The Gallatin Valley Rec League championship took place Tuesday at the Four Corners complex, where the infield dirt still smells like alfalfa if you get low enough. The Belgrade Beef, a roster of ranch hands and feed store managers, faced the Bridger Bowl Bombers, who list their occupations as ‘ski patrol,’ ‘barista,’ and ‘gear rep’ on the lineup card.

Beef starting pitcher Dale Haskins threw 82 pitches in the first inning, three of them strikes. ‘He works the corners like he works the fence line,’ said third baseman Troy McAllister, wiping pine tar onto his jeans. ‘Slow and deliberate. The umpire’s zone is just a suggestion.’

The Bombers countered with a lineup that swings for the fences like they’re dropping into a couloir. Leadoff hitter Jasper ‘Jazzy’ Lindholm works two jobs to afford his season pass and still made it to batting practice. ‘We’re just here for the postgame IPAs,’ he said. ‘And to see if the left field fence is actually 315 or if the city measured it in 1998.’

The game turned in the fifth when Beef catcher Shane ‘Silage’ Kilgore blocked a wild pitch with his chest protector, popped up, and threw out a runner stealing second by three feet. The line held. It always does when Shane’s behind the plate.

Spectators sat on folding chairs beside food trucks that weren’t here last summer. A few cows watched from the pasture beyond the outfield fence, unbothered by the new luxury apartments rising where the irrigation ditch used to run. Nobody mentioned the irony.

Final score 4-2, Beef. The Bombers bought the first round anyway.