.
"They get a chance to overcome that a little bit, so I think they're hungry. They love the game and you have to work harder than other people when you're told no. There's a character factor and work ethic factor."
Talent is also a key component, although talent alone doesn't necessarily equal championships. Just ask the New York Yankees.
"I think culture and chemistry are the two things I'm most proud of year-in and year-out," Schlact said. "The reason the chemistry is so good is because these guys don't take a loss as a loss. A loss is a learning opportunity. They turn the page and they don't stay down."
The PaddleHeads suffered the most disappointing losses in their two-year history at the end of last season. After winning the Pioneer League crown in 2021, they were in good position to repeat last September, with the Grand Junction Rockies forced to play the entire championship series in Missoula because of field issues.
It didn't work out for the PaddleHeads, who were swept in a best-of-3 series.
"The last two games of the year haunted me," Schlact said. "You win 71 games and then you flop at the end.
"The games against Grand Junction sat with me for many months. The big question was, how are we going to improve so we give ourselves the best chance to not have that happen again? The No. 1 way was we need better starting pitching to take the toll off our bullpen, and we need more versatile players all over the field so we can give guys more days off. We addressed that."
Missoula appears destined to challenge for Pioneer League supremacy again. League MVP and single-season home run king Jayson Newman is back at first base and fellow league all-star Cameron Thompson is back at third.
Then there's a long list of other veterans back that helped the PaddleHeads post the best regular-season record in 2022. Outfielders like Keaton Greenwalt and Jared Akins and infielders like McClain O'Connor, Kamron Willman and Patrick Chung.
Then add the fact the PaddleHeads have proven pitchers in Cody Thompson, Connor Schultz, Austen Seidel and Mark Simon, and it's pretty tough to pick against them to three-peat as North Division kings.
"We're bringing back a good core group of guys, which is really important for the guys that haven't been here to see what we do and how we play," Newman said. "When you have the success we had last year and then how it ended, we're looking at last year as a continuation of what we can do this year."
The PaddleHeads have already had one home exhibition game and they'll have two more — on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon against the Black Sox. Those games are free to the public.
Thompson, for one, likes what he's seen in his team so far.
"We've all meshed," he said. "We've been through two or three days of spring training and already I feel like we're super close.
"Schlact always does a great job finding people. That helps a lot. I don't know how he does it. I leave it up to him. But I think culture is a big part of our success."
The PaddleHeads will open their Pioneer League season with six games at Billings starting next Tuesday. Missoula will play its first official home game a week later against the Rocky Mountain Vibes of Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Notes: Schlact's staff this year includes Jeff Lyle (assistant), Brandon Riley (assistant, former PaddleHeads player) and Brian Masztak (clubhouse manager). Matt Ellis is president of the team and Sammy Boyd is back as leader of the entertainment and promotions departments ... Fifteen members of the 2023 roster have previous experience with the team ... Ten PaddleHeads hail from California and seven from Texas.
Bill Speltz is Missoulian Sports Editor and has served as Sunday columnist the past 16 years. Do you have a story idea? Email Bill at bill.speltz@missoulian.com.
