A new era of legion baseball is set to begin in Bozeman as Rich Poloquin takes over the Bozeman Bucks baseball program after a highly successful stint in the Bitterroot. Poloquin most recently led the Bitterroot Red Sox, a Class A program in Hamilton, to back-to-back state titles.
Poloquin is a native of southern California and played junior college baseball. He turned that experience into head coaching positions in the state of Arizona and his first taste of championship baseball before heading north to take over the Bitterroot Red Sox organization, where his winning ways continued. Poloquin hopes to bring that winning pedigree to the Bucks program. Asked of his assessment of his new team, Poloquin responded, “A bunch of kids who are eager to work. I’m excited,” he said. “I haven’t seen the whole lot, I’ve probably seen half of the total pool because we have some kids playing basketball and wrestling, but these kids are eager to learn. I think they’re eager to win.”
Poloquin replaces Dave Legg who spent five seasons at the helm of the Bozeman baseball program, finishing with a 160-130-1 record. However, he was let go following last season following another disappointing campaign that also saw the firing of the Bozeman Class A Spikes coach midway through the season, a move Legg said spelled the end for him.
Poloquin looks to revitalize a Bozeman program that has only won one state championship (2007), but has the athletes, he believes, to win many more. “We have the numbers here that we should be successful and if everybody comes out and competes daily, I think that the end product will be that of success.”
After a winter of batting cage work, thanks to the indoor facility at Play It Again Sports, Poloquin and his staff are now in the midst of holding team tryouts for Bozeman’s three teams, the Bucks, Spikes A and Spikes B. The season will officially kick off on April 15 with a seven-inning contest versus the Billings Halos in Billings.
For a complete schedule of games, log on to the Bucks website at http://bozemanlegionbaseball.com/bucks-aa/schedule/.
Danny Waldo is a local freelance writer covering Bozeman Hawk and Montana State Bobcat athletics.
