The origin of the Sapa-Johnsrud baseball tournament

The Sapa-Johnsrud tournament marks the end of the regular season for Columbia Falls and Whitefish baseball, but many folks don't know the origin of the tournament or what it means to the communities.

The tournament honors two young baseball players killed in a tragic car-train collision on Aug. 6, 1984. On the fateful night, 16-year-old Jim Sapa tried to cross the railroad tracks past the gate in Columbia Falls at 12th Avenue West. His car was hit by an Amtrak train. Sapa and Ray Johnsrud, a 16-year-old passenger and Sapa’s best friend, was also killed.

The two were headed home after Glacier Twins baseball practice. The community was devastated.

“We had just been working out with the kids 30 minutes before it happened,” Twins coach Julio Delgado said at the time. He remembered the pair fondly as true sportsmen.

“In these days of prima donna athletes, Jim and Ray were a breath of fresh air,” Delgado said at their memorial.

“They were the Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn of their class,” teacher Mary Moe recalled at the young men’s memorial service, which was held in a packed gymnasium at Columbia Falls High School. The two would have been juniors at Columbia Falls High School.

The next baseball season the Sapa-Johnsrud Memorial Tournament was formed. It drew teams from across the Western U.S. and Canada.

Kyler Blades, the coach of the Whitefish Bulldogs, recalled playing in the tournament in his youth years later for the Glacier Twins.

“The nightcap the first day of the tournament was always a conference AA matchup against the Kalispell Lakers,” Blades recalled — a rivalry game if there ever was one.

Columbia Falls coach Chad Green agreed the tournament was a big deal, with scouts from major league teams and colleges coming to watch the action. 

High school baseball has now picked up the tournament.

With the passing of Bill Sapa (Jim’s brother), the beloved Columbia Falls coach who died from a heart attack at age 53 last year, the tournament is now all the more poignant, Blades noted.

“I really looked forward to coaching against (Bill),” Blades said. “I never got the chance.”

This year’s tournament is more of a round robin event, since high school baseball is capped at the number of games players can have in a season, but Green said he’d eventually like to see it become a true tournament.

There will be no shortage of rivalry, though, with 12 teams from the region, and six games per day, beginning at 8 a.m at Glacier Bank Park.  

Columbia Falls will open the tourney at 8:30 p.m. Friday, May 10 against Polson and then face rival Whitefish at 8:30 p.m. Saturday in the nightcap.

“It’s a great opportunity for our boys to play on one of the nicest fields in Montana,” Green said.

Tickets for adults are $30 for the weekend, $20 per day, or $10 for a single game, and about half that rate for children and students with school ID. There will be concessions, but no alcohol will be served as it’s a high school event.

Sapa-Johnsrud Invitational at Glacier Bank Park 

Friday, May 10

8 a.m. — Browning vs. Ronan. 10:30 a.m. — Noxon/Thompson Falls vs. Troy. 1 p.m. — Stevensville vs. Eureka. 3:30 p.m. — Frenchtown vs. Bigfork. 6 p.m. — Corvallis vs. Whitefish. 8:30 p.m. — Columbia Falls vs. Polson.

Saturday, May 11

8 a.m. — Troy vs. Stevensville. 10:30 a.m. — Eureka vs. Hamilton. 1 p.m. — Noxon/Thompson Falls vs. Browning. 3:30 p.m. — Bigfork vs. Ronan. 6 p.m. — Frenchtown vs. Polson. 8:30 p.m. — Columbia Falls vs. Whitefish